Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Erin or Midnight Blues. Erin is a hanmajoerin's character that she was so nice to let me use in this story and Midnight Blues is also the band name she thought up.
Okay, there are other stories I should be updating besides this, but I woke up this morning and decided I felt like typing and this is the only story that I knew what I wanted to happen so y'all lucked up and got an update. Yay! I hope you like this chapter!
Walking Tightropes
Chapter 5: Fundraisers
I think Bulletman is a great penname. It does a good job of hiding Dai's true identity, unlike D-man or anything containing his birthday numbers or phone number. The name reminds me of a superhero which is always cool and there really is a deeper meaning behind his name. My guess might have been wrong, but Dai chose Bulletman for a reason. I know it.
And my opinion isn't biased!
-x-
"He did it!" I shouted as I burst through the doorway for Calculus, waving the typed paper I had printed out this morning after it came in my email around. "He did it, he did it, he did it!" I skipped over to my seat next to Sango and dropped the paper on her desk. "He made the deadline and I must say, this is one of his most opinionated pieces to come. Truly, it's the best."
"Considering you say that about everything he writes, I'm not exactly convinced." Sango picked up the letter as she took a sip of her coffee from her thermos. Her eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. "Popularity and its Confusion?" She asked, reading the title. "That's not exactly original."
"No, but the way he writes it… it's just amazing." I insisted, taking my seat. "He talks about how all the popular people 'inner date' and yet no one gets into a huge fight over their best friend dating their ex. It's like they're all dating to be dating and not to really fall in love. His best piece yet."
"I'll take your word for it." Sango handed me back the letter and pulled her Calculus binder out.
"Wait, aren't you going to read it?" I asked, taking it back and putting it carefully back into the folder I stored all his pieces in. "It's really, really good."
"And I'm sure it is, but I want to be surprised when I see it printed on this Friday's paper. The paper that won't exist if you don't start thinking of fundraising ideas," Sango reminded me, effectively bringing me down from my high. "So did you think of any better ideas for the meeting tomorrow?"
All of the plans that we came up with yesterday were an absolute fail. They were either too pricey, required more time than we had, or were just not about to happen (Aki's ideas). So, I called for another meeting tomorrow since I had to work again today and make sure everyone turned in their pieces today for publishing.
"Um… we could… I don't have anything original," I admitted, slumping in my seat a bit. "If we could just get people out of the last half of their last class for some event we would make a ton of money."
"The principal is never going to go for that. He only lets us out for big sport events or if it's a fundraiser to raise funds for something national, not school related." Sango turned in her seat to face me. "As editor, you need to kick it into gear."
"I am." Sango raised a brow. "Okay, I will. It's just that yesterday I had all this homework and I was up editing a few more articles and then this morning Dai sent in his piece and it was just so amazing I kept reading it over and over and over again." I sighed. "It was just so good."
"I think the fact that you have a ridiculously overblown crush on this guy is clouding your judgment and messing with your priorities. You do realize there will also be no Bulletman if we don't save the paper."
And if there isn't a Bulletman I have just about no contact with Dai. "Okay. Save the paper, save Bulletman. I got it."
"Good. Now did you get any—"
"Who the hell is Bulletman?" Inuyasha asked cutting Sango off as he dropped into his seat, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked… like he wasn't a morning person.
"What happened to you?" Sango asked bluntly, not believing in beating around the bush. "You look horrible."
"Searching for a band, looking for a job, staying up late to practice, homework…" Inuyasha counted off on his fingers. "Apparently all of that can really tire you out in the morning. So who is this Bulletman you have to save?" Inuyasha asked again, now looking at me.
"He is this amazing writer," I told him as I got the letter back out of my folder. "He has all these great opinions and his style is very admirable and he has—"
"A stupid name," Inuyasha cut me off, snorting as he looked at the closing of the letter. "What kind of name is Bulletman?"
"It's not a stupid name!" I defended, insulted that Inuyasha just dissed Dai's penname without even reading the letter which made up for the supposedly stupid name. "It has a deep meaning behind it."
"Really?" Inuyasha raised his brows and looked at me. "What is it?"
"It… It means…" There had to be a meaning behind Dai's penname. He wasn't the kind of guy who would just make up the first name that popped in his head because his creative juices weren't pumping at the moment. There is a meaning behind everything Dai did. There has to be. "It means that the way some stuff at this school happens is so frustrating and annoying and unjust that it makes him want to shoot himself sometimes," I made up off the top of my head. But Dai isn't that kind of guy. "Hypothetically speaking, of course."
