Author's Rant: You guys are truly too much. You deserve the world and more. I'll proof read later. Thanks so much. Please enjoy!


Loud and Clear


So much happened in the span of forty-five minutes, that Inuyasha's head is still spinning from the aftermath. Not only will he suffer the wrath of a scorn woman once he gets home, but also deal with the fact that he would miss out on the school pep rally. Today was their basketball team's home game, right before the semifinals and he was going to be forced to miss it. . . All because of the stupid, immature, fucked up antics of some fools who didn't know how to keep their personal problems freaking personal. How he even ended up in this mess still boggles him.

Inuyasha glances over his shoulder, scowling something fierce at the two responsible for landing him in this mess: Sesshomaru and Koga. The only upside is that he didn't have to be around these two by himself. It sucks Bankotsu got dragged into it, but he should be used to having after school retract by now.

Here's what happened. . .

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It all began with Bankotsu conjuring up this dumb idea to confront Sesshomaru with proof. Inuyasha knew directly telling Sesshomaru that he's on to him wouldn't really work unless they had evidence, but he didn't know of any way to get it. Bankotsu did and it involved breaking fifteen school rules all at once.

The plan starts off simple. Since Inuyasha and Bankotsu didn't share the same second class period, they could simultaneously excuse themselves to the bathroom. Both could only spare ten minutes to perform the next phase of their plan, which Inuyasha recalls being one million percent against.

"I don't like this," Inuyasha murmurs, poking his head around the corner of the hall. No signs of any teacher or students, thankfully. "I really, really don't like this."

Bankotsu sucks his teeth and glares over his shoulder. "Hey, if ya wanna be the one pickin' the lock, feel free to tag me out and I'll play watchman."

"If we get caught, that's gonna be my ass," Inuyasha hisses angrily. "Yours too. Lest you forgot your mama's 'bout as crazy as Freddy after baby booties!"

Bankotsu plucks vigorously at the clip bolt in Sesshomaru's locker door. "Yo' lay off, alright? My mama's saner then yours!"

"Like shit dude. Auntie Kagura annulated you with a cliff hanger for getting a C in class."

"So? That's tame. Aunt Izayoi chased after you with a gun when you called her by her first name. And for the record, I'm on her side with that one. You lost your rapid ass mind talkin' outta your neck that day."

"Shh, are you done yet?"

"Yeah, almost . . . got . . . it. . ." CLICK "Done!" Bankotsu plucks out his pick and unhooks the latch to the locker.

"Finally," sighs Inuyasha. "Lemme peek, you watch now."

Bankotsu switches places with him. If either of them would know what kind of proof to find, Inuyasha would recognize it first. The hanyou doesn't waste time, scanning the locker for clues. He looked over it first in case something randomly popped out in the well kempt space. For a guy who spends so much time making sure he's flawless, he keeps a very organized locker. All his books, folders, binders and notebooks are stacked parallel from thinnest to thickest. On the top shelf is a small collection of small size Gatorades and water bottles. A couple of the school scarves, colored crimson, gold and black, are hanging off metal hooks to the side, the interior wall paper is lined with pictures and posters of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Scotti Pippin and Shaq.

Inuyasha shakes his head when his eyes fall to a mirror glued to the back of the locker door too. He should've none he'd find definite proof of Sesshomaru's vainness, but the hanyou does use it to check the condition of his ears just in case they looked a tad on the fluffy side. Then he sighs. Nothing out of the ordinary inside it. Not at first glance, but he'd feel a little invasive if he digs deeper.

"Dude, what's up?" Bankotsu hisses impatiently. "Did you find anything?"

Inuyasha rubs behind his neck, lips pressed into a worried line. "Nah, not yet. . . Bank, we might need to abort. I don't feel right movin' through Sesshomaru's stuff."

"You say that after I leave my fingerprints on this dude's locker?!" Bankotsu lowers his voice, checks their surroundings, and then turns blazing blue eyes on his friend. "You complete asshole. We're not abortin' anything. I bet if the tables were turned Sesshomaru would've wrecked your locker!"

