Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. You don't own Inuyasha. You know, I'm beginning to see a pattern here. I bet that NOBODY on this site owns Inuyasha. Crazy theory, eh?
A/N Alrighty, then; here I am with your new chapter! ^_^
I've surpassed 300 reviews!!! This is incredible! Thankies muchos to Sleep walking chicken and HAP for being my 300th reviewer! Wow...that's a big number...I love you guys!!!
Spirit Demon, I appreciate your request, but I mostly already have this fic planned out, and I can't see any place where I would be able to put it; sorry! ^_^'
Amieva, yay! A fellow Ontario dweller! ^_^ Yes, my advice for the day: don't go cross-country skiing. Uh uh. Compared to alpine skiing, cross-country is the most boring sport around! Ice-skating's fun, though. ^_^
Sleep walking chicken and HAP, and KagomeHigurashi66, um...we don't have DDR up here (not that I know of, anyway), although from reading various fics, I've figured out what it is. So I really wouldn't know if "Butterfly" is from that; I only know that it was a song used in my dance recital last year. If your DDR song is a woman singing about being a butterfly and searching for her samurai all across Japan, then I guess it's the same song. ^_^
Spacewolf? S-Spacewolf?! You've finally come and reviewed me??? What do I owe you for the honour of your presence, lol? And yes, you can have a virtual donut, too. But only if you ask REALLY nicely. ^_~
Angel Of Joy, you're gonna have to hold on a bit longer. The presents will probably be handed out either next chapter or the one after that.
And, for those of you who don't already know, I have another kind-of-one-shot, lol. It's basically what my friends and I believe to be Sesshoumaru's ultimate motive behind everything he does, and 25 reasons to back it up. I'd love it if you'd check it out; it's another humour/parody (can't get enough of those, can I?).
And I'd like once again to dish out some credit to my friend, Spacewolf, for helping me out with the evil and funny events of this chapter...
~*~
"I hate you."
"I hate you more, brother."
"Will you guys shut up?!" Sango burst through the brothers' "dispute." "How many times do you two have to repeat those lines until you have in your heads that you hate each other?!"
"It will take several more times to get the notion through my brother's thick skull," Sesshoumaru replied in a monotone voice as his hands gripped the steering wheel of the van they were currently all riding in.
"Hey!" Inuyasha snapped. As he lunged at his brother from the back seat, he was restrained by Miroku and Kouga on either side of him and Rin, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"You really must learn to control your temper, brother," Sesshoumaru said calmly. "It will do wonders for your social skills."
"Oh, like you have a ton of them yourself," Inuyasha sneered as they pulled into the parking lot of a fancy restaurant.
"To tell the truth," Rin interrupted as they all exited the vehicle. "I think your social skills are just about equal."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sesshoumaru asked, turning to regard his ice dance partner.
"Neither of you have any!" Kouga and Ayame snapped simultaneously.
Both the brothers' mouths snapped shut and they turned their backs to the rest of the group and walked towards the restaurant, leaving the others behind.
Rolling their eyes, the six others followed them into the building and to a larger table that could accommodate their entire group. Sitting down, they all picked up their menus and began browsing.
After a few moments, Sesshoumaru spoke up. "Oh, look, Rin. Cindy made it."
The heads of everyone at their table swivelled around to watch a middle aged, flaming orange-haired woman toddle in, give them a brief glance, and sit down at a table a fair ways away.
"Now, Cindy! Is that hundred metres?" Sesshoumaru called out through the classy restaurant. Many of the customers glared at him for interrupting their meal and the quaint atmosphere of the restaurant.
The woman almost on the other side of the building plucked out a tape measure and held onto one end as she gave the other to a nearby waiter and gave him a few instructions. Looking completely appalled, the smartly dressed man carried his end of the tape measure all the way to where Sesshoumaru was waiting. Upon having it in his possession, Sesshoumaru regarded it critically.
