Hey guys! Okay... I know I've got some explaining to do... as to why I haven't updated in over a month (I can't even remember how long it's been :S). I won't give any excuses but I lost the book I had with all of my ideas for this story from beginning to end and I can't remember hardly anything that's supposed to happen so I almost gave up on it... I was going to write a new one actually and just cancel this... Still thinking about it... plus I got stuck on this chapter and had horrible writer's block with no motivation or inspiration whatsoever... and then there were those dreadful things called exams... and overall my life has been an awful roller coaster. But... I'm not here for a pity party, I'm here to update so I hope you guys forgive me and haven't given up on me and my story and I hope you still read and review. And tell me if I should stop this and start a new one or not... Anyway, without further delay (I've been doing that a lot lately) here's chapter 18:
CHAPTER 18: Setting Up
DISCLAIMER: I don't own him... T_T
After the little squabble between Sesshomaru and Miroku and the row between Inuaysha and Kagome had broken out, everything was quiet. No one talked. The girls all opened the boxes in silence and the boys just stared at them. The air was thick with an uncomfortable silence that no one could seem to shake. It was only when Rin opened one box that the silence was broken.
"Omigosh! Guys, look!" Rin exclaimed. The girls all huddled around the box to see what was in it.
"Whoa! No way! Is that what I think it is?" Sango asked. Rin nodded, smiling.
"Yea! It's totally the new iGame that was advertised on TV about a week ago!" she replied.
"Sweet!" Kagome said. "This doesn't even come out for another month back at Tokyo!"
"And there's also another game station!" Sango said, pulling another game console out of the box.
"Isn't this hype guys?" Kagome asked turning to the boys. They all shrugged nonchalantly and they each held bored expressions on their faces.
"Eh, ours was black," Miroku said. Kagome raised an eyebrow at his tone of indifference.
"Wait. You mean… you guys knew what was in it?" Sango demanded. Inuyasha grinned.
"But of course," he said. "We're phat that way."
"Fat? But you look skinny to me," Rin said confused. Kouga rolled his eyes.
"It's slang. Y'know, like cool, awesome, hype."
When he said hype he shot Kagome a look and she giggled. Rin however still looked confused.
"Well then why didn't he just say hype?" she asked. Miroku rolled his eyes.
"It's like he said. It's slang. We use it a lot back home."
"I thought slang was only for gangsters," Sango said. Inuyasha shrugged.
"Ain't we?" he asked. Sango smiled.
"True."
"Hold on. I still don't understand this "slang" thing," Rin said using air quotations. Kagome laughed.
"Okay Rin. For example. It's like me saying, "Sesshomaru is so bad!"
"But he is bad," Rin said.
"Yes, but I don't mean bad in a literal sense. With slang, one word often means another. Like phat; the difference is that phat is spelled with a ph, not an f. when I say Sesshomaru is 'bad' I mean that he's cool, awesome, or actually good. It's basically the opposite."
"Yeah Rin. And if I tell you that I'm bossin, it means that I'm cool, in charge, I run things," Sango said.
"In charge of what?" Rin asked. Everyone exchanged a look.
"The game," Kouga replied. Now Rin looked hopelessly lost.
"What?" she asked perplexed. Inuyasha sighed.
"Forget it Rin. If you don't know slang by now then it's too late for you," he said. A fiery look came into Rin's eyes.
"No! You have to teach me!" she said firmly. Inuyasha and Miroku exchanged a look.
"Uh… okay… Chillax Rin. I'll teach you later okay?" he said. Rin nodded.
"I thought you said your cousin taught you some things though Rin," Sango said confused.
"Some things. As in like two words," Rin replied. Sango rolled her eyes.
"Wow."
"Good. Now that that's over, let's get back to the boxes," Kagome said. "I have a feeling something good's in the next one."
"Yeah San, what are you waiting for? Open it up!" Rin encouraged. Sango grabbed Inuyasha's claws without asking and sliced off the duct tape. He just stared at her like she was crazy. Then, she threw his hand to the side, eagerly threw open the lid and peered inside. Everyone anxiously waited to see what was in the box. Sango just stared inside the box with an amazed look on her face.