The hanyou still didn't look like he wanted to continue. Bankotsu sighs heavily, rolling his eyes.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, you can pray about it later. We'll go to church Sunday, even go to three o'clock for extra forgiveness, then all will be good. See? God'll forgive you. He has to. If he doesn't, we can always try Buddha."

Inuyasha smiles a little. He waves off the dark haired human and goes back to his mission. There's apprehension while he lightly moves aside some of the binders. If they're caught there's bound to be a month's worth of retract or worse, suspension. But a slight thrill runs through him at the prospect of finding some kind of indication behind Sesshomaru's feelings. And Inuyasha thinks he's found it when he moves aside a couple of coffee mugs to find one with his name neatly painted along the curvature.

The cheesiest smile tugs on his lips as Inuyasha pulls the decorative ceramic mug out to admire. It's gorgeous. The design's a glossy dark brown and smooth to the touch with a mixed lavender, blue, and green glazed spillage-like eruption spewing from the top. This is so thoughtful. Inuyasha inspects it around, looks inside and turns it upside down. That's where he finds a fine cursive message made out to him.

My love for you is overflowing.

Think of me whenever you take a sip. Cozy up to the warmth of your drink and know my love burns so much hotter.

I love you Inuyasha.

Butterflies tickled inside Inuyasha's belly. In an instant, all negative opinions about Sesshomaru evaporate. But just briefly. He wants to linger on the feelings put in him, but Inuyasha realizes he's overstayed his welcome and returns the mug to its rightfully place. Sesshomaru plans to give it to him anyway. Inuyasha can wait until the right moment to claim it as his. He hurries to straighten out the small mess he made, righting all the slanted stacks and papers. Then his eyes notice a small dark blue book nestled in the furthest corner of the locker.

It's labeled READ and DIE. Frowning, he reaches forward, fingers grazing over the cover, but a sudden bolt of chills race up and down his spine. The words READ and DIE seem so damn definite. But curiosity chewed at his conscience like a piranha. Given the journal's size, its tattered appearance, the cover's fading color . . . if Inuyasha didn't know any better . . . His eyes grow to the size of tires.

"Yash'!" Bankotsu whispers frantically. "Let's go. Five-0 dude!"

Inuyasha snatches the little journal, stuffs it in his pocket and re-secures Sesshomaru's locker. There's no time for them to return to their classes. In a short panic, the pair jerkily look around for a hiding place. Five-0 stands for the school principal patrolling the halls. No way in Hell they're going to get caught idling in the hallway. Principal Yura didn't play the fiddle for anyone.

Inuyasha beckons for Bankotsu to follow him down the hall. They hurry along to the janitor's closet and squeeze inside. It's a tight fit and the inside stunk of bleach and disinfectant. Inuyasha felt faint and would have if Bankotsu hadn't grabbed him. They waited quietly for the telltale signs of clicking heels to past, Bankotsu squirming against the mop stick jammed in his side and Inuyasha struggling to keep his eyesight focused.

Seconds panned into minutes. Either the woman was sidetracked or got molasses in her ass, but Inuyasha was on the verge of saying 'fuck it' and getting caught. Nothing's worse than this. He couldn't stand being forced to suck in all of these fumes. It was leaving his head all fuzzy.

Suddenly there's a commotion outside, but no way it's from the principal. It's way too loud. Inuyasha perks up, pressing his ear to the door, Bankotsu leaning in to listen to and wait. Footsteps move with a quickness, growing louder and heavy. The sense of dizziness temporarily leaves Inuyasha's thoughts when voices join in the tangle of noisy footsteps.

". . . comin' this way man!"

"We gotta hide."

"Where? Oh! There, there, see if it's locked!"

Inuyasha's grow wide when the door handle jiggles. No way. No, no, no, no, no.

The door yanks open.

He stares at Sesshomaru, positively horrified.

Sesshomaru looks him up and down in heightened surprise. "What the—" All words are cut off as he's shoved inside with Koga closing the door behind them.