"So because school's a bitch, he's going to shoot himself." Inuyasha nodded his head. "So the name means he's secretly suicidal-slash-depressed. Wow."
"I said hypothetically!" What if Inuyasha tells somebody else about my made up meaning of the penname and they tell more people and what if one of those people know that Dai is Bulletman? I would have indirectly started a rumor that Dai is suicidal or the type of kid to bring a gun to school! Definitely not the way to impress him.
"Don't pay Kagome any mind," Sango told Inuyasha. "She has an unhealthy obsession with this guy's writing."
"Well, his name is stupid but I can see where your obsession comes from." Inuyasha looked up from the paper and smiled at me, handing the letter back. "His writing is really good."
"Thanks," I smiled back. He may have completely drove Dai's penname into the ground, but at least Inuyasha recognizes Dai's writing talent.
"So why do you have that guy's letter to the editor?" Inuyasha asked, pulling out his calculus binder and slyly sliding Sango's homework off her desk when she was searching for a pencil.
"I am the editor of the Shikon Times," I announced, sitting up in my seat straighter. "And this guy's piece is going in the paper for Friday. You should really buy one."
"Because we really need the money," Sango added. "Gossip Columnist," Sango answered Inuyasha's unasked question. "We're losing funding and all the money we saved last year was donated to the good cause of sending three seniors with financial problems to the prom."
"Yeah, so you should really buy." I emphasized.
"I'll think about it."
"Don't think, just do." I told him, dead serious, and Inuyasha just laughed, shaking his head. "No, I'm serious; I can't lose the paper my senior year."
"Okay, I'll buy one."
"If you pay 7.50 now we'll have you covered for the next five issues," Sango added, and I nodded my head. "And I won't tell Mrs. Muso you're copying my homework."
"Well, I guess I can't beat that." Inuyasha fished a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and passed it to me.
"I don't have any change," I admitted sheepishly. I looked over to Sango who just shook her head. "I can give it to you tomorrow if you don't need it to—"
"Don't worry about it," Inuyasha insisted. "Keep the change."
-x-
"I figured out that we don't need to have a fundraiser," Sango said through the phone. "If we keep suckering people like we did with Inuyasha this morning, we'll be back on track in no time."
"Too bad people aren't as nice as Inuyasha," I laughed. "And high-schoolers aren't the ones to be moved by a good sob story."
"Screw teenagers then; we'll go after the teachers and PTA moms. I'm telling you Kagome, this is our Plan B."
"It might be Plan A considering that is—" My phone started beeping. "Oh. Shoot. I got somebody else calling me. Get back to you after work?" I asked, opening the door to my car.
"Sure. Oh, and this just in: Inuyasha got a job at the Bean Café and is working a shift tonight."
"Why would I care?" I gave up asking how Sango knew all of this.
"You might want to stop in for some coffee or something."
"Bye Sango," I said, rolling my eyes as I switched to the other call. "Hello?"
"Alright Kagome, I got the idea that is going to save the entire staff's asses." There was pause. "Mud-fight. I mean, just think about—"
"Bye Aki," I said, hanging up on him. I have already made up my mind to completely disregard every idea that came out of Aki's mouth. He's almost as bad as Miroku.
I pushed the door to Shoe Carnival open and stepped in; making sure my navy shirt was tucked into my khakis before my boss had a chance to yell at me again. The jingle of bells went off over my head as the door shut behind me and I made my way to the register which was empty. Where the hell is Erin?
"Of course you need a pair of shoes!" A voice that held forced enthusiasm laced with annoyance came from the back of the store. "You have feet, you need shoes."
"I don't know…" the hesitance was obvious in the customer's voice.
"If you didn't know, why the hell would you come to a shoe store?" The voice was flat. I just shook my head, trying not to laugh.
"Erin!" T.J's voice barked out, and I made sure to make myself look busy. T.J was a very bossy manager. "Please go back to the register and I'll handle the customer."
"Whatever," was Erin's response as she came into view from behind one of the high shelves of shoes. When she got to the register she said, "Apparently, I'm not people friendly enough to be one of the employees working the floor." She stood behind the register next to mine. "I'm just telling it like it is and not lying to the customer to get them to buy expensive sneakers when the cheaper ones may look ugly but have better support."
"And that is why you'll never be a salesperson; you're just too nice." I got out a pile of trivia questions from a shelf underneath the registers. "But you are a bit… grumpier than usual."
