Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any Songs
Now unlike the last chapter I really liked this one. I was going to do something with this when they were on the road originally, but this was absolute perfect timing. Not to mentioned the way I have this one planning to end makes me laugh and it's a perfect way to lead into the next chapter which I think I will also enjoy writing. I realized I really liked writing this story because there is no major drama and I can just be happy with it. And it makes me laugh and I love laughing.
One Year Of Hell!
Chapter 7: Bribe Maids
Ayame opened up the box that she had set down on the counter and smiled. The white frosting was perfect with the flower designs and decorated with circular rainbow sprinkles. And then the writing on the cake in blue was absolutely perfect.
'Congratulations Kagome! From your bestest friend!'
Perfect.
"Ooh cake!" Kouga cheered, his blue eyes bright as he reached down to wipe off some icing only to have his hand slapped away by his red-headed girlfriend. "Hey!"
"I's not for you," Ayame scolded putting the top back on top of the box, covering up her nicely bought cake. "It's for Kagome."
Kouga's brows furrowed together in confusion. "Kagome? What did she do?"
"She deserves a congratualations."
Kouga scratched the back of his head, trying to think. Did he miss something over the past three weeks that they were in Virginia where Kagome did something worthy of such a delicious looking cake? He didn't remember her running into a burning building to save trapped children. It wasn't her birthday, band anniversary, and he couldn't really remember any other celabratory event that demanded a cake to be present. She wasn't pregnant...was she? He looked at Ayame and shook his head. Ayame would be bouncing off the walls if that was the case. Finally giving up he decided just to ask.
"Why does she need to be congratulated?"
"She's engaged!"
Kouga stared at his girlfriend with a blank expression. "That happened months ago."
"So enough time has passed for me to begin helping her out," Ayame simply stated carefully lifting the box off the counter.
"Help her out with what?"
A mischeveious grin played across Ayame's lips before she gave Kouga a neutral face. "Get a head start of choosing the Maid of Honor of course. Who better to help than her bestest friend?"
Kouga groaned and slapped his hand on his forehead slowly dragging it down his face. "Please don't bribe her," Kouga pleaded. Once Ayame started all the others would join and it would be hell around here. Not to mention Kagome might get annoyed or stressed and to be quite honest, he didn't want to deal with the anger she would result to.
"I'm not going to bribe her. I'm simply wishing her a belated congratualations," Ayame said, trying her best innocent smile. "Now can you please get me one of the room keys so I don't have to wait for you to wake up to get into the room when I get back?" she asked him and he went to retrieve the room key out of their bedrooom.
"Really Ayame, d--" his entence was cut off when Ayame stood on her tip toes to give him a quick peck on the lips before smiling one of those smiles that made him melt.
"It'll be okay," she reassured him before turning to leave the room.
"You could have at least baked the cake yourself," he spoke to Ayame's back as she opened the door.
"I'm trying to bribe her not kill her!" Ayame called over her shoulder then she processed she had just said and frowned. "Shit."
"Thank you for the honesty!" Kouga called out with a smirk on his lips just seconds before the door slammed shut.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Inuyasha was laid back on the couch with Kagome straddling his hips, their lips pressed together in a passionate and heated kiss. Kagome's hands were tangled in Inuyasha's long silvery lockes and her mind focused only on the taste of his lips. Inuyasha slowly moved his hands from Kagome's hips to the hem of her shirt, slowly moving it up, giving Kagome the chance to stop him though she didn't. He was apout to pull Kagome's shirt off completely when a knock interupted him.
Knock, knock, knock.
The couple both sighed, their once very heated bodies deflated and the moment was lost. Kagome pulled her shirt back down and Inuyasha sat up burrying his face in the crook of her neck.
"Is it just me or are we always interupted?" he mumbled into the girl's neck.
"We're always interupted," Kagome sighed and pushed herself off the couch so she could answer the door. She stopped only to finger comb her disheveled hair and straighten her clothes. Then she opened the door.