"Oh. My. God," she breathed.
"What?" Rin asked.
"I can't believe it!" Sango said.
"What? What is it?" Kagome demanded. Sango just continued staring. Then, suddenly, she laughed.
"Bubble wrap!" she squealed, and before anyone could say anything, she grabbed the bubble wrap out of the box and started playing with it. She laughed like a little child every time she popped a bubble and one couldn't help but feel embarrassed watching her on her rampage of stupidity. Everyone in the room exchanged a look with each other, and you could practically tell what they were thinking.
'Wow… I'm best friends with an idiot!' Kagome thought.
'I swear she has mental disabilities…' Inuyasha thought.
'This is so sad I almost can't watch…' Rin thought.
'Her stupidity angers me…' Sesshomaru thought.
'What Miroku sees in her I'll never understand…' Kouga thought.
'OMIGOSH! BUBBLE WRAP! Awesome! I wanna play with it too!' Miroku thought. (lol Miroku)
Sighing, Kagome walked over to Sango and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Sango, I can't bear to see you act this way anymore. Please stop behaving so immaturely. It's embarrassing to both you and me."
Sango stopped playing with the bubble wrap and pouted.
"But it's fuuuuun!" she whined childishly. Kagome and Kouga exchanged a look.
"Sango… I think we'd better take this from you…" Kagome said, slowly taking the bubble wrap out of the brunette's hands. Sango stared horrified as Kagome took the bubble wrap away from her.
"No! No! I wasn't finished! You can't do this to me!" Sango cried. Kagome stared at her friend like she was crazy.
"Um… Miroku, why don't you hold this for me?" she said uneasily. She handed the bubble wrap to him and he smiled.
"With pleasure," he said.
"Anyway, what's really in the box?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome looked inside, and then she squealed.
"Please don't tell me it's Styrofoam, or I'm outta here," Sesshomaru muttered. Rin giggled.
"What is it Kags?" she asked.
"It's… it's… a giant plasma screen TV!" Kagome exclaimed. Immediately she, Rin and Sango started jumping up and down and clapping and squealing. The boys covered their ears.
"If we can get some order and civilization back in here, that would be nice," Sesshomaru suddenly said after a few seconds of the girls squealing and freaking out. Everyone looked at him surprised as if they had forgotten that he was there. (Truthfully, they had)
"Sesshomaru's right guys," Rin said. "We still have one more box to open."
She turned and smiled at Sesshomaru. He just gave her a cold stare in return before looking away from her, and she frowned to herself.
"Who's going to do the honors?" Kagome asked.
"Ooh! Let me do it!" Rin cried. Kagome smiled.
"Alright Rin. Go ahead," she said gesturing to the box. Eagerly, Rin ran over to the box and, because it didn't have any duct tape on it, threw open the lid. Then, she peered inside it excitedly. A few moments later a squeal escaped the small girl's lips.
"What's in it Rin? More bubble wrap?" Sango asked hopefully. Rin rolled her eyes.
"No, nothing that good," she said sarcastically. Sango pouted.
"It's… a killer stereo!" Rin cried. Kagome's mouth dropped open and together she and Rin started screaming. The boys exchanged another look and just shook their heads.
"Awesome! And look! Some of the newest CDs came with it!" Kagome said, pointing to some more items in the box. "There's Skillet, Three days Grace, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Brown and… wow so much more I can't even say it all!" she burst. Rin gasped.
"This is soooo hype!" she said.
"I think something else is in the box," Kagome said, rummaging around in it. She pulled out a thin, wiry thing and gaped at it.
"No way!" Rin said. "Are those what I think they are?"
Kagome just nodded, unable to speak. Luckily, Rin said it for her.
"Omigosh! Strobe lights!" she shrieked. She and Kagome started freaking out.