"Ah, one hundred and one. Very good, Cindy!" Sesshoumaru plucked a photo of himself and a pen out of an inner pocket in his jacket and hastily signed it. Handing it to the stupefied waiter, he said, "Would you mind handing this to the orange-haired lady over there? Tell her it's for being good and abiding by the law."
Trying to keep his dignity, the waiter stiffly walked back to Cindy and handed the photo to her with a few words. Cindy grasped the photo tightly and began showering it with kisses and snuggling it.
Sesshoumaru turned back to the table and took a sip of his water as the other seven shuddered collectively.
"Gah! What was that?!" Sango proclaimed.
Sesshoumaru regarded her calmly. "One of my many stalkers, Cindy. One of the better ones, actually; she's abiding by the restraining order. What ever happened to your stalker, brother? Jodi, wasn't it?"
"Jodi?" Kagome asked, surprised. "You have a stalker, too?" She looked questioningly at Inuyasha
Inuyasha growled. "She's currently in jail. Crazy girl."
Just then the waitress serving them came up and requested their orders.
"Rin will have the chicken teriyaki, a caesar salad, and a glass of white milk," Sesshoumaru said. "And I'll have-"
"The same," Rin cut in.
The others quickly ordered their meals and the waitress walked off.
"Why did you order that for me, Rin?" Sesshoumaru said calmly, but with a slight edge to his voice.
"Because you ordered for me, and I thought we could have the same thing," Rin said, cheerful as ever. She met Sesshoumaru's glare dead on and after a few moments, jutted her lower lip out in a slight pout and gave him the best puppy eyes she could muster.
"Damn you," Sesshoumaru muttered, conceding and looking away.
"Yay!" Rin chirped, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him sideways.
Sesshoumaru just continued to sip at his water, as if nothing had happened; or as if this happened often.
"It certainly is...interesting...hanging out with Sesshoumaru, isn't it?" Ayame whispered to Kouga.
He shook his head. "You have no idea. For a guy that has a very limited personality, 'interesting' just seems to follow him around."
"Hey! Fluffy has a personality!" Rin protested. "A big one, too!"
"Fluffy?" Kagome cut in. "Why do you keep calling him Fluffy?"
At this, a large smirk crossed Inuyasha's features and he hastily fished out his wallet. "Here, I'll show you," he said as he plucked out various photos. "Every skating competition, Sesshoumaru's costume contains something fluffy." He flicked through the photos, allowing Kagome to see some of Sesshoumaru's past costumes, all accompanied by fluffy vests, hats, hair accessories, and any other possible thing that could be made to be fluffy.
"Rin keeps doing that. I have no say in what my costumes are," Sesshoumaru said stiffly. Then his eyes narrowed. "Why do still keep those photos around, brother?"
"Because you won't get rid of those humiliating pictures of me!" Inuyasha snarled.
"Ah, yes," Sesshoumaru said, fishing out his own wallet. "I'd almost forgotten about those." Upon pulling out what he had been searching for, he gave it a flick and a score of photos tumbled out in plastic sheaths. Holding one up, he said, "Here we are; Inuyasha's ice cream experience when he was six." He took the picture out of its sheath and threw it down on the table so that everyone could see. A picture of an adorable Inuyasha with chocolate ice cream all over his face, including his forehead, and all in his hair. His large golden eyes looked earnestly at the camera.
"Oh, my gosh!" Kagome squealed, grabbing the picture. "So cute!"
Inuyasha, who had been glaring at Sesshoumaru, felt a blush creep along his cheeks as Kagome examined the photo and periodically squealed.
"And," Sesshoumaru continued as he plucked another picture out of its sheath and threw it on the table. "Inuyasha's similar ice cream experience from last year."
They all scuttled forward to get a better look at the picture. It didn't take long for the majority of the table to burst out laughing. The photo was practically a duplicate of the previous one, although Inuyasha was, of course, older and was glaring at the camera.
"How exactly did you manage to do that, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked curiously.
