Disclaimer:
A/N Alrighty folks, here I am again! Can't get enough of me, can you? Sorry about the slight delay, but it was Easter weekend and a bunch of my family members came to visit and so yeah...
Okay, for all of you eager to try the water glass trick, just a heads up that it must be a wine glass you try it in. And yes, Fiery Love, the sound really does carry that far.
And Miranda, thanks for the compliments (^______^), but you're going to have to wait for awhile until Inuyasha and Kagome kiss. After all, we've only just started to get into the romantic relationships. ^_~ But don't worry, we'll get there.
Oh, and lady lilacks, in regards to The Truth About Fluffy, I didn't make a spelling error with Sesshoumaru's sword. His father left him the Tensaiga and he left Inuyasha the Tetsusaiga. Sorry about the confusion! And I'm not sure if my friends and I will something like that for the other characters, but you never know; we might be struck with brilliance like we were with Fluffy. Although, I was considering turning The Truth About Fluffy into a documentary on our good ol' pal, Sesshoumaru...Could be interesting, eh?
Okey dokey, that's all I have to say...on with the much awaited chapter!
~*~
"Come on, Ayame!" Sango whispered urgently. "We have to go before she wakes up! What are you doing in there that's taking so long?!"
"I doing my hair!" Ayame's muffled whisper came to her through her bedroom door.
"What for?" Sango asked smugly. "To impress Kouga?"
"Of course not!" Ayame said, a little too quickly. A few moments later, she came out of her room, her hair in an elegant french braid.
"Suuuure you're not," Sango muttered as they descend the stairs and grabbed their jackets.
"I'm not!" Ayame sniffed indignantly. "I did my hair this nice because...well, because...because it's Kagome's birthday, that's why!" She nodded her head as she found a suitable excuse.
"Uh huh," Sango continued, disbelievingly, as they exited the condo as quietly as possible to walk over to the boys' condo.
"It's true!" Ayame insisted. "It's a special occasion and I want to look nice!"
"Oh, I believe you," Sango said in a tone that clearly said she didn't.
"You better!" Ayame said. "Because it'd be really bad if you believed that I was using the excuse of a special occasion to dress up in hopes of impressing a totally hot hunk such as Kouga, who makes my stomach flutter whenever he's near!" she sputtered out in one breath. After a moment of breathing hard and contemplating what she'd just said while Sango regarded her with a smug expression, she blushed like mad and redirected her attention to the direction in which they were headed.
"I thought so..." Sango said smugly as they reached the condo.
Ayame turned to her and pointed a finger in her face. "Not. A. Word."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Sango replied, grinning, as they walked up the inside stairs to the boys' condo. They knocked on the door and waited.
After a minute or two, Kouga opened the door, bleary-eyed and still in his pajamas. He looked at them for a moment before it clicked as to what he was seeing, and then his face registered shock.
Embarrassed that they had caught him in such a state, he hastily tried to fix his tousled hair and gave them a lopsided grin. "What're you guys doing here so early?"
Ayame giggled at his bedraggled appearance. "We're here to set up a semi-surprise party for Kagome," she explained.
"But why'd ya come so early?" Kouga yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"To prepare it, silly," Sango said, holding up a large bag. "We have to decorate, you know."
"Well, you decorate and I'll sleep," Kouga mumbled, walking back into the condo and leaving the door open for them.
"Oh, no you don't, pal," Ayame said as she and Sango entered. "You're helping; so is Miroku."
"Why not Inuyasha?!" Kouga asked indignantly as he shuffled towards Miroku's room and knocked on the door.
Sango rolled her eyes. "Well SOMEONE's got to keep Kagome occupied when she wakes up and wonders where we all are. Since the job of decorating definitely requires a woman's touch, and Inuyasha has no present to prepare, we decided to nominate him."