"Well, that's the consequence of having the guitarist of the band you're managing fucking quit!" T.J's head popped out from behind the shelf and he glared at Erin who in turn twisted her face in a strange way and rolled her sky blue eyes before turning back to me. "I mean, I would fill in and be the guitarist myself but my mom is being…" Erin sighed and closed her eyes, running a hand through her blonde hair stressfully. "My mom. You know, an evil bitch."
Ever since Erin's dad died from cancer her mom has been… out of it to put it in the nicest terms. Erin isn't one to talk about it too much but she doesn't hide the fact that her family isn't stable, from me anyway. And now that Erin's back from her latest visit with depression, I'm not going to press her for anymore than she's willing to tell.
"So Midnight Blues is looking for a new guitarist?" I asked for clarification. I started flipping through a few of the questions. "Should we ask what the first Lifesaver flavor was or a sports question?" We ask a trivia question every hour and if a customer gets it right they get to spin the colorful wheel by the registers to see what kind of discount they won themselves. That is the carnival side to Shoe Carnival.
"Lifesaver; all these macho guys might get the sports trivia too easily." Erin gave a forced smile to the mother-daughter duo walking through the door. "And we are looking for a new guitarist, preferably one who doesn't get a big head and decide he doesn't need a band and goes off for a solo career three days before a gig I had to do a lot of convincing to book. Jackass," Erin scoffed, grabbing a few trivia cards, reading one and shaking her head. "I swear they make some of these just to make us feel dumb."
"If you really need a guitarist, this new guy at my school is supposedly really good." Supposedly, since I've never actually heard Inuyasha play his guitar. "I could tell him and—"
"Oh god, would you?" Erin was looking up at me with her hopeful blue eyes. "You would be a huge lifesaver if you could get him to come out tomorrow or Friday to Kouga's for practice. I mean, we'll probably have to do more covers than I'd like at the gig, but if he's a fast learner we might be able to fit in a few original songs in and save more for the next gig. If there is a next gig…" Erin snapped out of her rant. "So can you talk to him, like, tonight?"
"I, um…" Thanks to Sango I do now know where Inuyasha works. "Yeah, sure; I'll tell him about it."
"Awesome. Here, give me your hand." Erin grabbed my wrist and took my hand herself, grabbing a pen with her other, biting the cap off, and she proceeded to write an address down on my hand. "That's Kouga's address. And if it's not too much it would be great if he would look up a few of our songs on Myspace."
"No problem." I looked at my watch. "It's the top of the hour; would you like to announce the question or me?'
"I'll do it and you can take care of the customer. You know, since I'm not 'people friendly' and all." Erin said with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed the mike. "Hey all you Shoe Carnival Shoppers, it's time for our hourly trivia!" For someone who hates their job, Erin really knows how to fake it.
I turned to the customer and smiled. "Good afternoon ma'am, how's your day been so far?"
-x-
"You could go with… ferret racing." Erin offered drawing something I couldn't identify yet on the back of a receipt from her spot on top of the counter. "You have to admit, that's a really unique idea."
"Where am I going to get a ferret?" I asked, reaching for my bag that was under the register. We were closing up and I figured now was an appropriate time to ask Erin for her advice.
"I don't know," Erin shrugged, "but you're considering the idea." she pointed out in her sing-song voice.
"I'm kind of desperate."
"But think about it. You could have the people place bets on their favorite ferret and instead of winning money they'd win… something."
"I'll think about it." I hoisted my bag up on my shoulder and made sure my register was locked. "You need a ride?"
"Home?" she looked up from her doodling and looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
"No… anywhere."
"Nah," she shook her head, hopping off the counter. "I'm thinking about crashing at one of the guys' place tonight. And there's supposed to be a really good performer playing at Bongo tonight, you know how I'm a sucker for music." She winked and smiled at me, grabbing her own messenger bag from underneath the counter that I now assumed had clothes in it. She headed for the door and I followed in suit. "Bye T.J!" she shouted back to T.J as his bald head popped out of the storage room. "I'm going to miss your shiny bald head!"
"We need to talk about your customer services Miss. Chiba," T.J told Erin as he walked towards us, not even cracking a smile. Way too serious.
"I'm sorry, I was just a little tightly wound earlier, but my bestest friend Kagome," Erin wrapped her arm around my waist (her 5' 1" standing is too short for throwing her arm over my shoulder) and pulled me close. "Has saved me from all that stress by landing me a guitarist with amazing talent."
