Author Notes: I can't believe the complete lack of updates on my part for all of my fics, but it has been a turbulent few months. I've been bombarded with good, bad, fantastic, and terrible news. Despite the slowness of my update, I have been writing (very slowly...) everyday. Anyways, this story is about a chapter away from being finished. This chapter was a bit of a struggle to write, but it is a bit longer than the others so hopefully that makes up for the delay. Tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: The Inuyasha world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Takahashi Rumiko.
Happy Birthday To You
By Hoshi-ni-Onegai
Kagome sighed and saw the glass beneath her fog up from her breath. Hunched over the glass display case filled with the more price-accessible books, she was honestly a little more than bored. It was another slow day in the shop, and she was left on duty. Just another typical Wednesday afternoon in a rare book store; the clients weren't exactly beating down the door at this time of day in the middle of the week.
Her boss wasn't in for the day and she wasn't expecting any clients. All Kagome was waiting for was for the clock to tick away to five o'clock so she could close up shop. She really needed a good soak in the tub and a quiet dinner while watching bad TV.
Letting out another sigh, she turned her head a bit to glance at the clock. Ten more minutes. She gave a mental cheer and sat up. Glancing down at the smudged glass, she made a mental note that she would need to wipe that down with some Windex in the morning when she opened up shop again. Hopping off the stool behind the counter she started the process of closing down the store.
As she made her rounds, Kagome couldn't help thinking about the left over lasagna waiting for her in the fridge. It wasn't that she disliked her book broker position or keeping the store while her boss was away -actually, she loved her job. It was just that another lead for the Darwin book ended up being a bust, which had her thinking that she was never going to find this elusive hardback.
As she turned off the lights to the larger display case against the back wall the dreaded bell hanging above the door rang. Letting out a discrete sigh, she plastered on her best customer service smile and pivoted on her foot to greet the last-minute shopper. Instead of the frazzled after work browser she expected, she was met with a slightly dressed up Sango. By her outfit Kagome could tell Sango wasn't coming straight from the office.
"Hi Kagome." Sango waltzed up to the counter and leaned on it. "Ready?"
Kagome furrowed her brows. "Ready for what?"
The other shot her a confused look. "For dinner. You know, Miroku's birthday dinner?"
"That's not until Friday." Kagome answered dumbly.
"Which is today." Sango clarified with a grin. "What day did you think it was?"
Kagome groaned and finished turning off all the display lights. "Wednesday. It's been one of those weeks."
"So it went by fast then?" She questioned.
"I wish. I think it crawled so much that it felt like an eternity." Going to the front door she flipped over the 'open' sign to 'close.' "I think maybe I've been playing catch-up all week after I called in sick for three days last week."
Sango winced sympathetically. "I heard. Miroku said you looked like death warmed over."
"I felt like it." She recalled. "But it was only a bad cold. Miroku likes to exaggerate."
"I offered to look in on you, but he kept saying you were too contagious." Sango said smiling. "From how he described it, he went into your apartment with a hazmat suit to give you your medicine and chicken soup."
"That's not that far from the truth." Kagome recalled Miroku's paranoid visit. "But I appreciate that you offered."
Watching Kagome locking up the register, Sango raised a brow at her. "So are you still going to take me to this restaurant? I still have no idea where it is and I couldn't find it online."
With the prospect of a dinner with friends in her future, all the weariness from earlier bled out of her. "Absolutely. Let me close everything up and grab my bag from the back."
As Kagome finished up the end of the day tasks, Sango waited while glancing through the various books in the shop. "Do you mind if we swing by to grab my gift on the way there?"
Reappearing from the back room with her purse and a festive looking bag in hand, Kagome nodded. "No problem. I'm just lucky I've had Miroku's present stored in my desk for over a month now." Stepping out from behind the registers and turning off lights, she motioned for Sango to step toward the front door and out of the shop. "Is it reserved somewhere?"
"No, I just left it at Inuyasha's place after I dragged him shopping. I never know what to get for a guy. I need all the advice I can get." Sango replied and stood just outside the door waiting for Kagome to finish locking up the door.
Kagome froze at what her friend just said. "We're going to Inuyasha's?"
Sango gestured for the hesitant girl to follow. "Did something happen between you two?"
Her mind flashed to New Year's and Valentine's but Kagome shook her head. "Like what?"
"I don't know." Sango said shrugging and lead them a short block and a half to Inuyasha's apartment. "But both of you have been acting weird whenever the other one is mentioned."
"I haven't seen him in months." Kagome denied. "Not since Valentine's Day."
Sango shot her a surprised look. "You spent Valentine's together?"
"By accident. I swear." Kagome was quick to answer.
Sango laughed in response. "Oh, something happened, you're just not telling me. And neither is Inuyasha, so Miroku and I are left to speculate."
"I'm glad you two are spending your reconciliation conjecturing about what may or may not have happened between Inuyasha and me." Kagome sighed.
"It keeps us entertained." Sango admitted. "But don't worry, Inuyasha's out of town until tomorrow on some kind of business trip. You can continually avoid him."
Once they reached the apartment building, the doorman opened the door for Sango with a smile. Kagome got the sense that Sango visited Inuyasha frequently, so when he sabotaged their relationship for Sango's sake he hadn't been lying. Inuyasha obviously valued his friendship with Sango and looked out for the woman like he would a sister. What he probably didn't expect was for Kagome to be just as protective of Miroku and tell Inuyasha off on his destructive meddling.