"Isn't this hype San?" Kagome demanded. When she didn't hear any response from the brunette, she stopped freaking out and she and Rin turned around to Sango. What they saw made their mouths drop open. Sango was standing there next to Miroku, and they were both playing with the bubble wrap that Kagome had given to Miroku to hold. Like before, every time they popped a bubble they giggled like two idiotic children, only this time they took turns popping the bubbles. They were so engrossed in their fun that they didn't even realize that everyone in the room had gone silent and was now staring at them.
"Ooh! My turn! My turn!" Sango said, and she popped a bubble. Miroku laughed and clapped his hands. Then, he popped a bubble and Sango did the same thing. It was only when someone cleared their throats that they stopped what they were doing and looked up. Sango's eyes met Kagome's, and Kagome shook her head in disappointment.
"Sango… I expected better of you…" Kagome said in displeasure. "You really let me down."
Sango looked down at her feet guiltily.
"I couldn't help myself…" she mumbled. Kagome raised an eyebrow.
"Miroku, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha demanded. "You're acting like a little kid with Sango!"
Miroku frowned and looked away.
"But it was fun!" he whined. "I was just so tempted…"
"You two were behaving like two immature children just now! No one laughs and claps at bubble wrap!" Kagome said. "I am ashamed of you two!"
Miroku and Sango hung their heads down in shame like two little kids who are being reprimanded. Inuyasha just shook his head and glared at Miroku.
"I expected better from you two…" he said, shaking his head in disgust.
"We're sorry…" Sango murmured.
"No. Sorry doesn't excuse what you two did," Kagome said.
"Yeah. Both of you need a timeout," Inuyasha said. "In the corner; now!"
Sango and Miroku looked at each other, and then slowly they trudged over to one corner of the room. They turned their backs to the others and stood there like naughty children who were being punished.
"Psst! Miroku! I still have some in my pocket!" Sango whispered to Miroku. Unfortunately, Inuyasha heard that.
"Hand it over; now!" he said, holding out his hand to Sango. Reluctantly she gave the bubble wrap to Inuyasha who threw it away.
"And I want both of you separated. Miroku, move to a different corner," Kagome said. Grudgingly Miroku went over to the next corner away from Sango. They both turned their faces to the walls. Kagome and Inuyasha stood side by side staring at them.
"Where did we go wrong Inuyasha?" she asked sighing. Inuyasha shook his head.
"I don't know. The kids these days are just out of hand," he replied.
"I feel like it's my fault. I feel like… I'm not a good authority figure…" Kagome said.
"What? No way! It's not your fault! You're doing a great job! The kids these days just don't want to listen!" Inuyasha said. Kagome smiled.
"Yeah. Good thing we only have two of them or we'd be going through hell," she said. Then, she and Inuyasha smiled at each other. When they turned around, they saw Rin, Sesshomaru and Kouga staring at them like... well, how would you be staring at your friends if that just happened in front of you? Exactly. Kagome raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked. Rin just shook her head.
"Nothing…" she said, slightly disturbed. Kagome and Inuyasha just shrugged as if nothing had happened just now.
"Umm… ok… so if we could move on from this total awkwardness right now, that'd be nice…" Rin said. A troubled expression was on her face.
"Yeah. Back to something that makes sense," Kouga said.
"Like our awesome new stuff!" Kagome said grinning. "Wow; our room's gonna be so pimped out!"
"Everyone else got them too you know," Inuyasha said, bursting her bubble. She shot him a look.
"You just don't like to see me happy, do you?" she asked glaring at him.
"Nope," he smirked.
"Wait. So when did you guys get your stuff?" Rin asked.
"Really early this morning. Nikky dropped it off," Inuyasha said.
"Oh. Did you two talk?" Kagome inquired.
"Sort of. She was rushing so we didn't get to talk long."
"Well what did you two talk about?" Kagome asked nonchalantly.
"Feh. Nothing really. She couldn't stop to chat 'cause she had to drop off the other stuff to the other cabins. She did say that she was still looking forward to our match though," Inuyasha said nonchalantly. Kagome frowned.