"Hey, I never said—"
"So, when you see me again on Friday I'll be good to everybody and greet them with a bright smile."
T.J just shook his head and walked back towards the storage room, not even knowing how to deal with Erin.
"That man is too serious for his own good," Erin said as we stepped outside. "He's not the best looking guy in the universe, but he might actually get a date if he changed that stoic attitude of his. It's so boring."
"You're just full of too much life," I told Erin and for a second her returning smile almost looked sad. But I could have been imagining it. We came to a stop by my car and I opened my door to get in but stopped and looked back at Erin. "You want a ride to the bus stop?"
"I want you to go talk to that guy so I can sleep in peace, knowing that I really have guitarist for this huge gig." Erin pushed me into the driver's seat gently. "I have legs; I can use 'em."
"Fine." I got in and shut my door, but rolled down my window before Erin could leave. "Just so you know, I never said Inuyasha was amazing, so don't' be disappointed."
"I think he'll be hurt when he finds out how little faith you have in him." Erin turned around and offered a hand over her shoulder as she walked away. "Until Friday!"
"Bye!" I called back, watching Erin's sloppy bun disappear before finally backing out of my parking space and heading towards the Bean Café. Wherever that was…
-x-
After driving around town in circles since I'd left the parking lot I finally made it to Bean Café. While Sango is great at picking up on gossip, her directional skills need some polishing; I finally pulled up in front of a tiny coffee shop at the end of a line of stores. I cut the engine and hopped out of the car, running through the door only a minute before closing time.
Inuyasha was at the register, wiping down the counter, and he sighed, probably annoyed that a customer had the nerve to slip in one minute before he got off. I completely understand the feeling. His hair was tied back and he had an apron tied around his waist and for some reason he looked even hotter. I suddenly wished I wasn't wearing my work uniform. Or that I had at least taken the time to un-tuck my shirt. Or let my hair out of its ponytail.
"Welcome to Bean Café, how can I…" Inuyasha's sentence trailed off when he saw me and I offered a small wave. "Kagome?"
"That's me."
"Wh-what…" Inuyasha looked around him quickly. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I'm sorry. Is this a bad time?" I looked around the small shop and just like I assumed, not many people were coming in for coffee at nine o'clock at night. But maybe he had one of those bosses who were really strict about not having friends over while working. Even if it was so close to closing time… "I just thought I could talk to you now since it was so close to closing time and…" I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I'll just leave and talk to you tomorrow morning or—"
"No!" Inuyasha cut me off. "I was just surprised," he announced in a lower voice. "I thought you didn't like coffee."
"I don't," I admitted with a sheepish grin. "But I heard the pastries here were to die for and I thought I'd give them a shot."
"You don't have to make up excuses to stalk me," Inuyasha said as he leaned over the counter a bit, giving me a smug smile. "I'm not going to issue a restraining order or anything."
"I'm not stalking you," I scoffed, with a roll of my eyes. "Don't be so full of yourself."
"You had to find out where I worked somehow, and considering I just got the job this afternoon, I have no choice but to assume you're a stalker."
"Sango told me before I went to work," I told him. He looked confused. "She's a gossip columnist. She knows everything."
"Oh." Inuyasha pushed himself off the counter and stood up straight, going back to wiping it down again. "So what brings you to my place of business?"
"I actually came here to tell you something. Something that I'm pretty sure you would consider to be good news."
"Okay, Kagome, the suspense is killing me," Inuyasha joked as he tossed the rag he was using into a sink that was behind him. "Please, by all means, share."
"Well… my friend that I work with is the manager for a band and their guitarist got a big head and left for a solo career and now the Midnight Blues are looking for a new guitarist since they have a gig Saturday and I kind of mentioned you were looking for a band to join and Erin told me—"
"Are you shitting me?"
"I, uh… no?" I shook my head. "Why would you think that?"
"So you're serious?" Inuyasha asked. "You're deadly serious?"
"Yes…"
"Kagome this is amazing!" Inuyasha shouted, reaching over the counter and pulling me into a quick hug. While quick, I wasn't expecting it to be so… warm.
"I got the address for where you should go for rehearsal and—"
"This calls for a celebration," Inuyasha declared, when he stopped doing his victory dance. "You like apple pie?"
"Love it."