"Why'd you hesitate, idiot? She almost saw us!" Koga snaps and makes to step back, but finds he's pressed against more than one body. He blinks stupidly and turns as much of his upper torso as he can around to see what in the name of Jesus is wrong with this picture.

He can scarcely make out Sesshomaru since he's closest, but the tiniest shifts and breathing alerts him to two other occupants hiding in the closet too. "Ya gotta be shittin' me. Who's that?" he hisses.

Inuyasha wanted to answer, by God he really wanted to.

But Sesshomaru's right there. He's right there. It shouldn't have been the first thing he noticed, being cramped in a one-person sized closet after all, but Inuyasha feels entitled to his lack of working brain cells. His senses were still on the fritz. It was becoming unbearably warm and . . . and . . . oh.

Inuyasha's eye shot open wide.

That was definitely not a broom stick poking into his hip. It's too hefty and hot.

Then speedy realization slams home at the twisted, entangled state of their bodies. Inuyasha's side is pressed flush to the wall, his legs crossed at the knees and his left hand smashed between his chest and Sesshomaru's. His right hand is locked in the grip of Koga's thigh and Bankotsu's hip. Inuyasha could deal with most of it. Being forced to mold to every inch of Sesshomaru's perfectly sculpted physique was a challenge.

He's frozen in place, too nervous to breath in case it causes some unnecessary friction, and certainly too scared to move. Though he was courteous enough to stay still, Sesshomaru wasn't. His hands hadn't moved from when they absently landed on Inuyasha's side and the other cupped dangerously tight over his hip, both burning through the hanyou's clothes like a hot iron.

"Oh my God," Inuyasha whimpered quietly, pushing his face into the wall. This is too much. God help him, he was close to milking his damn pants!

Inuyasha blows out a harsh sign and catches the tale end of Koga speaking, ". . . you and Inuyasha doin' in here?"

Somewhere in the dark, Bankotsu's probably flushed to the roots of his hair. Poor thing. Seeing Koga at a distance is one thing. Being stuck in the closet with him with barely enough room to breathe is likely doing a number on Bankotsu's heart rate. Inuyasha would shake his head if it didn't guarantee his face would get smashed in Sesshomaru's neck.

"Well, we—we were uh, s-skippin'. Thinkin' of headin' to Mickey D's for a bite. But we saw, uh, Ms. Yura comin' and we jumped in here."

Good cover. Inuyasha hums his agreement to the story.

Sesshomaru gives a harsh grunt that shoots a gush of warm breath over Inuyasha's pointed ears. The hanyou's sure his face erupts in red and shoves his elbow into the guy's side. "Do you mind?"

"What?" Sesshomaru snaps and retaliates by pinching the hanyou's hip. "I gotta breathe and why the hell are you outta class anyway?"

"Why are you?" Inuyasha shoots back.

"None of your business. Ow, damn it, who's foot is that?"

"Mine!" Koga barks. "Quit steppin' on it."

"Fuck it, hold on. I gotta move."

Inuyasha squeaks when Sesshomaru encircles his long arms around the hanyou's waist and easily lifts him in an entirely different position. "W-what are you doing?"

"Makin' some room," Sesshomaru answers coolly and finishes with his maneuvering until indeed there is more space. But just for him.

Inuyasha's suffering his significantly increased and all he can do is stare, stiff with shock. His entire front is perfectly flattened to the wall, his face turned towards the door. Somewhere in Sesshomaru's brain, he came up with the idea that him holding Inuyasha from behind would provide adequate space. Sure it did to some degree, but now this was much too intimate. Thick knotted muscles were aligned from the back of the hanyou's knees and up to his shoulder blades and he could feel every single cord like a second skin.

His breathing slightly labored when Sesshomaru's hips gently dipped and his dick sandwiched right between Inuyasha's ass cheeks.

Right . . .

This wasn't going to work. Inuyasha squirms to shift his hips to the side so that Sesshomaru lower extremities dig into his butt instead of between. It's a mild improvement, but not enough. He needed to get the fuck out of here.