"CONGRATULATIONS!" A red head cheered as she pushed past Kagome and into the room. Inuyasha glared at the interference and Kagome just stared after her friend confused.
"What?"
"Congratulations on finally getting started on planning the wedding," Ayame explained as she set the cake down on the counter as she set the box down on the counter.
Kagome had been speaking to Tien about locations and a few dresses she saw that she like, but she wouldn't say she was planning the wedding yet. hell, she still had to pick a date so she didn't see why Ayame was here. With a box no less.
"What's in the box?" kaogme asked and Ayame shot her a big grin before making a grand display of removing the top off the box.
"CAKE!"
At the sound of Ayame announcing a sweet treat, Inuyasha immediately hopped off the couch and bounded over to the two girls, deciding he could forgive Ayame considering she brought such a delectible peace offering with her. Kagome on the other hand just stared dumbfounded at the saying written on the cake. She had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that this wasn't a congratulatory cake.
"So I'd thought I'd just come by wishing you good luck and, you know...help you out on decorations, flowers, bride's maid dresses...Maid of Honor," she playfully hit Kagome and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
It clicked in Kagome's brain.
"Oh no you don't," Kaogme protested putting the top back onto the cake. "I can't accept this cake knowing this was a bribe."
"What!?" Inuyasha complained looking at Kagome as if she were crazy. You don't turn away free food even if it was just a bribe. When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. The cake was his lemons and his happy full tummy was going to be his lemonade.
"Yeah Kagome, Inuyasha's right," Ayame agreed and Inuyasha nodded his head. "Who said anything about a bribe? Pssh, I'm just giving you a little work food not asking for the Maid of Honor title, sheesh." Ayame scoffed and rolled her eyes as if she couldn't believe Kagome was thinking such a thing. She placed a knowing hand on Kagome's shoulder and looked her right in the eye. "I was just trying to be a good friend." Kagome crossed her arms and gave her a hard look. "You knew this was coming sooner or later."
"Yeah, but a girl can dream right?" Kagome threw her hands up in the air and walked back to the couch. "I am not taking bribery so you can just take that cake back!"
"Kagome..." Inuyasha whined wanting to eat the cake so badly. "Maybe you sh--"
"Stop being greedy, Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded and Inuyasha sulked, pressing his ears against his head.
"Okay, I'm sorry for trying to bribe you, but really keep the cake." Ayame insisted. "I can't get a refund because, hello, it has your name on it."
Kagome seemed to be considering it--much to Inuyasha's relief. She looked over at the counter and Ayame and Inuyasha gave her puppy dog looks, and she sighed, finally caved rolling her eyes.
"Okay, okay, okay."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Knock, knock, knock.
Kouga sighed, not really feeling like getting up to answer the door, but the knocking continued and he let out a frustrated sigh before leaving his comfy spot on the couch watching the game on the t.v to answer the door. When he opened the door he was met with the faces of Tien, Rin, and Sango.
"We were going to go shopping," Tien explained to the confused wolf demon.
"Where's Ayame?" Sango asked looking over his shoulder for a glimpse of the red-head.
"She went to go bribe Kagome into letting her be a the Maid of Honor with a cake..." Kouga stopped talking when he realized two of the girls that once stood before him had disappeared and now it was only Tien who stood before him with a faint smile on her face shaking her head knowingly.
"They're going to go absolutely crazy about this now."
Kouga groaned going back to the the couch. "I knew this was going to happen."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Rin and Sango raced down the hall to the room three doors down and slammed into it, and it burst right open considering the fact Kagome had not properly closed it earlier, and the two both fell to the ground.
"Shit!" Inuyasha cried jumping out of his seat at the sudden outburst.
"Kagome!" Sango and Rin yelled at the same time as they scrambled up to their feet and over to the soon-to-be-bride.
"You wanna go shopping?"