Kouga shrugged. Just then, Miroku opened his door and shuffled out to find out what the knock on the door was for. He stopped dead, however, when he saw Sango and Ayame staring at him. With a grimace, he looked down at what he knew would be his violet nightgown and at Scruffles, his stuffed bunny who was loosely clutched in his right hand.
"Uh...I can explain!" Miroku blurted out in near panic.
"This should be interesting," Ayame said between giggles as Sango just stared in complete shock.
"Um...well...I-I've always worn a nightgown...uh...I think they're warmer and, uh...lots of guys wear them! It's not unnatural and it's a perfectly manly thing to wear!" Miroku finished defiantly.
"You just go on thinkin' that, bud," Kouga said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Meanwhile, I don't think you can even PRETEND that that's true about Scruffles." He indicated the stuffed bunny in Miroku's hand.
"Well...I've had him since I was a kid..." Miroku muttered pitifully.
"That's so cute!" Sango proclaimed suddenly. "I can just see a mini-Miroku holding Scruffles!"
Miroku looked at her blankly. "You don't think...? And the night gown...?"
Sango brushed him off with a wave of her hand. "My dad wears one too. He also claims it's warmer. I just never thought I'd find someone else who wore one. Kinda surprised me for a minute there, but it's all good now."
Kouga coughed uncomfortably. "Well, then...um, I'll get Inuyasha up so we can force-I mean, convince-him to go over to your condo at this ungodly hour and then Miroku and I shall get dressed in order to help you guys, er...'decorate'."
"Decorate for what?" Miroku asked, confused.
"For Kagome's birthday," Ayame hissed. "We obviously need to have a party."
"Oh, clearly," Miroku said sarcastically. "Alright, Kouga; let's go get Inuyasha up." He began to roll up his sleeves and head towards Inuyasha's room, Kouga in tow.
"Is it a two man operation or something?" Ayame asked jokingly as she noticed where both of them were headed.
"You have no idea," Kouga called back as they opened the bedroom door and went inside.
After about ten minutes of scuffling, yelling, pounding, thudding, shouting, cursing, yanking, smacking and begging, the two boys were successful in getting Inuyasha out of bed...only to begin the process again to get him up off of the floor. Then they shoved him into the bathroom with a clean set of clothes where he took a shower half asleep. He stumbled out, fully clothed and then clumsily put on his skiing gear with a bit of help from Miroku and Kouga, before being shoved out the door with the girls' condo's key card in his pocket.
He stumbled down the stairs and out the door, taking a few tries before he was able to successfully step into his skis. Then he proceeded to slowly ski over to the other condo, eyes half closed and oblivious to the cold air on his face. Once at his destination, he eventually popped himself out of his skis and headed up the inside stairs to the girls' condo. Slipping the key card in and out of the lock, he opened the door and deposited his skis against the wall before removing his ski boots and jacket. Then he sleepily made his way out to the TV room and noticed Kagome wasn't to be seen; most likely due to the fact that she probably hadn't woken up yet. He gratefully collapsed on the couch and promptly fell asleep once again.
~*~
Kagome yawned and sat up in her bed. "Another awesome day of this awesome trip," she sighed blissfully. "And it's my birthday! Yipee! I'm seventeen! I've got to go annoy Sango and Ayame about it!"
She scrambled out of bed and to her two friends' rooms, puzzled to find neither of them there and not hearing any noise from downstairs. She shrugged and went back to her room to prepare to take her shower. Once she was done and dressed, she scampered happily down the stairs to the main room. She stopped dead in her tracks however when she thought she saw something truly shocking on the couch.
Just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, she reversed her steps and came down the stairs a second time. Sure enough, Inuyasha was fast asleep on her couch.
Blinking in confusion, Kagome advanced towards him to get a closer look at the hot boy before her. He looked so relaxed and peaceful in his sleep and she had to giggle at the contrast from when he was awake. She noticed a lock of silver hair had fallen in his face and, without thinking, she reached out and brushed it away. Her hand stayed where it was even after she'd completed the action, though, and Inuyasha, still asleep, leaned towards it so that his cheek was cupped in her palm.