"I see…"
"Wait Inuyasha. So if she dropped off you guys stuff, then why did you all bring our stuff?" Rin asked confused.
"Because she was too busy to stop at every cabin so she asked us to bring your stuff to you guys," Kouga replied.
"Oh…" Rin nodded.
"Well, you guys gonna help us set these things up?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha shrugged.
"I dunno. I don't really feel like it," he said lazily. Kagome glared at him.
"Lazy ass," she muttered under her breath. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Excuse me?" he asked, surprised.
"Oh, nothing doll," she said, smiling sweetly at him. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.
"Don't call me doll," Inuyasha said.
"Yeah, call him dog," Kouga smirked. Kagome laughed and Inuyasha growled.
"Okay, so anyone else besides Inuyasha wants to help us?" Kagome asked. "Anyone? Sesshomaru?"
She looked at the powerful daiyoukai who was lazily leaning against the sofa back with his arms folded and a totally bored look on his face. At the mention of his name, he turned his cold glare to Kagome.
"No," he said in his natural cool voice. Kagome frowned.
"Aw, c'mon Sesshomaru! Please!" she whined.
"No," he repeated.
"Well, why not?"
"Because I am neither obliged nor willing to help you girls. It is a waste of my time," he replied in an apathetic monotone.
"Oh, please Sesshomaru?" Rin suddenly asked. "It couldn't hurt to help us hook these things up. I mean, I suck at electronics so I'd probably just mess things up. We could really use your help. Besides, it's not like you have anything better to do right? Please?"
Just hearing Rin's voice for some reason did something to Sesshomaru, although he didn't know what. Again he felt that sensation to say 'yes', and he had to look away in order to stop himself. He didn't answer her and she frowned.
"Don't worry girls. All of us will help you," Miroku offered smiling.
"Really?" Sango eyed him suspiciously. "You sure?"
"Of course. Right guys?" he asked turning to the other boys. Inuyasha shot him a look and Sesshomaru glared at him.
"Speak for yourself," they both said simultaneously. Miroku sweat-dropped.
"I'll help too," Kouga offered. He winked at Kagome and she blushed, causing Inuyasha to growl.
"Okay, so me and Kouga will help, and then later we can all go do something fun together," Miroku said.
"Yeah, like a date," Kouga suggested. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru exchanged a look, and you could see what they were thinking: 'Date?'
"Uh, you know what? On second thought, I think I'll help out," Inuyasha said. Kagome looked at him curiously.
"And why is that?" she asked. Inuyasha shrugged.
"Because… um… me and Sesshomaru promised Nikky…" he lied. "Isn't that right Sesshomaru?" he asked looking at his brother. Sesshomaru gave a nod.
"As much as I hate to do it, a promise is a promise," Sesshomaru said, "And I Sesshomaru am dignified enough to stick to a promise."
"Promise? But you guys didn't-" Miroku started to say, but one death glare from Inuyasha and Sesshomaru shut him up quickly.
"Okay then, so that's settled! Now let's get this show on the road!" Inuyasha said clapping his hands together. Kagome rolled her eyes and everyone set to work. While Inuyasha was lifting the strobe lights out of the box, Kagome cornered him.
"Okay, fess up. What's the real reason you wanted to help?" Kagome asked.
"I don't know what you're talking 'bout," Inuyasha said not looking at her.
"It's because you didn't want me spending so much time with Kouga isn't it?" she demanded placing her hands on her hips. Inuyasha shrugged. Then, he lifted the lights out of the box and attempted to untangle them. Kagome grabbed the other end and started to help him. He didn't say anything.
"Well?" she prompted. He suddenly stopped untangling his end, and before he could say anything, he grabbed her end from her and then threw it around her body like a rope and pulled her into him holding the two ends.
"Wouldn't you be mad if it were Kikyo wanting to spend time with me?" he whispered to her, staring her in her eyes. She swallowed hard as she stared back into his.
"Yeah… but with a good reason which you already know."