"How much longer we gonna stay in here?" he whispers. He thinks he sees Koga shrug in the dark, but can't be sure if it's him or Bankotsu. One of them is facing the door, the other is standing on or near the other.

Inuyasha drums his fingers on the way, slowly getting used to this awkward position. Then balmy air lightly blows over his ear. He gives Sesshomaru credit for not knowing he's doing it, but the next time the airflow comes a tad more forcefully, sending powerful shockwaves throughout Inuyasha's body.

"Do you mind?" he hisses. "Stop blowing on my ears!"

"Shut up," Sesshomaru whispers heatedly. "I gotta breathe."

"Breathe then, but don't go dissolving our good oxygen with your poisonous fumes—ouch, and watch where you put your damn hands, asshole. This is private property!"

One of Sesshomaru's hands drifts down to give Inuyasha's ass a reprimanding pinch. A disbelieving silence follows.

Inuyasha gawks over his shoulder at the pair of dimly glowing eyes. "Did you just touch my ass, pervert?"

Another pinch is applied, followed by a rough smack. "And if I did?"

The reaction's immediate.

Inuyasha braces his hands against the wall and shoves backwards. He turns, fist balled at his side and brings up a short, strong punch to Sesshomaru's jaw. The tall demon careens backwards, stumbling into the wall, balance loss and hits the door hard. In the fit of commotion to follow, Koga's shin is accidentally kicked, Inuyasha's hair tugged so hard he falls to his knees and Bankotsu forced out of the closet.

It takes seconds before he finds himself in the open and climbs to his feet, enraged. He starts towards the closet—then a large wrinkled hand fists into his shirt and yanks him to the side. Bankotsu's ready to swing on whoever's grabbed him until he's face to face with the most intimidating demon in the school system.

The dried up old hag, Ms. Kaede. Her dark eyes burned with the intensity of a thousand suns.

"Skipping class again Mr. Bankotsu? Is one week of retract not enough to fix this rebellious behavior? Well, let's remedy that. How's about another two weeks, plus after school clean up!"

"But-but-but, no way!" All Bankotsu could offer up is a fit of stutters and quakes.

He gawks helplessly through the crack of the closet at the three students cowering in the close, hidden from view.

"I'll be certain your mother and father get quite an earful about your theatrics, Mr. Bankotsu." Ms. Kaede gets a healthy piece of his ear and starts escorting him towards the principal's office. "Gallivanting about the school. For shame. You're going to be washing boards and sweeping floors until I retire!"

As he's literally dragged down the hall, Bankotsu clears his throat, angles his head straight towards the closet and shouts, "Sorry fellas, looks like she caught us!"

A shelf suddenly collapses inside the closet. Ms. Kaede looks between Bankotsu and he's shamelessly pointing where he'd been previously standing. She goes to investigate the closet's interior and discovers Inuyasha and Koga huddled together behind the door and Sesshomaru dumbly trying to hide his tall frame behind a pile of mops.

Inuyasha grins sheepishly at her before shooting a heated glare at his best friend. "Really Bankotsu? Ya freakin' cope out. Learn to take one for the team!"

"Damn that man. If I go down, all of y'all are coming right on with me!"

"Some partner in crime you are!"

"Man whatever. Like you would have gotten far without me anyway."

Ms. Kaede yanks all three students out and puts them in line. She is royally pissed and all four students are served a good punishment, but none more than Koga and Sesshomaru when their coach hears about their antics. They were going to get it good during practice and for Inuyasha it served that bastard right.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inuyasha's left eye twitches. So, now that memory serves right . . . he casts an evil eye towards his best friend. "I hate you with all my hate, dude. Our friendship's officially over."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you said that same shit in the seventh grade when we got caught sneakin' in the girl's bathroom." Bankotsu replies bored, and shrugs. "If you haven't learned in the twelve years you've known me that I'm trouble, you're either a glutton for punishment or ya love me."