By this time, Kagome was blushing furiously, but wanted to do anything but pull back her hand. His skin felt smooth under her touch, and a few silky hairs from his gorgeous mane grazed the back of her hand.
As he stirred slightly, Kagome yanked her hand away as if it had burned. Inuyasha groggily rose to a sitting position, his hand going automatically to his cheek where the source of warmth had disappeared.
"Kagome...?" he asked uncertainly as his eyes focused on the red-faced girl in front of him. "What're you doin' here...?"
At the odd question, Kagome forgot about her earlier embarrassment. "What do you mean, 'what am I doing here?' What are YOU doing here? This is MY condo."
Inuyasha looked around, confused for a moment, before realization lit up his eyes. "Oh, right! Something about...Miroku...and Ayame...and Kouga...and Sango...um...oh, yeah! They were gonna dec-uh...go skiing...early...um..."
"Without me?!" Kagome asked in a pitifully depressed voice.
"Uh..." Inuyasha said, trying to think fast in his sleepy mind. "They sent me to, um, get you and take you skiing...I'm sure we'll find them out there," Inuyasha finished hurriedly, hoping she wouldn't take her friends' abandonment of her too seriously. He quickly added, "Oh, and did I mention happy birthday?"
Kagome's disappointed look rapidly changed to one of sheer happiness and she launched herself at Inuyasha. "Thanks, Inuyasha! You know what? You're the first person to see me as a seventeen year old!"
"Um...that's great...I guess...will you honour me with the gift of oxygen now...?" Inuyasha's muffled voice asked as she practically smothered him in her hug.
"Oh, sorry!" she apologized as she scrambled off of him. After staring at each other uncomfortably for a few minutes, she tentatively offered, "Hey...? Do you want some breakfast?"
Inuyasha bolted up from the couch. "Yes! But I'll cook!"
Kagome's eyes softened. "Aw, that's so sweet! You'd do that for me on my birthday?"
"Uh..." Inuyasha's eyes darted back and forth frantically. 'Maybe I shouldn't mention to her that I don't trust her to cook any more breakfasts...' he thought. Out loud, he said a bit forcefully, "Who wouldn't?"
Kagome gave him her brightest smile and Inuyasha noticed his knees weren't as strong as they were a few moments ago. He gave her a small grin before turning and walking stiffly to the kitchen before she sprung any more surprise emotional attacks on him.
He ended up cooking some delicious french toast with some bacon on the side. Kagome was practically drooling from the smell by the time he was done and she eyed the food hungrily as he placed it before her. They both dug into it with ferocity and everything he'd cooked was gone in a matter of minutes.
"That was good."
"Yup..."
"So..."
"So..."
"Dishes?"
"I guess so..."
"Don't get up too quickly or anything."
"You either."
Grumbling and groaning, the two teenagers rose and reluctantly shuffled over to the sink where the dishes used for cooking needed to be washed. They got out some soap and started pouring water into the sink. They began calmly washing and drying the dirty dishes which, inevitably, quickly turned into all-out bubble warfare.
~*~
"Just put the party favour down, Kouga," Ayame pleaded.
Kouga looked at her blankly for a moment before blowing the annoying noisemaker in her face.
Ayame watched with crossed eyes as the party favour unfurled and lightly touched her nose before she exploded. "Urgh! I'm so going to get you, Kouga!" Ayame yelled, lunging for the source of her frustration. He lead her in a chase around the room, periodically blowing into the party favour as he ran.
Meanwhile, Sango was attempting to pin a large, decorative star high up on one of the walls. Miroku watched her unsuccessful attempts for a moment before going up to her. "Need some help, my dear lady?" he asked gallantly.
Sango gave him a brief suspicious glance before conceding. Miroku knelt down on the ground and Sango climbed atop his shoulders. Miroku rose slowly and walked unsteadily towards the wall.