"--to the spa?" Rin finished just seconds after Sango.
"What are y--"
"You need me to do anything for you," Rin continued, cutting Kagome off. "Get your dinner, get Midoriko off your case, be your Maid of Honor?"
"I'm not taking br--"
"Hey! You can't just try to bribe Kagome," Ayame intervened crossing her arms to glare at her friends.
"What do you think bringing a cake over here is?" Rin asked mimicking Ayame's stance.
"Umm...working food for when she's planning with Tien next time," Ayame lied.
"Really." Sango walked over to the cake that was resting on the counter and had been cut into by Inuyasha but he saying still very clear. "From your bestest friend," Sango read and then truned to Ayame. "What is that about?"
"Okay so I tried bribing her with a cake!" Ayame throwing her hands into the air before pointing an accusing finger at Sango. "Don't get mad because I beat you to it!"
"You were bribing her!"
"What were you doing? 'Oh let's go to the spa!' Yeah, I'm not stupid!"
"Don't fool yourself."
Kagome watched as her three best friends stood in the middle of her hotel room arguing extremely loud about bribing her to become her Maid of Honor. This right here was the reason she was putting off deciding it and even considering her mother just to keep conflict, such as three arguing band members, from happening. But Ayame had to get a head start on her campaign and now she was forced to deal with this.
"Psh, you don't know anything about Kagome."
"Oh yeah what's her favorite color?"
"Red."
"No! She doesn't have one. Ha!"
"That was a trick question!"
Kagome's eye began to twitch. This was getting ridicuolous. It was time for her to intervene.
"You can suck it when I--"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kagome shouted and the room was suddenly very quiet and Inuyasha slowly slipped out of the room, sensing a confrontation coming on. "Now that I have your attention," Kagome spoke, her voice surprisingly calm. "I haven't decided my Maid of Honor and I don't plan on doing so for a while and I won't be taking any bribes."
"You took Ayame's," Rin mumbled crossing her arms.
"That's because Inuyasha wouldn't shut up about the damn thing and she had already paid for it," Kagome quickly answered before waving the thought off. "The point is...you three will not be competeting for this title, got it?"
The three let out a collective sigh.
"Yes Ma'am."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Score:
Ayame-1
Rin-0
Sango-0
-0-0-0-0-0-
"That looks great on you Kagome," Sango gushed as Kagome stepped out of the dressing room in a black dress that was off the shoulder and hugged her figure until it stopped just above her knees. The girls were shopping for clothes to wear for the interveiw on Melissa Live they were going to tomorrow and had closed down the shop to look for something that was just them.
"You've said that about the first five outfits," Kagome said grimacing at herself in the mirror. It was too highclass for her. "I said no bribing."
"I was just giving you a compliment," Sango argued. She had already decided on wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a nice dressy purple top and heeled suede black boots that went up her calves and decided she'd work on her campaign just a bit.
"Well you're not helping if you're just being nice." Kagome turned to give her friend a serious look. "Really, I need to find something that's me, but still good for an interveiw so just don't be nice."
"Hey Kagome!" Rin called out as she came skidding up to the dressing rooms. "I think I got you just the outfit for the interveiw tomorrow." She held out the clothes to Kagome and Kagome took them hurrying into the room she just left to change out of the unfit dress. Rin looked over at Sango and smirked.
"You're going down." she said and Sango just glared back at her.
A minute or so later Kagome reappeared in a pair of cuffed black jean shorts, a red t-shirt with a panda on it and a mini pinstriped balck blazer. On her feet she wore red and black socks that reached just below her knees and a pair of boots just like Sango's. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at what she saw looking back at her. She turned to Rin and engulfed in a hug.