Thankfully after her comments on Valentine's Day outside of Kaede's café, Inuyasha had worked some kind of magic and had the couple back together by the next weekend. From the call she received from Miroku, he had no idea of Inuyasha's involvement. Miroku was just happy enough that Sango finally returned his calls, citing the lame reason that she had been 'busy.' Not one to burst her cousin's bubble, Kagome had kept mum on Inuyasha's misguided warning of Miroku's intentions.
Inside Inuyasha's apartment, Sango glanced around the living room. "I don't see Miroku's present out here. Let me go check the guestroom, Inuyasha tends to stash Christmas gifts up there."
Kagome nodded and awkwardly stole glimpses of the art and photographs around the room as Sango dashed up the stairs. This wasn't her first trip to Inuyasha's apartment as there was the Miroku concussion incident, but she didn't have a chance to notice how the domicile was decorated. A quick register of the furniture and art told her that Inuyasha most likely had a decorator or bought the place furnished. It wasn't that he usually looked disheveled -on the contrary. If anything, Inuyasha looked too put together for his personality type. After much consideration on her part, Kagome concluded that he probably depended on a personal shopper who picked everything out for him. She wouldn't be surprised to find out that he received a shipment of clothes on a seasonal basis without even bothering to step into a store.
As she glanced at the photographs on display in the living room, she wasn't surprised to see that all of them were with family or friends. Although the image she had of him not two months ago was that of selfish and ruthless business tycoon, Kagome knew better now. Seeing one particular photo with Inuyasha being attacked by a pair of silver-haired kids, one who was barely into toddlerhood and the other just in grade school, she couldn't help but smile. She would have easily thought those were his children but judging from the stoic man in his early thirties in the other photo with equally envious silver hair, Kagome was getting the impression that the rambunctious duo were Inuyasha's nephews.
Looking toward the next photos, she noticed from the corner of her eye that the side door was ajar. Last time she was here, that particular door had remained shut aside from the time Inuyasha had disappeared to take what sounded like a business phone call. Curiosity getting the best of her, she peeked inside the room and stepped in when she noticed the surprising number of books lining the entire back wall. Knowing Inuyasha's profession, she was surprised by the full wall of built-in bookshelves. Wasn't this the guy that raved about e-books when they had first met at Kouga's party?
Then, she got the idea that maybe they were just filler books. She had friends at second-hand discount book stores who said they had bins and bins full of books they sold out in batches for decorators who needed to make shelves look less empty in model homes. Approaching the wall of books she noticed that the majority of them looked well-read, like more than one person spent hours reading through them, and then there were some that looked nearly new but she knew all of them have had their spine's cracked so there had been at least one reader. The genre varied from fiction, non-fiction, reference books, and the whole lot.
Not one to leave books alone, Kagome traced her finger on the spine of one particular book that looked supremely out of place. Tipping the book toward her, she looked at the familiar cover of the classic children's book, Where the Wild Things Are. The cover was worn from repeated readings, and she knew from experience with second hand books that this was not a particularly old copy. Well, relatively. If anything, it was only about two decades old.
Kagome wondered about the books place as it was nestled in the array of books within the confines of modern office that overlooked the city. Looking through the first pages she saw no dedication and a habitual check told her that it was also not a rare copy. Book in hand, she looked around what was most likely considered Inuyasha's study. An impressive looking laptop sat on the desk with an additional larger monitor. The rest of the room was surprisingly uncluttered and the busiest section was the wall of built-in bookshelves. Walking up to the floor to ceiling windows that took up an entire wall, she got a sudden sense of vertigo as he looked over the cityscape. Inuyasha probably had the best view of the city and she probably would have judged him severely before for it, but now she knew better.
Kagome was wrong, she was entirely wrong about him. After their confrontation on Valentine's Day, what he had said nagged at her conscience. She spent a restless night replaying her previous interactions with Inuyasha and what she had supposedly learned about him from others. However, it was sometime past three o'clock in the morning when she finally shoved the covers off of her and made her way over to her laptop. Cloaked in darkness of the night, she maintained her unnecessary air of mystery and scoured the internet. And by scour, it meant that she did a simple Google search of Inuyasha and Kouga's company name together.
After reading about a dozen articles on the supposed hostile takeover that Kouga had previously described, Kagome realized she had been an idiot. There had been no reason for her to trust Kouga over Inuyasha, but for some reason she had taken Kouga for his word. Now, she wished she had listened to everyone around her that sung Inuyasha's praises. He had a rough exterior who gave off a bad first impression, but he was an all around good guy. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou told her as much, yet she had been blinded by her bias which was inflated by her ego.
Inuyasha hadn't ruthlessly swept in and bought out Kouga's shares before he knew what was happening. Instead, Kouga made a bad investment by having his company buy another social networking site for double what it was worth. The acquired company was a blip on the radar and became irrelevant within six months. Kouga's company went from a being a glittering example of a startup social networking company to one that was in the financial toilet. It was Inuyasha's software company that had to come in at the eleventh hour before the Kouga was forced to file his company for bankruptcy. Kouga was kept head of his social network, but left according to articles dated about three months later. There were rumors that Kouga and Inuyasha had some sort of disagreement about management, but nothing concrete. And Kagome was not ready to jump to any more conclusions when it came to those two. When she asked Miroku about it, he didn't seem to know much in the way of Inuyasha's business dealings and seemed to prefer it that way.