"Don't you dare drop me," Sango warned.
"I wouldn't dream of dropping you, Sango," Miroku said.
Sango could detect such an intense sincerity in his words that it shocked her enough to drop the star she was holding. It fell to the ground with a thud.
Miroku looked down at it with a raised eyebrow. "Though you obviously don't feel the same way about that star," he commented dryly.
"My hand slipped," Sango muttered, very grateful Miroku couldn't see her red face.
At that moment, the phone rang.
Kouga changed direction and headed toward the ringing contraption, Ayame still hot on his heels. He grabbed the phone, stopping suddenly, causing Ayame to collide with his back. "Hello?"
After a few brief moments, Kouga went pale and responded shakily, "M-mother?"
He winced noticeably when a woman's voice rose in pitch through the phone and into his poor ear. "It's not what you think!" Kouga protested to the screeching. "Ayame and I are just friends...well, of course I'm on first name basis with her! ...Because she thought it might help me get over my reporter phobia! We're only pretending...! ...No? I'm not allowed!? What do you mean?! Are you trying to tell me I can't even have a friend that's a girl? But, mom," Kouga said in a very whiny voice. "That's not fair! I'm almost eighteen; a legal adult!"
A snicker was heard behind him.
"Ayame! You're not helping!" Kouga hissed, turning around to face her. In response to the woman's raised voice on the other end of the line, he said into the phone, "Uh...eh, heh...yeah, she's here...right now...But Miroku and Sango are here too! ...Who's Sango? Uh...another female friend...? No...? Bad? Wrong? Not allowed? Mother...!"
By this time, Sango was laughing so hard, she was having a hard time balancing on Miroku's shoulders.
"But...but...but...mom...! Why not...?" Kouga's voice was very whiny by this time and everyone else in the room was practically in tears.
After a few moments, Kouga turned sullenly to Ayame. "She wants to talk to you," he said, holding out the phone.
Ayame straightened and shakily held out her hand to receive the phone. Suppressing her giggles, she said hesitantly, "Um...hello? ...This is Ayame...I'm, uh...half-dating Kouga...it's what the public believes, but we're really just pretending...he's not allowed to socialise with females until he's twenty-five?! What kind of rule is that?! I mean! Uh...no offense or anything, but that doesn't seem very fair...please, Mrs...uh, Kouga's Mom? He's a really great guy; I mean, you raised him incredibly well...did I mention he has great manners? And amazing fashion sense?"
By this time, Miroku and Sango were rocking unsteadily with laughter at the completely false statements while Kouga and Ayame were trying to motion to them to be quiet.
"Uh...yes! He's a very nice boy...yes, very innocent...I wouldn't dream of manipulating him...yes, very naive...I completely agree with you, but I assure you, I would never even consider doing something so cruel and inhumane to your poor, sweet boy...he's in very good hands...yes...yes...alright! It's been lovely talking to you, Atrina...yes, I hope to talk to you again soon too...Bye!" With a smile, Ayame replaced the phone on the receiver and turned back to Kouga who was looking at her with a completely dumbfounded expression.
"D-did you j-just...?"
"Yup!" Ayame said brightly. "You can now keep us girls within your presence. Isn't that great? Flattery can really get you places!"
"B-but how...?"
"Don't worry yourself about it, Kouga. It's all been taken care of," Ayame said, putting an arm awkwardly around his shoulders and guiding him away from the phone. "Isn't it awesome, though? You are semi-free from your mother's control and now you can-"
She was abruptly cut off as Kouga blew on the party favour he had replaced in his mouth.
"Kouga...!!! I'm gonna kill you!" Ayame shouted as she pounced at him.
~*~
"You're really starting to get the hang of this!" Inuyasha praised Kagome as she skidded to a halt beside him at the bottom of the hill.
"Man, it's so much more fun this way than the way I was doing it before!" Kagome exclaimed. "I feel so in control and free and so much better than before!"
