Black Ice: Lookin' through the old computer files and found this. Hmm.

"So, Kagome, how was your first day in the field?" Emi asked conversationally, cutting into her steak. Kagome was staring so intently at the food in front of her, she barely heard her aunt. All she could see was cow blood, cow innards, cow...

"Kagome, Mom asked you how your day was." Sango kicked Kagome's leg under the table and her head jerked upward, eyes wide.

"Uh...it was...eventful." She explained lamely.

"Sango didn't have you working too hard, did she?"

"...Nothing I couldn't handle..." Kagome smiled weakly, pressing down on her steak with her fork and nearly throwing up when the juices leaked out.

"Are you okay, dude?" Kouhaku blinked, noticing her discomfort.

"Yeah, sure, just...a little heat stroked from earlier today."

"But heat stroke involves red tinged skin, and yours has taken on a rather pale color." Sango pointed out a little smugly. Kagome narrowed her eyes at her, returning her under-the-table kick from before.

"Is there something wrong with the steak, Kagome? Oh, maybe I didn't cook it enough..." Emi bit her lip, and Kagome quickly said, "No, no, that's not it! It's great! I just...I think I need some cool air. Y'know. Outside. May I be excused?"

"Sure." Emi nodded, and Kagome got to her feet.

"Can I have your steak?" Kouhaku asked excitedly, and Kagome waved him off, signaling that he could. With a devious cackle, he grabbed her plate. Kagome walked out the front door, immediately swatting away a swarm of mosquitoes.

"AGH!" She shrieked, nearly putting her eyes out. "I hate this freaking place!" She ran down the stairs, barely avoiding tripping, and ran right into a hard body. Kagome blinked, looking up. It was Inuyasha, looking amused.

"Need some spray?" He held out a bottle to her, and she looked at him strangely.

"...Spray?"

"For the bugs. Keeps 'em away, you know."

"Right." She chuckled feebly, and took it from him. "Thanks." A strange sense of relief came over her when, after she'd sprayed it all over the exposed parts of her, the mosquitoes gradually went away. "I really needed that. Uh, what are you doing out here anyway?"

"Spying on pretty young girls." He smirked, and Kagome stared at him blankly. "That was a joke. You know, ha-ha?"

"Yeah, I know ha-ha, but that was just creeptastic. What are you really doing here? And if you give me the same answer, I'm gonna scream at the top of my lungs."

"Not that it'd matter, but just to satisfy you, I was tossin' stones."

"Oh."

"And what about you? Spyin' on handsome young men?"

"My, someone's full of himself, isn't he?" Kagome grinned. "I probably would have been, had I known you were out here, but in all honesty, I'm staving off the cow sickness."

"...Mad cow disease?"

"...No, Mr. Comedian. You're really on tonight, aren't you?"

"Nah. I just moonlight as a funnyman."

"Don't quit your day job. I'm talking about the sickness that comes with seeing beef for the first time after you've discovered how it's prepared."

"Oh. Huh. I never got that sickness."

"Perhaps that's because you're strange."

"You bein' a city girl, I thought you'd like strange."

"Who's to say I don't?" Kagome smiled simply. This covert flirting was much more to her tastes; it didn't make her long for the city so much. He chuckled.

"Then that makes me a very lucky man."

"Here's yet another question that I'm sure you'll find amusing."

"Shoot."

"Why are you here? As in, so close to Sango's house?" She quirked an eyebrow when he blushed, averting his face and scratching his cheek.

"I was...I, uh..."

"Because I thought you lived, like, a freaking mile away. This is quite a distance to walk, which I assume you did because I see your truck nowhere."

"I...was gonna see if Kouhaku would go to the Hole with me tomorrow. This is real good fishin' weather and I don't wanna waste it."

"Are you sure you weren't going to ask Sango to come along as well?" Kagome drawled, crossing her arms, and almost groaning aloud when red covered Inuyasha's face all the way down his neck.

"...She'd be welcome to come along as well...i-if she wanted to, I guess..."

"Mm." Kagome pursed her lips.

What a drag this has been.

"I'll see you later, Inuyasha." She flicked her wrist in goodbye at him and turned to go back into the house.

"Uh, hey, Kagome?" Kagome barely turned to acknowledge that he'd called her. "Do you want to come tomorrow?"

"I...don't like fish."

"Oh. Okay. I'll...see you later, then." He mumbled, and Kagome didn't stick around to watch him go. She went back into the house, seeing the table cleared and Sango relaxing on the couch, watching television. From the muffled sound of rock music, Kouhaku was in his room, and Kagome presumed Emi was asleep.

"So...tell me some truth here." Kagome cleared her throat, sitting on the arm of the couch. Sango glared indifferently at her. "What's the deal with you and Inuyasha?"

"First of all, I don't think that's really your business. Second, we don't sit on the arm of our couches around here. It's considered quite rude." Sango punctuated her intonation by kicking Kagome right off the arm.

"Okay, that is it!" Kagome fumed, leaping to her feet from the floor, and moved in front of the TV. Sango sighed wearily. "Come on, get up! We're gonna settle this at once!"

"You're in my way. Move."

"Fuck that! You and me, right now, toe to toe!"

"You. Are in. My way. I suggest you move or I'm going to get violent."

"Then get violent—let's fight!" Sango rolled her eyes and touched her foot to the carpeted floor. Just the slight motion made Kagome jump so far back, she almost toppled over the television. Sango laughed hysterically, standing up.

"You really want to fight me? You should try ticking me off about something that really matters." Kagome growled, red with embarrassment and anger. "Actually, for the sake of your health...I don't think you want to fight me at all." She danced up the stairs to her room and Kagome could've screamed.

I hate that bitch!

Black Ice: For those of you who haven't been in the loop with us lately, we have decided to do a writing contest based on the unanimous vote on our poll. These are the terms.

Either me or Rain will choose one of our unfinished stories. Within the course of one month, we want all those interested to write the next chapter of the story. During this time period, we will not be offering our beta services. Don't ask why; we don't wanna hear any complaints.

The chapter has to be at least five pages long, in 12-point font (preferably Andalus font), with specifications as follows:

0.20" spacing below paragraph;

portrait orientation;

8.50 page width;

11.00 page length;

0.79 on all margins.

The contest officially begins Monday June 15, 2009, at 12:00 noon.

There will be NO FAVORITISM. This of course means that your chapter shall be picked based on originality, grammar, punctuation, knowledge of the topic, etc.

Send ALL submissions in .doc file format to my email address, ikichira yahoo . com (take out them spaces, y'all). The subject line should be Chapter Submission and the email body should contain a short summary of what you've written.

Keep checking our website for updates about the contest information. Remember, everyone is eligible and all content is accepted as long as it conforms to the standards of the story.

I think that's about it for right now... Good luck, peoples! Come noon, come to our website to see what the first story assignment shall be!

Website Address: blackiceandbloodrain . webs . com

(Generic, we know. But do we care? Hell no. ^^)