As for the girl who came in between Inuyasha and Kouga, it was nothing more than a typical night at the college bar where a drunken co-ed had Inuyasha buy her a drink but eventually went home with Kouga. From the way Miroku tells it, Inuyasha was annoyed for about two days and promptly got over the incident. It probably helped that Inuyasha didn't know the girl's name, or recognized her when he ran into her a month later at the library. If finding out the truth about what happened with Kouga wasn't enough to change Kagome's opinion of Inuyasha, she was convinced when she received a phone call within the week after Valentine's from Miroku about Sango.
Kagome sighed and stared out over Inuyasha's far too impressive view. Now she didn't have the courage to face Inuyasha especially with everything she said to him last time.
"Sango?" A familiar voice called out from near the front of the house. "The doorman said you were here."
Turning away from the view she caught sight of Inuyasha crossing the living room. Eyes widening, Kagome ducked behind his desk. Although Inuyasha wasn't in view, she hid anyways. If he was heading this way she would have been exposed because his desk was really only a wide glass top table and did nothing to give her cover.
Reaching up and sliding the book onto the desk, she crawled away to the wall hidden from view of the door. Kagome was well aware she was being insane but she didn't want to risk being seen.
"Upstairs!" Sango called back, and he thankfully made his way toward the stairs and away from her escape path.
Once she heard his feet sound against the first steps of the stairs, she gathered her wits and scrambled to her feet. Ungracefully and very much not stealthily Kagome raced out of the room, across the living room and down the hall, with her hand about to turn the knob on the front door she heard Inuyasha somewhere behind her.
"Kagome?" He called out to her sounding confused.
Ignoring him and fumbling with the door, Kagome felt her nerves welling up. Eventually she was able to get the door open and she dashed out. In a panic she left the door open and frantically pressed the elevator button to call it up.
"Why are you running away?" He questioned.
Kagome willed the elevator to arrive quickly, but when Inuyasha tapped her on the shoulder she mentally winced at being trapped. Turning slowly to see a perplexed Inuyasha, Kagome shamefully looked him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to be here." She started to explain. "Sango said you were out of town."
He stared at her for a long moment, and then slowly answered. "I took a flight right after my last meeting. I wanted to try to make Miroku's dinner."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She apologized profusely. "I didn't think you were going to be here. Which I guess isn't a very good excuse for being in your apartment."
"I'm not mad that you're in my apartment." He cut in before she could ramble for too much longer. "But I'm kind of wondering why you're running away. What did I do wrong this time?"
"We... It's just... I..." She attempted variations of sentences but nothing seemed to appropriate. Letting out a sigh, she looked away shamefully. "I'm really sorry."
He furrowed his brows puzzled over her skittishness. "Why are you apologizing?"
Kagome continued to avoid eye contact and fidgeted with the strap of her purse. "I looked you up online, like you told me to."
Her confession surprised him. "I honestly didn't think you-" Before Inuyasha could finish his thought Sango peeked out from within the apartment.
"What are you two doing out here?" She frowned at the pair. "Were you two going to leave without me?"
"Stop being paranoid." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I wanted to change first."
Sango nodded and gestured back into the apartment. "Where'd you put my gift for Miroku? It's not in your usual hiding spot."
"Because Miroku was over the other day and started snooping around up there." Inuyasha turned toward the front door to follow Sango back in. "I stashed yours with mine in the office." As the two entered the apartment Kagome stayed behind by the elevator. Noticing Kagome's lack of positional change, Inuyasha glanced back and raised a brow. "You coming?"
Kagome bit her lip considering the situation. "Do you know where the restaurant is?"
"Yeah, why?" He questioned.
"I'll meet you two there." And as if it were on cue, the elevator doors finally opened behind her. "I'm going to go make sure our table and Miroku's cake is ready." Without another explanation, Kagome backed into the elevator car and quickly pressed the door close button.
"Wai-" Before he could stop her, she was gone and he was left alone in the entryway. Sighing, he shut his door and made his way further into his apartment.
"Where's Kagome?" Sango asked when she didn't catch sight of the other girl.
"Had to run. Something about Miroku's cake." He answered vaguely, figuring there was no need to go into details about his suspicions that she was blatantly avoiding him now. Sango shot him a knowing look and he immediately knew he was in trouble.
Now it was his turn to start avoiding and he tried to maneuver the situation by leading them to his office. Through the years, Sango had masterfully honed the skill of pinpointing the exactly issue Inuyasha was trying his damnedest to evade. So it came to no surprise to him when she followed dutifully, and spoke up. "What happened between you two?"
Inuyasha responded with an annoyed glare back to her and opened up one of the file cabinet drawers. It wasn't the first time that Sango had grilled him about his interactions with Kagome. Not really knowing how to answer Sango's question, he was avoiding it and had been for the past month and a half. The situation he found himself in with Kagome was leagues beyond awkward. He wasn't quite sure who to blame for their situation since their initial unfortunate meeting was his fault but their sustained hostility was probably mostly on her.
Digging out a clumsily gift wrapped box and a more nicely prepared gift bag, Inuyasha handed the box to Sango. "Park yourself on the couch while I go change."