"I have a good reason too. I want to protect you," Inuyasha said.
"Why?" she whispered. Her heart pounded in her chest. Inuyasha inched his face closer to hers.
"Isn't that what friends do?" he said in a low voice.
"I guess…" she replied. Her mouth felt dry. Inuyasha just stared at her for a few more seconds before unwrapping the lights from around her body and then proceeding to hang them up on the ceiling. Kagome just stood there staring at him dumbfounded and at a loss of words. It was only when he turned to her and said, "You gonna help?" that she snapped out of her daze and went over to help him. While they were hanging the lights up, she kept sub-consciously glancing at him ,and every time she did she would see him looking at her, and then they would look away embarrassed and then glance at each other again. This went on for about five minutes until they were finally done hanging up the lights, and relieved she walked over to Sango to help her set up the plasma screen. Unfortunately, Sango had seen that.
"What was that just now?" she asked suspiciously.
"What was what?" Kagome asked innocently.
"Just now with the lights and you and Inuyasha and the low talking and the close faces," she replied. Kagome flushed
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," she said. Then, before Sango could say anything she quickly said, "Oh hey, it looks like Kouga needs some help with the TV! Bye!" then, she rushed over to him leaving Sango standing there confused.
"Hey Kouga, need any help?" Kagome asked appearing at his side. He looked at her surprised before a pleased look crossed his face.
"Not really, but your company is always welcome. What's up?"
"Oh nothing…" Kagome said awkwardly. "You?"
"Well, except for setting up this TV for three beautiful girls, nothing," he said, winking at her. She smiled, flattered, and out the corner of her eye she saw Inuyasha frown a bit to himself.
"So… when do you want to go on our date?" Kouga asked.
"Huh?" Kagome said looking back at him. "Oh, well, um…" she bit her lip as she thought of a response. Kouga studied her expression and frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing…"
Kouga stopped what he was doing and stood in front of Kagome. He rested his hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes, catching her by surprise.
"Look Kagome, I know I kind of sprung this date thing on you without asking your opinion, so if you don't want to go with me it's cool, okay?"
Kagome stared at him wide-eyed. That was so thoughtful of him…
"No, it's not that Kouga," she said looking down. "It's just that…"
"Just what?"
"Well…"
She glanced over at Inuyasha who was staring at them intently. The look on his face said it all: he didn't like them discussing a date one bit. She was about to tell Kouga that maybe it wasn't such a good idea that they go on a date, but the she remembered her earlier fight with Inuyasha about his date with Kikyo and she became angry again.
"It's nothing. I'd love to go on a date with you. How about tomorrow, say around 7?"
Kouga looked surprised.
"Oh, um that's great! I'll stop by at 7 then."
"Great." Kagome shot Inuyasha a look and he stood there confused and a bit angry. What the heck?
No one else seemed to have noticed or heard what had just happened, and after that everyone went about their business. When they were all finally done, everyone collapsed on the floor (except Sesshomaru) tired.
"Phew! We're finally done!" Rin said happily.
"Yea, and this place looks great," Miroku commented.
"It should, how much time it took to set all this up!" Inuyasha huffed.
"Yea, no kidding. Those lights weren't easy," Kagome said. She and Inuyasha exchanged a look. No one else knew why the lights weren't easy to put up except for them and Sango.
"Well, it's finished now," Rin said.
"Yea… but it's missing something…" Sango said thoughtfully.
"Hmm… you're right…" Kagome mused. It's a bit… empty you know?"
"Pictures of Chris Brown?" Rin suggested. The boys all groaned causing the girls to laugh.
"Nah. We'll put those up later," Sango said smiling. The boys made faces and shook their heads.
"So what then?" Rin asked.