The hanyou was inclined to believe he was just a glutton for punishment. They were sentenced to two full weeks of after school retract. For Bankotsu, it was a total of three weeks to add to the previous charges. After school retract is usually supervised by one of three teachers: Mr. Totosai, Ms. Kikyo, or Coach Naraka. This evening, it's Mr. Totosai who's responsible for the four of them cleaning out the chemistry lab.

He's sitting behind the front desk, watching Andy Griffin reruns on his old, ten inch TV, spooning up some warmed up hogmaw and potatoes out of a plastic bowl. Inuyasha doesn't mind the old man much. So long as they did their chores and kept to themselves, Mr. Totosai rarely fusses. He assigned Bankotsu and Inuyasha to spray cleaning the desk tops and marker boards, while Sesshomaru and Koga hand to sweep and mop the floor, and take out the trash.

"So, didja manage to get anything?" Bankotsu says hush-like. "Please tell me this wasn't in vain."

Inuyasha thought about it, then whispered back, "Yeah, I think so." His hand skims over the print of the small notebook tucked inside his pocket.

"Awesome, at least I know I helped you accomplish somethin'. By the way you're so welcome."

"For what?" Inuyasha chuckles. "I got in trouble too."

Bankotsu shrugs, offering a charming smile. "Yeah, but you got in trouble with decent company, so, I say objective achieved. With whatever ya got, there's no way Sesshomaru can deny his feelin's for ya now."

Yeah, there'll be no denying it now. There'll be no coming back from it either. Inuyasha knew after revealing the truth, there' be no coming back from it. It sort of thrilled and scared him. Would Sesshomaru continue showing his affections once he found out Inuyasah was on to him or would be pissed as all get out and bring the wraths of Hell upon him?

One of the most frustrating things about it is, he couldn't really tell with the guy. Sesshomaru's always been a complete dick. Inuyasha never knew there was another side to the guy because he hide it so well. As Inuyasha finished with his share of the wiping, his thoughts percolated over his expectations when he finally read through the journal.

What if he found some other secrets inside the notebook? Inuyasha gulped with anticipation. The sensation to learn more about his bully/admirer suddenly reared forth with such violent excitement, a hot shudder snuck up his spine.

"Uh, Yash', ya good man?"

Inuyasha gulped and cast what he was sure to be an extra creepy stare if Bankotsu's hesitate step back is anything to go by. "Better than ever man. I'm just . . . feelin' reallllly happy."


Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder at the sound of private snickering. He sighs annoyed, and crouches down to sweep in the pile of dirt into the dust pan. As he stands, he finds his eyes drifting back over to stare at Inuyasha and Bankotsu sharing a talk about something or another and finds himself having trouble resisting the urge to go interrupt the pair. At least that way he'd have Inuyasha's attention strictly on him.

"Wow, you got it bad."

Sesshomaru went stiff, then cut his eyes towards Koga. He hated how perceptive his best friend is to Sesshomaru's emotions. He should've known his crush on Inuyasha wouldn't remain secret. Not around Koga. He knew enough dirt about their whole senior class to bury half the planet, plus the moon. Perhaps it's the sense of not carrying the burden all alone anymore, but Sesshomaru's a little relieved to have someone he can trust to confide in about this. He's carried this hidden obsession of Inuyasha for a couple of years now and every time he thought of confessing his feelings to the kid, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

It felt strange as Hell. For most of their lives, it's been routine to irritate Inuyasha. Seeing him get all huffy and flustered gave Sesshomaru a laugh impossible to be met by anything else. But it also provide him with more reason to want the hanyou more. Watching Inuyasha go red in the face, flex his muscles like they could compare to Sesshomaru and his unwavering fearlessness, is all too precious. Especially that scowl of his. That's actually a turn on.

A long, drawn whistle is heard, snapping Sesshomaru from his thoughts. He rolls his eyes. "How long have you known?"

Koga switches his broom to the other hand, lifting a chair to get at a ball of paper. "Shit, a blind folded Stevie Wonder stuck in a dark room could see you got the hots for the pup. Not that I can blame ya, mind you. The kid's got the ass that launched a thousand erections."