"This is perfect!" she cheered before slipping back into the dressing room and Rin shot Sango another superior look before sauntering off.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Score:
Ayame-1
Rin-1
Sango-0
-0-0-0-0-0-
"I know we're going to get married back at home as soon as this tour over and I was thinking of an outdoor wedding at the shrine." Tien nodded her head as Kagome described her ideal wedding. Since her friends decided to bring up the wedding Kagome decided it was time to actually get some real planning done. "And the only other thing I'm posotive about is that I want tough security because if one damn paparazzi member gets a picture I will personally rearrange their organs and--"
Wake me up
(Wake me up inside)
I can't wake up
(Wake me up inside)
Save me
(Call my name and save me from the d--
Kagome's threat to the paparazzi was cut short when her ringtone of Evanesence's Bring Me To Life started to fill the hotel room and she quickly shot up to search for it, flipping it open without checking caller id.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kagome!" Sango's voice came in cheery through the reciever. "I'm at this shoe store and you know the shoes you saw for like...I can't remember the price but they were really overpriced?"
"I've seen a lot fo shoes Sango."
"The one's you saw in the window on our way to the dress rehearsal."
Kagome's eyes brightened and she sat up fully, her attention being grabbed. "Yes, I remember those shoes."
"Well I see them here and their half the price. If you want I could get them for y--"
"Yes, yes, yes! Get them Sango, get them." Kagome smiled wide and bounced in her seat with twinkling eyes. "Oh, I owe you Sango! Thank you so much!" She snapped her phone shut and smiled at Tien who was giving her a questionable look. "You know those shoes I saw in the window on the dress rehearsal? Sango saw them half off and she's going to get them for me. Isn't that great?" Tien laughed lightly shaking her head. "What?"
"This is a bribe Kagome. Just like Rin finding you that perfect outfit for the show tomorrow. They're all really keeping score and taunting each other just to get them thinking you'll pick them as the maid of honor. It's a classic campaign technique for this competition."
Kagome thought this over. "Dammit! I can't believe I fell for that." Kagome burried her head in her arms that were resting on the table and Tien patted her back sympathetically.
"It's just part of the wedding planning."
Kagome looked up at Tien. "What did you do about the Maid of Honor?"
"I used my sister." Tien answered simply and Kagome let out a grunt of frustration and shot from her seat angrily pacing around the room.
"That is so unfair! You always use your sister or your fiance's sister or if you're on your second wedding your daugheter or his daughter. That is just an unfair way to avoid conflict, but I don't have a sister and neither does Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru is going to be his Best Man so he doesn't have to worry about any of this. It sucks!" Kagome stopped her rant when a brilliant idea went off in her head. "You could be my Maid of Honor!"
Tien looked around the room before looking back at Kagome and pointing to herself. "Me?"
"Yeah! You're the only one not going completely crazy about all of this and you're cool and y--"
"I'm flattered, Kagome, really, but I can't be you Maid of Honor."
"Why not?" Kagome looked at her in disbelief. Why couldn't she just end her inner turmoil.
"Because this is just an out so you don't have to deal with your friends. I haven't known you for a year, but you've known Rin, Sango, and Ayame forever. It would be wrong to choose me over them."
"Tien..." Kagome whined. "Why do you have to be so damn smart and mature?"
Tien laughed before closing up the notebook she was writing wedding idea's in and gathered some of the bridal magazines. "I think you have bigger poblems than planning location and security." She stood from the table and gave Kagome a sympathetic smile. "Just relax a bit, kay? Do something...romantic with Inuyasha and worry about it later."
Kagome followed her friend to the door. A romantic evening with Inuyasha didn't sound so bad considering the two were always getting interupted as it was weather it was their friends or paparazzi. Yeah, the idea was sounding better and better. "Thanks Tien."
"No problem."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Score:
Ayame-1
Rin-1
Sango-1
-0-0-0-0-0-
The door to Kaogme's room burst opened revealing four out of breath teenage girls.
"What happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"You called a code red?"
"How bad is it?"