"Shut up, Miroku," Inuyasha growled.
Kagome giggled and held up the more recent photo so she could hold it and compare it to the younger one next to it. "You're hilarious, Inuyasha!"
"Yes, he is rather amusing, isn't he?" Sesshoumaru said blandly.
"You want to see something funny?" Inuyasha threatened. "How about this?"
He delved into his wallet and produced a photo of a decidedly unhappy Sesshoumaru, who had his long silver hair wrapped up in an elegant french braid behind his head.
Sesshoumaru glared daggers at his younger brother across from him as the others cracked up.
"What a nice look!" Ayame said, laughing so hard, tears came to her eyes. "Did you just come from the salon?"
Rin was laughing as well. "That was when Sesshoumaru and I made a bet on to what extent Jaken would go to make Fluffy happy. I won and got to french braid his hair! It was so great!"
"At least one of us thinks so," Sesshoumaru muttered darkly.
Inuyasha noticed Kagome eyeing his hair out of the corner of his eye. "Don't even think about it!" he said as he turned to her.
"Oh, fine. But you're no fun," she pouted.
"What would it take for you to return that photo to me, brother?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Inuyasha said offhandedly. "Whatcha got?"
"As much as it pains me, what about this one?" Sesshoumaru said, throwing a new picture down on the table.
Everyone peered at a picture of the top half of Inuyasha, nude and in the shower as he sung into a bottle of Herbal Essences. Inuyasha sputtered and grabbed the photo off of the table as he chucked the picture of Sesshoumaru with his hair french braided at his older brother.
"I can't believe you just showed that to everyone!" Inuyasha proclaimed disbelievingly.
"Ah, well; you'll get over it," Sesshoumaru stated calmly as he ripped up the photo Inuyasha had thrown at him.
"Yeah, well, maybe you won't be so calm when I show them a picture of your first kiss!" Inuyasha snarled.
A twitch of Sesshoumaru's left eye was the only indication that he'd heard him. "What do you want, brother? The pony picture or the hamster one?"
A smug look spread over Inuyasha's face. "Neither. They're not nearly good enough. Something better; this is a pretty valuable picture. I could let it get out to the media and then, oh! what a field day they'd have!"
"Don't you DARE," Sesshoumaru said threateningly.
"Give me something good, then," Inuyasha said leaning forward.
Sesshoumaru stared at him for a moment before making a decision. "Fine. I'll trade you your first driver's licence photo for it. You know, the one that was so bad, you went and PAID to get a retake?"
Inuyasha blanched and looked frantically at his brother. "I thought that was burned!"
"Well, you thought wrong, brother," Sesshoumaru said. "Now do we have a deal?"
"Fine!" Inuyasha snapped. "On the count of three; one...two...three!"
The two brothers hastily exchanged photos without letting the others see. Then they each popped them into their mouths and began chewing. After a few bites, they washed down the horrible pictures with their glasses of water.
"Ummm..." Ayame said. "Were they really that bad?"
Rin laughed. "You have no idea."
Just then, their food arrived and their conversation was interrupted as their waitress placed their orders before them.
"I have a proposition for you, brother," Sesshoumaru said as the others dug into their food around him. "How about I give you back the spandex speed suit pictures for the babysitting ones?"
Inuyasha coughed out the spaghetti noodles he currently had stuffed in his mouth. "What?! Give up the babysitter series!? Not on your life! Even if it would be for the pictures of me in all my past speed suits. Those aren't all that embarrassing anyway. You're trying to swindle me!"
"Would I do that, little brother?" Sesshoumaru said, his tone not betraying whether or not he was sarcastic.
"Gee, lemme think...Uh, yes," Inuyasha spat without a moment's hesitation. "Because you're a jerk."
"Must be a family trait," Kagome muttered next to him.
Inuyasha spun on her. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he asked in a strangled voice.
"You're moderately smart," Kouga cut in. "You figure it out."