Sesshomaru hums in agree, and leans his weight on his broom stick, sucking the inside of his cheek in though. No sense in hiding it anymore since Koga's aware. So Sesshomaru indulges himself in watching the other side of the classroom where Inuyasha's main objective was keeping his distance from him as much as humanly possible and laughing at Bankotsu's chatter.

His jaw clenches hard. What the Hell is so damn funny anyway?

"Ya know they're just friends right?" Koga inputs. "Like me and you."

"I hope they're not like us. I wouldn't wish that kind of abuse on anybody." Sesshomaru settles his chin on the broom top, thinks, then says, "How do you know they're just friends?"

Koga gives him a look. "Did you really just ask me that? The same me who found out about Hiten's manga obsession and Hoshiyomi's compulsive need to wipe the bench and his hands before he can sit?"

"Point taken." It's become a secondary habit to keep his gaze fixed on Inuyasha for short spurts of time. Sesshomaru does it again, and unknowing to him a small, crooked smile glides over his lips when Inuyasha tugs Bankotsu's plait and shoulders him playfully.

Koga sucks his teeth and makes his presence known by poking Sesshomaru none-to-gently in the ear. "Why don't cha try to break the ice?" Koga says, ignoring Sesshomaru's warning growl. "It's your chance to relinquish your dickish title and man up."

"Can't."

"Can't or won't."

"Don't mistake me for bein' scared," Sesshomaru says snippily. "The settin' ain't right."

Koga blinks. "The settin' ain't—the hell does that even mean? This isn't a production set!"

"I wanna tell 'im after I graduate man. Ya know, like, after I get my contract, have my money and shit together. Then I'll ask him woe him, ask him to marry me, we'll make babies, and have a happily ever after."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out!" Koga frowns, shaking his head. "When in the Sam hell did you concoct this little fantasy? Did you ever consider one very vital detail in your little plan?"

"Nah cause it's fool proof," Sesshomaru says dead serious.

And the fact that he is puts a pause in Koga's sweeping. "Apparently it isn't too fool proof if it was created by a fool." The wolf demon positions the broom under his elbow and reaches up to squeeze the space between his eyes. "Your brand of stupid needs to be bottled and sold, man. Real talk, the shit's scary how austere you are about this."

Sesshomaru slowly grins. "Austere, huh? Ayame's got ya ass soundin' like Dr. Phil."

"Shut it, will ya? Coach says I either get my C up to a B or he's benchin' my ass for the three games. She's the best choice to tutor me in English. She's strict too. Says I gotta apply myself more and learn at least five new words every day and use them correctly. Otherwise she's gonna tell coach I ain't amountin' ta' shit."

"Yeah, but Ayame's a con. Her services aren't free or cheap. Whatcha had to do to get her to help?"

Koga grins mischievously.

Sesshomaru regards the expression and shakes his head. "You're a hoe."

Koga's expression drops. "What? Man as if. Ayame doesn't want dick. She gets more pussy then me, you and the whole team, combine. Trust me, I tried to offer and wound up gettin' my feelin's hurt. I was sent into a state of depression so bad, I thought I wasn't fine for two weeks."

Sesshomaru tilts his head back and laughs.

"But anyway," Koga waves him off. "Enough about my deficiencies in English—"

"—Damn, you're two for two now—"

"About what you said earlier. I can appreciate your enthusiasm, but be realistic man. Inuyasha would rather catch AIDS then be 'round you. You make his skin itch, give him diarrhea, make his hair go the opposite of grey—clear—and the sight of you makes his blood boil."

Sesshomaru blinks, mouth gaped, then rubs behind his neck. "Well damn, subtly definitely ain't apart of your limited vocabulary."

"Hey, I'm just keepin' it real with cha."

"Yeah, I know," Sesshomaru mumbles and blows a long sigh. "I can't fix it either. M' so used to bein' an asshole, I don't know how else to be around him."

"You're like that with everybody, you anti-social skank. But that can be fixed." Koga digs around his back pocket for his wallet, retrieves it, then fishes out a few loose dollars. "Here, contemplate that shit on your way to the drink machine."