Kagome motioned her friends over to the sink where she was still staring down the drain in horror, her face still pale with shock. "I was cooking dinner and--"
"Oh gods. What caught fire?" Sango interupted looking around the room for a burnt piece of furniture. Her friend was really going to die at Midoriko's hands if she brought anymore damage to a public facility.
Kagome glared at her friend. "I didn't start a fire. I was cooking dinner for me and Inuyasha and then I was cleaning some of the dishes and when I finished I pulled off the rubber gloves and my ring came off with it and then it fell down the drain!"
"Your mood ring?"
"No! My engagement ring!"
All four girls gasped in shock and then gathered around the sink to look down the drain. Sure enough there was no sign of the ring anywhere and a deadly silence fell over the group.
"At least you don't have to keep taking it off and then back on," Ayame offered to try to lighten the mood only to recieve a death glare from Kagome and she instantly held her hands up. "Sorry," she squeeked backing up just a bit from the angry girl.
"Inuyasha is going to be here any minute and what is he going to say when I have no ring? Goodbye to my romantic night!"
"Romantic night?"
Kagome's face flushed red but she quickly waved off Rin's question as if it were nothing. "The point is that I--"
"You were going to seduce him!" Rin cried out, obviously forgetting that this was a very serious issue. "That's one way to relax before the big talk show."
"Rin!" Kagome gave her friend a wide-eyed look and Rin muffled her giggles until they finally stopped and she gave Kagome her serious face. "The point is..." She paused incase she was about to be interupted again. "That I need to get it back in the nex ten minutes or I am very, very, screwed. So I called the Code Red to ask you for your assistance."
"So you want us to help you get your ring?"
"Please?"
"If I get it can I be the maid of honor?" Kagome glared at Sango and she began to laugh nervously. "Pssh...I was just kidding. Sheesh relax Kags."
"This is serious, Sango."
"We'll help you Kagome." Tien spoke up and the rest nodded in agreement. "So what do you want us to do?"
"Well I guess you could try sticking your hands down the garbage disposal and--"
"Me first!" Rin called as she moved so she was in front of the sink where the ring had disappeared into. She shoved her hand down the drain, only thinking about how much this would work in her favor. "This will be a piece of c-- AHHHH!" Rin pulled her hand out of the drain when her finger brushed against something digustingly soggy. "You still have food in there."
"Well duh. I can't turn on the disposal or I can't get my ring back."
"Maybe we can use the gloves," Ayame suggested pointing to the abbandoned pair of rubber gloves on the edge of sink.
"No they're too slippery and you could just drop the ring again," Sango pointed out and the group sighed in defeat.
"I know!" Tien piped up. "You know those wire hangers that we brung with us? We could undo one of those and use it as a hook and try to grab the ring out with it."
"Like go fishing?"
"I guess you could say that."
"I don't think we're very good fishermen to be completely honest," Rin stated thinking the idea over in her head.
"You got a better idea?"
"...No."
"Then it's settled."
Kagome went to retrieve a wire hanger from her closet and then handed it to Ayame who rearranged the hanger so it was one long hook. The five girls then crowded arond the sink waiting for their turn and they would each wiggle the hook around hoping to feel somthing on the other end. After getting too many bad items like soggy food which they didn't hesitate to toss, they would pass on to the next person hoping they would pull soemthing out that was pretty and shiny.
"This is so...damn hard," Kagome huffed in frustration as she moved the hook around in the drain. It was her third turn in the last six minutes and frankly, she was getting pissed. "I can't get anyth--" she stopped short when her hook grabbed a hold of something. "I got something!"
"I swear if it's another soggy of Ayame's damn cake..." Rin trailed off shaking her head.
"You make it as if I'm the only one who tried bribing her."
"No but you were the first."
"Don't be jealous."
"Puh-lease. Like you're any competition."
"You won't be saying that when--"
"This is not the time," Kagome broke into the arguing as she tried to carefully manuver the hook out of the drain. "Can you not see that I am trying to concentrate!"