She dramatically rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get an answer out of one you one of these days."
He spared her a brief glimpse before continuing on his way to his bedroom. It really had been inevitable that Sango and Kagome became friends. If anything, encountering these two together at his apartment confirmed it. Also, Sango's constant relay that she had a fun time out with Kagome was another hint.
Inuyasha attempted to keep Kagome out of his mind for the past month and a half, especially after the way he was blatantly turned down last time. But unfortunately for him there were enough people in his life that talked or asked about her. Even Kaede and Shippou commented on her last time he saw them. So even though Inuyasha was trying to forget the pain of rejection, everyone else seemed to be hell bent on finding out what was happening or not happening between them.
As he changed out of clothes he spent four meetings and a plane ride in, Inuyasha couldn't help but grow curious about Kagome's admission from earlier. Although it wasn't completely confirmed, Inuyasha was a little more than surprised by the possibility that Kagome actually listened to him. Judging from the stubbornness he ran into previously, he expected her to keep her wrong opinion of him. But what had him confused was her reaction earlier. If anything, she seemed like a skittish dog afraid of her master. He frowned at the imagery.
With a fresh set of clothes on, Inuyasha stepped out of his room and found Sango waiting for him in the living room. He barely processed their exchanged quips as they made their way to the restaurant. The place was thankfully less than three blocks away because they were already running ten minutes late.
Thinking on the wreck he made of Sango and Miroku's relationship, Inuyasha was surprised how strong the couple was doing. After confirming what Kagome told him about what he misinterpreted at the New Year's party, Inuyasha made it his mission to right any wrongs.
Long ago in high school, he and Sango made deal that they each would had veto power when it came to the other's significant other. Although it was a juvenile deal, they had kept up with it because at the end of the day neither of them wanted to deal with the other's annoying girlfriend or boyfriend. It wasn't the first time that the veto was used. There was one guy Sango dated back in high school, which was where this whole bit started. But that had been the only time Inuyasha exercised his veto, not until Miroku. Also, Miroku had been the first and only time that a veto had been revoked. Sango, on the other hand, had used her veto for a grand total of seven times. According to Sango, Inuyasha had horrible taste in women or picked appropriate women he didn't have a thing in common with.
With a block left until the restaurant, Inuyasha broached the topic he'd been meaning to with Sango. "What did Miroku say about the veto?"
Surprised by the question Sango raised a brow at him. "Nothing. He doesn't know about it."
Inuyasha was confused by her response. "Then what did you say to get back together?"
"I mean, we weren't seriously dating so I didn't even dump the guy. I just reserved radio silence." Sango explained. "He was pretty quick to accept my excuse of going out of town and being busy, which is kind of true."
He furrowed his brows. "You spent an afternoon going to the suburbs to see your parents."
"I hate that it's a half truth, but I plan to tell him the whole truth if I see this relationship going further. I'm sure we'll have a laugh about it." She reasoned.
Seeing that they were fast approaching the restaurant, Inuyasha stopped in his tracks. Sango, curious by her friend's strange actions, stopped and waited for him to say something.
"Why didn't you tell Miroku everything?" It was a legitimate question that had been circling his head. When Miroku reconciled with Sango, Inuyasha had braced himself for a confrontation that never came.
She studied him for a moment, and then sighed. "For one, I wasn't about to drive a wedge in your bromance with Miroku. And for another, Kagome called me an hour right after I fixed things with Miroku. She made an argument for your case and convinced me that Miroku didn't need to know. Kagome said you had everyone's best interest at heart so there was no need to break up your friendship with Miroku."
Sango's revelation of the events back in February surprised him more than anything. Kagome had every chance to tell her cousin about Inuyasha's involvement with the breakup between Sango and Miroku, but she didn't. Inuyasha dreaded seeing Miroku the next time after Valentine's Day, but his friend acted the way he usually did. Even if Inuyasha's intentions were good, Kagome wouldn't have been in the wrong to tell Miroku the truth. He lived in a state of anxiety waiting for the confrontation phone call or bust in by Miroku, yet that never happened and Inuyasha felt a gnawing sense of guilt from it.
And now, to find out that not only did Kagome not saying anything to Miroku but she went out of her way to keep Sango from spilling the truth; well, there were few things more surprising than that.
"So what's the deal? What happened between you two?" Sango questioned with a slight smirk, finally having revealed why she suspected something occurred between the two.
Inuyasha considered her question and motioned forward. "We better get to the restaurant. We're already late."
Sango rolled her eyes at his blatant evasion and followed along. She was getting used to being stonewalled from the two of them, but she was nothing if not relentless.
When they finally arrived at the restaurant and led to their reserved table, Sango and Inuyasha were the last two to show up. The set up was a long table with Miroku sitting at one head and the rest of the party on the eight chairs lengthwise with another head seat at the other end. The chairs at either side of Miroku was left empty for the strangling duo with Kagome only an empty chair away from her cousin on the right. The rest of the table was filled with Miroku's friends from college and work, a decisive list of six men Kagome was used to seeing at these annual events. Miroku's work mate Bankotsu, Jakotsu, and Hachi were present; along with college buddies the brothers Hiten and Manten, and Jinenji. Seeing the seating arrangement, Sango grinned and shoved Inuyasha out of the way and planted herself in the seat not next to Kagome.