Sesshomaru takes the cash and stuffs it in his back pocket, all the while sending a dull stare at Koga. "Ya couldn't just say think?"

"Ponder, consider, speculate, meditate, excogitate, THINK—I don't give a shit, take your pick, but do it on your way out. I need you away from me. Like now. Being around all of your concentrated ugly is ruining my complexion. Feels like I got hives breakin' out on my face."

"Fuck you."

"Not in this lifetime. Now get." Koga lightly guides Sesshomaru towards the door, then shouts. "Yo' Mr. T, Sesshomaru wants to know if he can go buy everybody some drinks!"

Mr. Totosai flicks his wrist, never taking his eyes from the TV. "So long as he brings me one. Sprint preferably."

"Cool," Koga winks. "See, Harry Potter ain't got shit on my magic. Watch me work. Say Bank, Yash, what's your poison?"

The sophomore pair looked up from where they were cleaning off the desktops. Inuyasha shrugged. "Uh, orange?"

"Dr. Pepper," answers Bankotsu.

"Alrighty, and I'll have Coke. So then," Koga's grin suddenly rivals the Cheshire Cat and Sesshomaru's put on alert. And for good reason. "Why don't you and Inuyasha grab our drinks, while me and Bankotsu chat."

Inuyasha almost fell over. "Excuse me? There's nothin' wrong with his hands. He can get 'em himself!"

"Yeah, but he's only got two hands andddd, there's five drinks."

"So? Why don't you go?"

"'Cause, I wanna hang out with ya friend." Koga winks again, this time shooting his direct intentions at Bankotsu. The human's face flares like a poker. "That settles that."

"That settles nada." Inuyasha barks and folds his arm. "I'm stayin' here."

Sesshomaru's eyelids drooped a little over his hazel eyes and thought a bit off that made him feel. He rolls his eyes and says evenly. "I got it, Koga. His lil' ass is too scared to be 'round me."

Inuyasha glares at him, then slaps his rag on the desktop. "You wish. Fine, I'll go. Mr. Totosai, I'm gonna help Sesshomaru carry the drinks. That fine with you?"

Mr. Totosai flicks his wrist for them to go. Anything to keep them from missing his show.

Sesshomaru proudly smirks and leads the way with Inuyasha stalking behind him.

The vending machines were kept in two locations: the front of the cafeteria and in the teacher's lounge. Heading to the teacher's lounge would be a shorter trip, but Sesshomaru wasn't going to waste any moment he could to spend with the hanyou. Even if he'd rather be somewhere else.

Now that he was provided with the opportunity to be with Inuyasha, Sesshomaru was having trouble trying to figure out what to do. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, his stride slow and at ease, but his mind was aggravatingly full of thoughts and his stomach tied in knots. He hated how much effect Inuyasha had on him and the hanyou was totally oblivious to it. All he knew was what Sesshomaru allowed him to see.

Damn it, this is frustrating.

"Hey, you good?"

Sesshomaru lifts an eyebrow at his companion. "Yeah," he answers softly. "Just a headache."

Inuyasha snorts. "Not surprised. Having an overly inflated ego does that to ya."

Always quick to take cheap shots. Sesshomaru doesn't have the motivation to even reply to it, his head's so heavy with thoughts. The fact he doesn't shoot off at the mouth doesn't go unnoticed by Inuyasha either and the hanyou hangs back a step while watching Sesshomaru closely out of the corner of his eye. Sesshomaru can tell the hanyou wants to say something, but he holds back. Out of patience, apprehension or worry, there's no telling.

They reach the vending machines a moment later. Sesshomaru's gaze lingers over the large Coke logo for the longest before he remembers he has to buy the drinks. He looks over to Inuyasha who's still wearing that perplexed scowl and asks, "You remember what everybody wanted?"

"Uh. . . yeah." Inuyasha lists off the selections.

Sesshomaru puts the cash in and collects the drinks, passing two to Inuyasha and carrying the other three himself. Before they start back to the classroom, Inuyasha hastens his stride to cut Sesshomaru off. He glares up at him closely, gold eyes narrowed thin and suspicious.