Inuyasha chuckled. "Yup, but let's go back to the top. Do you mind if we practice wide sweeping turns down the hill. That's what the first race of the competition is like and I need to be prepared."
As they boarded the chairlift, Kagome turned to him. "Do you mind explaining a bit about this competition to me, though? I don't really know how it's set up or anything."
Inuyasha shrugged. "Well, first you have to know how ski racing's like and what the two kinds of ski racing are. Basically, in a ski race, each racer goes down one at a time and they must ski through a bunch of gates, which are really just poles stuck into the snow, until they cross the finish line at the bottom. The gates are staggered back and forth across the hill and you must ski through each and every one of them to qualify. You're timed for how long it takes you to go through them all and reach the bottom. You get two runs through the course and the skier with the best combined time wins. With me so far?"
Kagome nodded and he continued. "Now, as for the two types of courses, there's slalom and GS. GS stands for giant slalom. In a slalom course, the gates are closer together and it requires a lot of skill to be able to manoeuver through them and keep up your speed. In a GS course, the gates are spread widely across the hill and the winner is mostly determined by the racer who can pick up the most speed. More racers usually do well in the GS since it requires a little less skill. I prefer the slalom because you get so close to the gates, you get to hit them with the base of the handle on your poles. It's called bashing the gates and it's really great for taking out your frustration," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "But I also really like the slalom because it challenges me more than the GS. It's where the less skilled get weeded out usually..."
"That sounds really neat. I had no idea what ski racing was really like," Kagome said.
"Yeah," Inuyasha snorted. "One person once asked me if all the racers just kinda skied down the hill at the same time and tried to push each other out of the way to reach the bottom first. What a way to determine a person's ski racing ability that would be!"
Kagome giggled. "That would be pretty funny to watch, though..."
"Yeah, hilarious. But anyway, the competition this week will have both types of courses in it; the GS on Wednesday and the slalom on Thursday. Since the GS is first, I want to practice my wide, sweeping turns across the hill; the ones I'll need for that race," Inuyasha continued.
"Makes sense," Kagome nodded. "Oh, here's our stop! Let's go!"
The two hopped off the chairlift and headed for a nearby blue square hill. Inuyasha went down first, taking his wide turns, and Kagome did her best to follow in his wake. When they finished that run, they went back up to the top and took a few more similar runs before Inuyasha pulled off his glove and looked at his watch speculatively.
"That should just about do it..." he muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing," Inuyasha said quickly. "But I'm kinda hungry; how 'bout you?" Before Kagome had a chance to reply, he continued, "I agree. Let's go to my condo and I'll make you some birthday lunch. Maybe we'll find our other four elusive friends while we're at it..."
Kagome's eyes darkened. "Yeah! Where are they, anyway?! It's my birthday..."
"No time to brood; must eat!" Inuyasha said, pushing Kagome down the hill and following after.
"Ahhh! Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled as she flew down the hill.
Kagome didn't get a chance to chew Inuyasha out as he shot past her, heading for the boys' condo. She hurriedly followed suit and practically had to run to keep up with him and he popped out of his skis and dashed up the inside stairs of the building. Slipping his key card in and out of the lock, he opened the door to the dark condo.
"Wonder why the drapes are drawn?" Kagome said out loud as she walked in behind Inuyasha.
Suddenly, Inuyasha flicked the light switch on and the loud blaring of a party favour blew directly in Kagome's ear.
"Surprise!" the voices of her four missing friends shouted.
~*~
A/N Okay, finishing it there! More birthday fun next chapter! And I mean A LOT more birthday fun...you all have no idea...
And if anyone wants me to explain the ski racing thing more thoroughly, just tell me in your review or email me and I'll put another explanation in my next chapter's A/N. Okay? Okay!
Alright, must get this posted now, and again, sorry about the three day delay, but I'd still love to hear from you about this chapter! ^_^ Talk to ya later!