Earning admonishing looks from Kagome, Sango shrugged. Miroku seemed pleased by Sango's move and watched smugly as Inuyasha was forced to take the last seat in between him and Kagome. Much like before, Inuyasha could feel the waves of hesitation and awkwardness radiating from Kagome.
Hoping to break the ice since the rest of the table was falling into conversation; Inuyasha glanced at Kagome who was fidgeting with her napkin. "Was the cake in order? Or was there a pastry emergency you had to deal with?"
Kagome shook her head and even attempted a small joke. "The cake is fine. Only thing is it might be a fire hazard from all the candles we have to put on it."
Noting that she was acting closer to normal and less like a skittish dog he encountered at his apartment, he mocked being offended. "Are you calling Miroku old?"
"If the shoe fits." She quipped.
"I'm the same age." He cited. "And you're only four years shy."
"That's the difference between two summer Olympics, World Cups, or presidential elections." She argued. "That's a big deal."
"You two know each other?" Bankotsu sitting directly in front of Kagome asked as he observed the pair talking.
Kagome shared a glance with Inuyasha before answering. "We all know Miroku, right?"
Bankotsu seemed to consider her words and their posture, and then nodded. "I thought you weren't coming, Inuyasha. You've missed the guy's birthday for at least three years now."
"My last meeting got canceled so I made an earlier flight." Inuyasha answered. "And I didn't miss those last ones on purpose. April is just a busy month."
"Well, thanks for bothering to come this year." Miroku commented and earned himself a look from his friend. Changing gears, he turned his attention to Kagome. "Also, where's Souta? Last week he was excited that your mom was letting him come into the city for this."
Kagome laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, that was until he got a date."
"He ditched me for a date?" Miroku questioned with a mixture of feigned hurt and brotherly pride.
"He is your cousin." She cited with a slight roll of her eyes. "And prom is coming up, so I think he's trying to secure a date for the big night."
Giving a dramatic sigh, Miroku grinned. "I guess that's fine."
As the waiter came to get their drink orders and later their food orders, the night went by amicably. Kagome was worried about being directly in front of Bankotsu who she previously went on a blind date with and Inuyasha who she had a confusing previous interaction with. But in reality, she was having fun and was surprised by how well she got along with Inuyasha. The rest of the occupants of the table, aside from Sango, were repeaters of Miroku's birthday dinners that eventually turn into all-night bar crawls. Kagome was thankful that Sango was part of the crowd this year because being the only female in a bar crawl was a feat in of itself.
Dinner finished and the cake carted out, the group sang unabashedly the birthday song to Miroku. Presents were opened: a mixer of legitimate and gag gifts from the group. Cake polished off, the group stayed for another round of drinks before living the restaurant. Depositing Miroku's gifts at his car, the group was a rowdy gaggle as they moved onto the first bar of the night.
By the time they reached the third bar after the restaurant, Kagome had a few drinks in her. Despite her display on New Year's, she could hold her drink pretty well. So, Kagome couldn't blame intoxication for spending the majority of the night talking to and hanging out with Inuyasha. She talked with the other guests and Miroku, but she eventually always led back to conversing with Inuyasha. Granted, it was never a one-on-one conversation. There was always another warm body there, which helped Kagome get over her embarrassment. So far Inuyasha hadn't confronted her about what she told him at his apartment, and she was grateful of that.
"Hopefully I'm not jinxing things, but tonight's been tamer than the last ones." Hachi commented while glancing over to Miroku who hadn't really left Sango's side the entire night. "I think she's good for him."
Kagome laughed. Hachi was usually the one who had to deal with Miroku's antics at work and constantly dug his friend out of trouble. If anything, Hachi sometimes acted more like Miroku's lackey instead of his friend.
"She keeps him out of too much trouble." Kagome agreed. "I'd say she's the responsible one, but she's a fury herself."
"Good." Hachi said with a firm nod and glanced down at his drink. "I'm going to get another beer, you two want anything?"
"Vodka tonic." She replied with a thankful smile.
"Beer." Inuyasha also answered and watched as Hachi left to get to the busy bar. Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, who he was left alone with for the first time that night. "And then there were two."
"He's coming right back." She answered a little too quickly.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to bite you."
"Sorry." Kagome found herself apologizing to him again. "Look, if I knew you were coming I would have come up with an excuse. I'm sorry."
He frowned. "For what?"
"I've been a bitch. A complete and total ass, and all because I got the wrong story on you." She looked everywhere but his face as she spoke. "So I'm sorry."
He considered her admission for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm not looking for an apology. It's not your fault Kouga spun one of his stories on you. I mean, it's a little disappointing you didn't do your research a little earlier, but I'm not mad." Seeing her speculative look, Inuyasha added, "Anyways, I should be thanking you."
"Thank?" She questioned. Sifting through her memories, she could only come up with more things to apologize for and nothing to be thanked for.
Inuyasha gestured to Miroku and Sango. "You could have told him about what I did, but you didn't."
Realization dawned on her and shrugged. "I figured he didn't need to know. Your intentions were good, and you fixed what you did."
"But you had-" He began saying, but was cut off when Kagome's cell phone went off.
She glanced at the screen and furrowed her brows. "Sorry, it's a local number. I've been expecting a call from a book buyer, but I didn't expect it this late." Earning the go ahead from Inuyasha, she answered the call. "Hello?"