Inuyasha glared at him and stuffed a large amount of spaghetti in his mouth.
Halfway through their meal, Rin suddenly nudged Sesshoumaru. "Fluffy...John's here," she said in a nervously, almost scared tone.
Everyone looked up to see a man, most likely in his twenties or thirties come into the restaurant and gaze greedily at Rin before waiting for someone to come and seat him at a table.
Sesshoumaru stood briskly. "Excuse me a moment, would you? I must have a word with Rin's stalker."
The group left at the table watched as Sesshoumaru went over to "John" and guided him forcefully out of the restaurant. After five minutes, he returned, looking extremely satisfied with himself.
"What did you do to him?" Sango asked.
Sesshoumaru glanced at her. "That's for me to know and you not to...ever."
Rin sighed in relief as Sesshoumaru sat elegantly back down beside her. "That guy creeps me out!" she declared. "I mean, not even the restraining order daunts him!" Everyone shuddered. Rin smiled at Sesshoumaru. "Luckily Sesshy's nice enough to get rid of him every time he shows up."
"It would be terribly inconvenient if I were to lose my ice dancing partner," Sesshoumaru said as way of explanation.
"Ahhh," Inuyasha sighed as he finished his spaghetti and leaned back in his chair. "That was delicious!"
"You think that any form of pasta's delicious, dog-turd," Kouga said as he finished his steak.
Inuyasha yawned as a response. "What's for dessert?" he asked.
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. "Children. I can't believe I'm stuck with such an immature child."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes in imitation of his older brother. "She-male. I can't believe I'm trapped in a room with a she-male."
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly, but all he did was take another delicate bite of his chicken teriyaki.
Bored while waiting for everyone else to finish their meals, Inuyasha leaned forward and propped his elbow on the table, chin in hand. Then, with his other hand, he dipped his finger in his still fairly full water glass. Bringing it out, he began gliding it around the rim of the glass, producing a ringing, musical sound.
Equally bored, Kouga joined in with his water glass.
"Hey!" Ayame exclaimed watching them. "How do you do that? I've never been able to!"
"It's simple," Kouga said. "Here, dip your finger into the water and then just glide it around the rim of your glass until the sound's produced. You've got to do it just the right way, though, or else nothing will happen."
"'Kay," Ayame said, turning all her attention to the glass in front of her. "Here goes." She dipped her finger in and slid it around the rim, producing slight squeaking sounds here and there.
"You've kind of got it," Miroku cut in. "Here; allow me." He produced a beautiful, melodic sound when he did it.
"Ha! I can do better than that!" Sango proclaimed. She took her own water glass and stole Ayame's, who was still struggling with it. Then, drinking a bit out of both, she dipped both her fingers and slid them around the rims. "There; a chord," she said proudly.
"Come on, Fluffy!" Rin said gleefully as she and Kagome joined in. "Try it!"
"I refuse to lower myself to that level," Sesshoumaru said unemotionally. "Besides; I just drank the last of my water."
Just then, a waiter rushed by them and to the back of the restaurant.
"What's his hurry?" Sango asked curiously.
Miroku shrugged. "Got someone the wrong order?" He continued playing with his water glass.
After a few moments the same waiter met with another close to their table.
"Did you check the cables?" one asked the other.
"Yeah, they're fine," the other responded frantically.
"The customers are growing disgruntled. Find the problem and fix it," the first waiter hissed.
The eight seated at the table nearby continued playing their water glasses, excluding Sesshoumaru, and looked on curiously.
The two waiters separated, the first to calm the dissatisfied customers and the other to find out whatever the problem was.
Kouga shrugged and turned back to Ayame. "No, no," he said as she attempted to play the water glass she had reclaimed from Sango. "You're pressing too hard. Feel it out."
Ayame stuck her tongue between her teeth in concentration and tried again. This time, she managed to produce a lovely, pleasing tone.
"Oooh! Look, Kouga! I did it! I did it!" she said excitedly as the sound carried out throughout the restaurant.