"Sorry," they mumbled their apology and they all crowded around the sink once again as they waited in silence to see Kagome's catch.
After a little mor jostling Kaogme finally managed to retrieve the hanger from the drain and her prize slowly appeared.
Thank Kami.
The group broke into cheers as Kagome rinsed off her ring and slid it back onto her righful finger, automatically feeling moe relaxed now that it was there.
"Hip Hip Hooray!"
"Is it brocolli, or cake? No! It's Kagome engagement ring!"
"Yes!"
Rin hugged Kagome and pulled back with a big grin on her face. "Now you can be a proper seductress to Inuyasha."
"Rin!"
"Seductress?"
The cheering stopped at the sound of a deep announcing a male's prescence. They all turned to see Inuyasha standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and Kagome's face began to burn, the blush reaching the very tips of her ears.
"Hey...Inuyasha."
-0-0-0-0-0-
"So you guys seem to favor out there, crazy adventures in your free time," Melissa spoke with a slightly overly wide smile as she looked directly int othe camera and the band laughed politely as they were told to do before entering the Melissa Live studio.
"Well with the Wal-Mart--"
"McDonalds."
"Backstage incidents."
"--and the meeting we've sat through," Kagome continued after Sango and Ayame added their own comments. "You can say be ahve a crazy way of rolling." And they all laughed especially Rin who was having flashbacks.
"yeah, like yesterday when we all tried fishing Kagome's engagement ring out of the drain because Kagome screwed up when she was trying to seduce Inuyasha," she threw her head back laughing and wiped tears from her eyes. "That was funny."
Suddenly she was aware of the silence around her and rin looked around her to see dropped jaws and wide eyed faces. And the she truned to Kagome who was starving at her with a not so happy look on her face. Her lips were in a firm line, her eyes wide, and her face flushed red with anger. Rin's words finally sunk in and her eyes went wide and she bit her lip before doing a nervous laugh.
"Did I just say that...on live T.V?" she mumbled mostly to herself but being wired up, everyone heard. "****"
"You so just screwed your chances for Maid of Honor."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Confession Cam:
Kagome- "I am going to kill Rin. K-I-L-L her. Oh...just wait til' I get off this show."
Rin- "Why is it me always getting the death threats. I swear I have the worst luck in the world. Everyone just wants to see me die at a young age."
Ayame- "One out, one to go"
-0-0-0-0-0-
Turns out Kagome couldn't wait until they got back to hotel to begin her attack.
"It wasn't that bad!" Rin cried as she narrowly avoided a muffin aimed at her head. "Really it was going to come out sooner or later!" she ran away from Kagome who lunged and the two now stood on opposite sides of the long table set up backstage of Melissa Live for snacks before the show was to start. Rin once thought all the doughnuts and muffins were good but now they were being used as weapons.
"I would have preffered later!" Kagome fired two more muffins that Rin dodged.
"I really don't think it was that b--" She was cut off when a doughnut hit her right in the forehead.
"You said I was trying to seduce Inuyasha!" a handful of mints left Kagome's hand.
"Well you were."
Kagome paused her fire and glared at Rin in disbelief and Rin was instantly wishing she had just kept her mouth shut. Kagome lunged over the table and Rin stared wide eyed for a second before screaming and ducking under the table, crawling as fast as she could in her dress.
"I'm SORRY!"
"I am going to KILL you!"
-0-0-0-0-0-
Score:
Ayame-1
Sango-1
Rin-(-10)
-0-0-0-0-0-
Did you see the deja vu in the end? Note chapter one. Unlike the last chapter, I actually liked this one. The maid of Honor was in my head for a long time and I just figred I'd go ahead and do this one. So...I hoped you liked it and if you did you should REVIEW!!! I start school next week and I wanted to get this out before long dleays start occuring. Bleh...skool sucks right? Anyways please just REVIEW!!!!!!
~Kimiko888~