"Kagome? Thank God. I can't believe I got your number right." The familiar voice of her brother answered from the other line.
"Souta?" Out of all the people she expected on the other line, her little brother was not one of them. "What's going on? Are you still on your date?"
"Sis, I need you to be calm." He started.
A sinking sensation came over her. "What happened?" Her mind raced with all the terrible possibilities. Did her mother have an accident? Did her grandfather end up in the hospital again?
Inuyasha watched on as he saw her face pale and worry set on her brow. There was little he could do but stand by; however, he did shoot a look toward Miroku who caught his drift and started making his way over.
"I was arrested." Souta said in a rushed breath.
"What?!" Her voice rose and snapped at him. "How did you- What the hell- I'm going to kill you."
As Miroku joined them at that moment, he shot a look at Inuyasha hoping for an answer. As Kagome continued to throw expletives and threats into the phone, Inuyasha whispered to his friend. "Souta, I think."
"After I strangle the living life out of you, mom and grandpa are going to line up right behind me to kill you all over again." Kagome fumed and caught sight of Miroku who joined them. "And Miroku is going to smack the living hell out of you too."
Miroku raised a brow at the furious comment. "I am?"
"Now, where the hell are you?" She snapped. Kagome listening vigilantly and hung up the phone with a few more well aimed threats. Letting out a frustrated and exhausted sigh, she turned to her cousin. "I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow?"
"Sure." Miroku answered and reciprocated the offered hug. "What's going on?"
"I have to bail Souta out." She said simply.
Exchanging a look with Inuyasha, Miroku furrowed his brows. "Bail out of what?"
"Hopefully just police trouble and not full on jail." She grumbled. "I'll give you the details tomorrow."
"I'll go with you." Miroku stepped forward, but Kagome shook her head.
"No way. You need to celebrate your birthday." She shot Inuyasha pointed look. "I expect you to keep him here and force a good time onto him."
"Aye aye captain." Inuyasha responded.
"Now, have fun. I have a little brother to maim and kill." With that, she turned on her heel and maneuvered her way out of the bar.
As they watched Kagome disappear into the crowd, Miroku glanced at his friend. "She's not as violent as she sounded just now."
Inuyasha chuckled. "I'm getting the impression that you're always defending her."
"Not usually." He contested. "But she doesn't seem to be showing her best sides to you."
Inuyasha wondered if Miroku said was true. Taking his phone out, he motioned toward the quieter corner of the bar. "I have to make a call." Miroku nodded in acknowledgement and greeted Sango as she joined him.
While Miroku remained distracted by the rest of the night with the concerns of his younger cousins, he wasn't about to suffer the wrath of Kagome and follow. In the mean time, Kagome hailed a cab and was a woman on a mission toward the 24th precinct where her brother was apparently being held. She didn't know what Souta did to land himself in police custody, and she really had no idea what it could possibly be. Souta was mischievous in his own ways, but nothing to the extent of getting into trouble with the law.
Rushing into the nearly vacant precinct, the officer at the front desk glanced up from his paperwork. It wasn't unusual to have walk-ins, but he'd done this job for enough years to recognize the look on Kagome's face. She wasn't here to report a crime, she was the other kind of person who sprinted into a police station. She was most obviously someone's "one phone call" from jail. After passively giving her directions to make her way toward the correct department, he watched on as she hurried off. He momentarily wondered why there was so much interest in the Higurashi kid. He was barely a blip on the radar when it came to the crimes committed. But he didn't wonder very long as he was distracted by another walk-in.
When Kagome finally reached the department in question, she was led to the interrogation room by a police officer. Glancing instead, she noticed her brother alone sitting on a metal chair in front of a steel table. "Why is he alone?"
"He's a minor. We can't question him without an interested adult present." The officer considered her for a moment. "Are you his guardian?"
"No, I'm his older sister."
Through the glass of the door, Souta caught sight of her. A look of relief washed over his features, but soon froze into terror at seeing the look of anger on his sister's face. The officer, seeing the exchange, raised a brow but kept quiet.
"Can I talk to him alone first?" She asked while glaring at her little brother.
He paused to think on her request and nodded. "That's fine. I'll give you fifteen minutes."
Hearing the stipulation, she consented and reached for the door handle but stopped. "What is he here for? What did he do?"
"Oh, I thought you knew." The officer shook his head in disappointment. "DUI and grand theft auto."
Her eyes widened hearing the charges and she flung the door open. Marching with rage she slammed her hand with force on the table, causing the furniture to vibrate. The officer seemed ready to step in, but received and a shake of the head from Souta.
Her palm stung but she dared not show it to her brother. As the coldness of the metal chilled her skin, she kept her glare on Souta who had his head tilted down. He had only jumped slightly at her violent action, and now avoided looking her in the eyes.
After a beat, she narrowed her eyes and pulled out the other chair. The metals legs of the seat scrapped against the cement floor and the noise reverberated through the room. To Souta, it might as well have been a screech by how much it pained his ears.
"I can't believe you." Her tone was deep and foreboding. "You're a selfish irresponsible idiot."
He swallowed down a knot forming in his throat. It was one thing to call his sister for help, it was a whole other thing to face her -especially considering their family history. He had never felt more ashamed than in that moment. He was afraid to, but he brought himself to look up at his sister and directly in the eye. There was a fury and something more frightening behind her eyes as she glared at him.