The two waiters suddenly ran back and met by their table again.
"I just checked everything!" the one waiter declared. "There's nothing wrong with the sound system!"
"You checked the amplitude and everything?" the second waiter asked impatiently. "Then where in god's name is that sound coming from?!"
The eight at the table looked at each other in shock and then down at their water glasses they were still playing. They giggled nervously as the waiters slowly turned to them and glared in realization. All hands flew off of the glasses as the guilty party looked around at all the other diners glaring at them.
"Uh...oops?" Ayame laughed, strained.
~*~
"I can't believe they kicked us out!" Inuyasha said, outraged. "And without dessert!"
"Is that all you ever think about, brother?" Sesshoumaru asked, slightly annoyed. "I just can't believe they kicked me out as well! I wasn't doing anything so immature!"
"You were supposed to be 'keeping us in line'," Rin reminded him.
"I'm amazing and incredible, Rin," Sesshoumaru said. "But not even I can do the impossible."
Inuyasha let out a shocked gasp. "The annoying ass admits he's not perfect?!" he shouted sarcastically. "I'll have to ask Satan how his ice rink's holding up."
"Which reminds me, dog-turd," Kouga said. "I'm going to win the ski race competition next week."
"What makes you think so?" Inuyasha growled.
"As you said yourself, I would win when the devil straps on skates. Obviously," he said, indicating Sesshoumaru, "it's already happened."
Inuyasha snorted as Sesshoumaru remained poker faced. "I'll let you get second, Kouga," Inuyasha said between laughs. "'Cause I think Sesshoumaru's only the spawn of Satan."
"How kind of you, dear half-brother," Sesshoumaru said as he climbed in the driver's seat of the van. "Remind me to thank you later at your spandex contest."
Inuyasha's joyful expression slid off his face as he interpreted this comment. "What?! You're coming to the competition again?! Why won't you leave me alone?!"
"I always come to 'cheer you on,' little brother," Sesshoumaru said calmly as they began driving back towards the ski resort. "What makes this competition any different?"
"'Cause it's really important to me and I don't need your 'support'," Inuyasha sneered.
"Pity," Sesshoumaru said nonchalantly.
After fifteen more minutes of tense silence, Sesshoumaru pulled the van up beside the girls' condo and his car which he had left there previously.
As they all disembarked, Sesshoumaru handed the keys to Kagome and he and Rin headed towards his car. "See you next week, brother! Don't have too much fun without me!"
"Oh, we could never have any 'fun' without you, brother," Inuyasha snarled as he and Miroku and Kouga started off for their condo and the girls for theirs.
"Well, that was a perfectly detestable evening, wasn't it, Rin? Let's go back now so we can tell Jaken it's alright for him to stop standing on one leg," Sesshoumaru said blandly as he slid into the driver's seat of his own car.
Rin's giggle was his answer as they drove off into the night.
~*~
A/N And that's a wrap!
Is this the end of Sesshoumaru and Rin? Of course not! But you'll have to stay tuned to read about them later on. ^_____^
And that water glass incident was based off of a personal experience of mine, lol. I was at a banquet with a group of people and we got really bored waiting for our food to arrive. We all started to play with our water glasses and then a bunch of people started running around, checking the sound system, lol. We stopped when we realized that it was because of us and our musical glasses, and they didn't catch us like they did the Inu gang in this chapter. ^_^
And I'm sorry there wasn't a ton of fluff between any of the couples, but it just wasn't the right setting. It was Fluffy's time to shine, lol! But don't worry, Kagome's birthday's coming up the next day (Saturday), which IS the perfect setting (wink, wink).
Alright, not much more to say, but please check out my The Truth About Fluffy and The Ultimate Ending one-shots if you haven't already, 'cause I wuv 'em verra, verra much! ^_^ And, of course, I'd love to hear your comments/fav. parts of this chapter! Ah, Sesshoumaru, how cruel art I to thou...^_~