"Hmm… oh I know!" Kagome suddenly said. Everyone turned to look at her as she rushed over to her bureau. She grabbed her bag and began rummaging around in it while everyone stared at her confused. Then, their confusion slowly turned to surprise and their opened wide and their mouths dropped open as they watched her pull out a huge object. The more she pulled out the larger their eyes grew and the more their mouths opened until finally she pulled the whole object out and set it on the ground. Everyone stared in wide-eyed shock at what she had just pulled out of her hand bag: a huge, pink, fluffy bean bag chair.
"Well? What do you think?" she asked them. She looked at them all expectantly, but no one said a word because they were all speechless. She frowned at their silence.
"Well? Oh, I know what you're all thinking! There are three of us but only two chairs! Well don't worry; I got three more of them!"
Then, to their amazement and horror, Kagome pulled out three more bean bag chairs, one purple, one yellow and one baby blue, and set them down next to the pink one. If everyone thought their mouths couldn't drop anymore it did. She stared at them waiting for one of them to speak. Finally Inuyasha broke the silence.
"What the hell Kagome? Where did those damn bean bag chairs come from and how the hell did they fit in your bag?"
Kagome looked at him confused.
"What do you mean? You can't fit bean bag chairs into your bag?"
"NO! Can anybody?"
"I thought so," Kagome said shrugging. "It's no biggie, really."
"Um, yea it is! That ain't possible!"
"I must agree with Inuyasha Kagome. That what you just displayed right now defined the laws of Physics; an anomaly if you may," Miroku said looking puzzled. "It isn't theoretically possible."
"Yea, no kidding!" Rin said. "I've never seen someone pull out four bean bag chairs our of a purse before, yet alone attempt to fit it!"
"Yea Kags, I knew you were odd but this… this is ridiculous," Sango said shaking her head. Kagome stared at her incredulous friends confused. Why were they so surprised? It wasn't as if she pulled a bicycle out of her bag… she had tried but the handlebars kept sticking out…
"Well if you guys have a problem with it I can just put it back…" Kagome said. Everyone shot her a look.
"Damn! What else you got in there?" Kouga demanded.
"Oh nothing much… just a box of waffles, a flat iron, a jumbo bag of sun chips, a litre of soda, a make up kit, a bottle of lotion…"
As she listed off the contents of her purse everyone's eyes grew bigger and bigger until finally their eyes were as wide as plates. When she was done they were all speechless again.
"What, no microwave?" Kouga asked sarcastically.
"Actually, I was gonna bring one; I tried to pack it and all but mom wouldn't let me carry it 'cause she said it was her good microwave," Kagome replied shrugging. Kouga, along with everyone else, sweat-dropped.
"Okay… well is anyone else freaked out besides me?" Miroku asked. Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. Kagome raised her eyebrow. Why was everyone freaked out?
"Oh, good. So I'm not crazy!" Miroku said in relief.
"No my friend, that would be Kagome," Inuyasha said resting his hand on Miroku's shoulder. They all laughed as Kagome just glared at them.
"Well I just don't see what's so weird or what's so funny! But anyway, let's just move on then!"
"Yes, please!" Sango begged. After the laughter died down, everyone just stood around a bit awkwardly.
"So… what do we do now?" Rin voiced the question in everyone's head.
Kagome glanced at her watch.
"Well, it's about 11:45… too late for breakfast?" she asked.
"It's never too late for breakfast!" Rin shouted. Everyone laughed again.
"If you keep eating so much you're gonna get fat," Sango said shaking her head.
"Oh please. I never get fat!" Rin said. Sango stared enviously at Rin's thin physique, knowing that she was right.
"Well, we've been working all morning, and breakfast will b over soon, so unless you girls want to starve I suggest you stop talking and we move," Miroku said. Sango and Rin stuck their tongues to at him and he grinned. Then, they all proceeded to head out of the cabin, talking and laughing among themselves, except for Sesshomaru who neither laughed nor talked with them, and who walked further behind them at a pace fit for an important daiyoukai such as himself.
Well, another chapter out of the way and maybe more to come... So, how was it? Not too bad for an absent writer with writer's block huh? Well, please R&R... And tell me if you guys think I should discontinue this story or not... Anyway, with that said,
~Mata Ne!~