"You could have killed someone." She proceeded to spew out a list of grievances. "You've gotten yourself a police record now. They'll take your driver's license away. What the hell are you going to tell mom and grandpa? You might lose your sports scholarship if your college finds out."
Souta winced at each sentence. These were all things he had considered since being put into the back of the patrol car. When he was told to make his phone call, he had automatically recalled his sister's phone number. To honestly say, his sister was the more frightening prospect than his mother, but she was resourceful. Although he loved his mother and depended on her, he knew the person to call in a crisis was his big sister. But that didn't mean he wasn't scared of her in this moment.
Fearing the worst, he was surprised to hear her give a tired sigh. She visibly slumped a bit in defeat and motioned him on. "Now tell me what happened."
He furrowed his brows in confusion. "What?"
"Unless the cops were there witnessing everything from the moment you took that first drink, I know they only have a fifth of the story." She said matter-of-factly. "So tell me how you went from being on a date to being in police custody."
Souta observed his sister to gauge her sincerity and noted she was ready and willing to listen. Kagome might be scary sometimes, but she always fair.
"I dropped off Hitomi at her house, and on the way home -according to mom's deal- I stopped to fill the tank with gas." He recounted his night and watchef her face carefully for the next part that had changed the direction of his night. "That's where I ran into Kouga."
Kagome frowned at the name. Before the events on Valentine's Day and before she found out the truth behind Kouga and Inuyasha history, Kouga had frequented the bookstore where she worked. Honestly, they were well on their way to be dating when he suddenly had disappeared pre-Valentine's Day. So it was only a matter of time before one of Kouga's visits coincided with one of Souta's. She had chalked up Kouga's friendliness to her brother to his wanting to win points with her.
"He remembered me from that time at the book store and showed me his car." Souta continued with his story of the night. "Then he invited me to a party."
"What?" She questioned before she could stop herself. "He took a minor to a party? This better have involved balloon animals and some pizza at an arcade."
"I'm not eleven." He protested, but brought his story back on track. "I left mom's car parked at the gas station and we left in his car."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "How many times have I told you not to get into a stranger's car?"
"It was a Porsche 911." He reasoned.
"I don't care if it was a talking donkey. Stranger danger is real." She scolded and quickly gestured for him to continue.
"The party was insane. I met a professional basketball player and that guy from that one reality show." He gushed a bit, but kept his tone in check when he was on the receiving end of an admonishing look from his sister. "I was there for maybe two hours when I realized I was getting really close to curfew. I tried to get Kouga to get me home, but he was too drunk."
"After only two hours?" She wasn't sure what to make of this. If anything, Kouga seemed like the type to be able to handle his liquor.
"When I was asking him for a ride back to the gas station, a woman at the party spilled her drink on me." He explained. "Kouga laughed and offered me his car and told me to just drop it off at his house tomorrow. So I took the car and drove to the gas station and on the way that's when the cops pulled me over because Kouga forgot in the span of half hour that he gave me the keys to his car and called the cops saying it was stolen."
He waited expectantly as he finished the broad generalization of what had happened that night. But the look on Kagome's face told her she was a little more than skeptical. A long lapse of silence stretched between them until she finally narrowed her eyes and questioned him. "Did you have any alcohol?"
By the tone of her voice he knew there was no way he could lie to her without her knowing. Souta winced a bit at his own words. "I had half a drink when I first got there."
She considered him and studied his face. After beat, she seemed satisfied and nodded. "I believe you." Kagome let out a small relieved sigh. "Stealing a car is one thing, but I never would have forgiven you for a DUI."
Souta vehemently shook his head. "I swear. I never will. I promise."
There was history there, a painful history. Souta had been a little too young to understand or remember, but the loss of their father was a memory Kagome bore. She had been at the prime age for the event of her father dying to imprint permanently on her character and personality. After her father's car had been struck head-on by a drunken driver, it had made Kagome strong-willed and pragmatic. Her mother was a bit on the flighty side and her grandfather was a little insane. So instead, Kagome had been the level-headed one who watched over her brother and their family.
From the moment Souta knew what alcohol was, Kagome made it a point to drill into his head about responsible drinking and never getting behind the wheel intoxicated. So per the instructions of his vigilant sister, he administered a self-sobriety test before getting into Kouga's car to drive away from the party.
"I'm not naïve enough to think you were going to wait until you were twenty-one to drink, but I hoped you would wait until you turned eighteen." She grumbled and glanced back at the door, expecting to see the officer but noticed him gone.
"Now what?" Souta asked tentatively.
She furrowed her brows. "We need a lawyer."
"Did you call our lawyer?"
"Our lawyer?" She asked in exaggerated mocking. "We're not even remotely wealthy. You think I have a lawyer I keep on retainer, waiting in the wings for just such an occasion?"
"Okay, fine. Then what?" He asked.
"Court appointment lawyer, which I'll go ask for now." She slid back her chair.
She went to talk to the officer, which only lasted a few heated minutes until an older gentleman waddled up to them. He was a head shorter than Kagome, which made him look comically short next to the officer. They stopped in their discussion when the man pleasantly smiled and waited for them to address him. Despite his diminutive size, there was a sense of authority with the man in his sharp and clean suit.
"Can either of you tell me where Souta Higurashi is?" He asked politely, and unassumingly.
Kagome raised a brow. "I'm his sister."