"What the Hell is up with you?"

Sesshomaru sighs. "Inuyasha—"

"See, you're even sayin' my name. What's goin' on? Are you sick? Depressed? Feelin' suicidal? What gives?"

A lazy smile pulls Sesshomaru's lips. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were worried 'bout lil' ole me."

"Sesshomaru you could spontaneously combust into a pit of flames and I'd pray for it to rain gasoline to grow a bigger fire and roast my marshmallows."

"Yikes, bitchy much?" But that puts a larger smile on Sesshomaru's face and he feels a tad bolder. He steps forward, invading some of Inuyasha's personal space and dips his head lower. "If that's how ya feel, why bother askin' about my wellbeing?"

Inuyasha turns away snootily. "Keh, not everybody's a heartless cunt."

"Aww, well aren't you a sweetheart?"

"Fuck you, Sesshomaru."

"Like you don't want you," Sesshomaru is gratitfied to see a hot blush to sweep across Inuyasha's cheeks and straightens. Funnily, he thought about what Koga said back in the class room and for some reason, he's propelled to learn something. . . "So baby boy."

"Yeah, what?"

"Ya mind if I ask you something."

"Yes, I do mind."

"Good, 'cause I'm gonna ask anyway."

"Figures," Inuyasha uncaps the clip on his drink and takes a swig. He stuffs the other in his side pocket and gives Sesshomaru a cautious up and down glare. "Go on."

Sesshomaru follows his example and puts the drinks in his pocket before opening his own. "So, I'm just wonderin'. . ."

"Yeah?" Inuyasha urges.

A long, pregnant pause. . . Then. "Do you like dick?"

Inuyasha's head and ears snap up so fast, they pop. He isn't sure he heard right until he sees no indication of a joke on Sesshomaru's face. This motherfucka' is dead ass serious.

"What the Hell?" he snaps wiping his wrist across his mouth. "Just what the Hell? Who asks that?"

But Sesshomaru's head lists to the side at the reaction because he felt like it was a simple enough to answer. "What's the problem? Ya either do or ya don't."

"Dear God you're slower than a granny on trainin' wheels." Inuyasha shakes his head and stomps off. "I am not answering."

"Tsk, coward." Sesshomaru grumbles under his breath.

Or so he thinks. Inuyasha's ears perk up like a pair of antenna. He slowly spins on his heel, mouth twisted, eyes thin and angry. "Coward? Did you really call me a coward?"

Sesshomaru smirks tauntingly. "If the shoe fits . . . Coward." He bites his bottom lip to keep from outright laughing. Inuyasha's positively steamed.

But then, the strangest thing happens.

Inuyasha starts laughing. He crowed and was practically on the verge of tears. His back propped against the wall, hands cupped on his knees while he carried on in a fit. Sesshomaru didn't like the sound of it either. Something about the laugh mysteriously made his stomach flip-flop.

"Coward? You wanna talk about coward?" Inuyasha breathing through his laughter. He sobers up and when he straightens, his eyes are fierce and brilliant. "That's rich comin' from someone like you."

Sesshomaru boringly cocks an eyebrow. "Ya mind explainin'?"

He hesitates and chews on his bottom lip. Inuyasha glares at him then sighs. "Fuck it, forget it."

"That's what I thought." With a triumphant grin, Sesshomaru strolls by Inuyasha. "Coward."

It's the final straw to break the camel's back.

Inuyasha spins on his heel with his fists clenched at his side. "You wanna go there, Sesshomaru? Fine!" He snaps. The height of his anger puts a halt to Sesshomaru's walk. "I'll show you who's a coward."

Sesshomaru turns around prepare for combat, but all Inuyasha does is walk right up to his face, opens his mouth and screams, "THANKS FOR ALL THE GIFTS YOU COWARDLY ASS LION!" Then he stomps off, steps echoing like a death drum.

And all Sesshomaru can do is stare at the empty space where Inuyasha had been standing . . . because if he moved, he'd likely shit his stomach out of his ass.