"Ah, I was told you would be here." He extended out his hand and she took it a little more than confused. "Myouga Nomiyama, attorney at law. I will be representing your brother."
"I haven't called for a public defender yet." The officer pointed out.
"That's because I'm not a public defender. Miroku called me in." He said simply and motioned for Kagome to follow. "Now let's get that impulsive little brother of yours out of trouble."
And get them out of trouble he did. The short man was unassuming in with his pleasant demeanor, short stature, and balding head that held onto the silver tufts of hair to the side and mustache. But by the condition and quality of his leather shoes and briefcase, Kagome could tell this was no court appointed attorney. His simple but high-end watch told her that she was in no way able to afford a lawyer of his caliber, but the swiftness that he diagnosed Souta's case had her biting her tongue.
Quick questions to Souta and a scan of the arrest record led to the discovery that the police officer had spotted Kouga's car within minutes of a BOLO being issued over the scanner. When he pulled Souta over and smelled the liquor that had been spilled on him at the party, the officer had immediately jumped to the conclusion of intoxicated vehicle theft and driving afterward. No sobriety test was performed nor a breathalyzer used.
After hearing Souta recount the night, Myouga excused himself to make a call. At the time Kagome wasn't quite sure who he was calling, but she had some suspicions later when Kouga immediately retracted his previous report of his car having been stolen. Either Kouga had sobered up enough to figure out his mistake, or Myouga was a merciless negotiator -she suspected a little of both.
Myouga went on to discuss with the police chief and the arresting officer that considering the theft was a misunderstanding and the DUI had little ground, all of Souta's charges should be dismissed and the arrest not filed. When the officer went to argue, Myouga was quick to point out that he had not issued a sobriety test and had based his DUI charge on the smell of liquor that came from boy's shirt. This revelation prompted a quick breathalyzer test at the precinct which indicated that Souta didn't have enough alcohol in his system to be considered to be drunk at the time of the arrest. Myouga referred to metabolization rates for people Souta's age and weight, and quickly won the DUI argument. He even went far as to say that if anything, those who served alcohol to a minor was the one at fault.
In the end, Myouga acted diplomatically and gave the police a way to save face and had Souta released with a simple verbal warning. Nothing would be left on his record, which meant that his college scholarship would remain unharmed. To say Kagome was impressed would have been an understatement.
As they walked out of the police station in the dark of the night, Kagome indicated to her brother to wait to the side as she talked to the short lawyer.
"I don't even know how to thank you for everything." She began and dug through her purse. "Let me give you my business card so you send the bill for your services."
The man took her right hand and stopped her in her search. "Don't worry about that dear. I'm doing this pro bono."
She frowned. "Shouldn't you save your pro bono hours for a worthier cause than a teenager's stupid decision landing him into trouble?"
"You're too hard on the boy." He chuckled. "And I can think of no better work that trying to salvage a boy's future because of one bad decision."
Noticing his amendment of calling Souta's decision bad instead of stupid had Kagome sighing. "I just worry about him."
"As you should. I doubt that's the last of the trouble he'll get himself to, but knowing the fear of god in his eyes I'm betting you won't deal with legal problems with him anymore." He patted her on the shoulder. "Now take that boy home. I'm sure he could use a long night's sleep."
Kagome chewed her lip to saying something, but then nodded. "Thank you, again, for everything."
Parting ways with the lawyer, Kagome walked toward her apartment with her brother. "It's late, you can stay at my place tonight. Call mom to let her know."
"It's so late." Souta whimpered like a child in trouble. "She's going to kill me."
"Oh, you're going to get chewed out for sure tomorrow, but I'll keep your police run-in a secret." She said in assurance. Kagome wasn't one to keep things from her mother but considering how the night was resolved, she decided to spare her mother the aggravation. "And you owe Miroku big time."
"Why does he have a lawyer on hand anyways?" He wondered aloud.
"Just be glad he does." She said. "You better call him to say thank you and happy birthday. You're lucky he's watching your back."
"He's going get a huge present from me." He pledged. "And I'm never going to get into a stranger's car ever again."
She shot him look at his mocking tone, but relented with a sigh. "I guess it's partly my fault for not telling you to avoid Kouga. I just never thought you two would ever run into each other."
He was uncharacteristically quiet for a long moment. It was another half a block before he finally said something. "He kept asking about you but had all these women around him at the party. The lady that spilled my drink? She was sitting on his lap when she spilled it." He shook his head. "I was going to say something if you were still dating."
Kagome thought back on everything she learned about the man and winced internally at her gullibility. "We were never really dating. And it's completely over between us."
"Find out he's an asshole?" He queried.
"More than you know." She answered vaguely.
"I thought I was going to have to give him a talking to." He joked and bumped her hip with his own. "No one deserves my superhero big sis other than another superhero."
She laughed at his attempt at brotherly protectiveness -a trait he was showing now that he was getting a little older. "A talking to? Well, lucky for Kouga I'm sparing him the grief. As it is, I might yell at him over the phone."
Souta frowned. "Just ignore him. He's not worth your time."
Kagome knew all too well that what her brother said was true. Kouga was one of those people you meet in life that are so charming that they make a great first impression. But first impressions can be fleeting and sometimes the real personality of the person can surprise you and be off base from what you previously thought. Kagome started wondering if in actuality she was a terrible judge of people.