"Great. We'll celebrate with some pie and coffee!" I raised my brows. "Hot tea for you." Inuyasha started moving around behind the counter, grabbing two mugs, filling one with a fresh pot of coffee that he must have been brewing for a cup to take home. He filled the other mug with hot water and dropped a tea bag in it. "You want sugar with your tea?"
"Yeah, but you don't have to—" He already ripped open three packets of Splenda and poured it in my cup, grabbing a spoon and stirring it. "Thanks."
"No problem. Come back here," he said, motioning me around the counter before he grabbed the apple pie from the glass case and cut two pieces. He set them down on the floor beside his feet before grabbing our drinks and bringing them down to the ground with him. "Come on, sit down."
I crouched down and pressed my back against the counter like Inuyasha and stretched my feet out in front of me. There couldn't have been more than two inches between Inuyasha and my shoulder. I really wanted to close the gap.
"You were trying to tell me something else about the whole band thing while I was hopping around," Inuyasha spoke around a mouthful of apple pie, starting the conversation.
"Oh, I have the address for where you should meet them tomorrow." I showed him my hand, which Erin had written Kouga's address on earlier. "If you have a pen I could write it down…"
"Yeah…" Inuyasha reached his hand over his head and blindly searched the countertop for a pen. "Here you go," he said, handing the pen he had found. "Just write it on my hand so I don't lose it."
My cheeks burned suddenly. "Okay." I took his rough, calloused hands in my own and scribbled Kouga's address on Inuyasha's hand, blushing the entire time over the fact that our hands were touching. What was I, a middle schooler? "There you go."
Inuyasha looked at his hand and smiled. "I can't believe you did this for me Kagome." He looked at me and grinned and my heart skipped a beat. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"It's just an address," I mumbled, looking down into the depths of my tea, unable to hold Inuyasha's gaze without going completely red. "Don't get all mushy on me."
Inuyasha laughed and took another bite of his pie, and we ate in silence for a while. "So…" He spoke up as he took the last bite of his pie. "How was your day today?"
And I sat with Inuyasha until 10:30 talking about my day.
-x-
"Rumor has it," Sango told me as we made our way to the newsroom the next afternoon for the meeting, "you went on a date with Inuyasha last night."
"Rumors are wrong as usual," I flatly mumbled, shoving my way through the horde of kids. How the hell does Sango know everything?
"Okay, not a date, but you were at the Bean Café with him until 10:30 last night eating pie and drinking tea and coffee."
I stopped and turned around, stopping Sango in her tracks. "Are you stalking me?"
"No!"
"Okay, do you have people stalking me, because you knowing all that is just making you look very suspicious."
"It's called talking to Inuyasha this morning while you were running late," Sango said as she walked past me and I followed after her.
"And he described it as a date?" I pressed, quickening my steps to keep up with Sango.
"No, I just said that to see how you would react." We came up to the newsroom and Sango let me in first before following. "Did you think of something to save us?"
"As a matter of fact, I did." I dropped my stuff in a seat next to the one Sango sat in and then dug my notes I drew up for today's meeting last night out of my bag. "Inuyasha helped me last night while we were talking."
"Oh…" Sango nodded her head but the look on her face said that she wasn't saying everything she was thinking.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing, just now you can't use your little 'I'm not going to date Inuyasha because I don't know him' excuse." I opened my mouth to counter but Sango continued. "If you can keep a conversation with someone for an hour and half you know them pretty well."
"I—"
"Alright Higurashi, can we get this thing started?" Kikyo took the seat in front of the desk that held my stuff. "I have somewhere I need to be and you're holding me up."
"No one cares about your pedicure appointment," I told her and the corner of her mouth twitched up into a half smile before she suppressed it. That is a standard hello for me and Kikyo.
"So I heard you're hooking up with the silver headed guy," Kikyo said. "Not bad. Of course, he has nothing on Naraku."
For some reason, Kikyo really does love Naraku who in my mind is nothing but a creep who is really good with making films. A few of his pieces were featured on The Morning Ribbit (hate them!) and everyone at school admitted Naraku had a talent. It doesn't take away the fact that he gives off a creepy vibe with his all black get up and just mysterious… everything.
"I'm not hooking up with Inuyasha," I told her, gathering my notes. "We're just friends."
"That know each other," Sango added and I rolled my eyes.
"I have a meeting to start." I walked up to the podium the Ms. Kido got from the drama department again. I had gotten all my stuff together by the time the last member slipped into the room and Ms. Kido shut the door. "Order! Order!" I demanded, and the room quieted down. "This meeting was called to deal with our fundraiser and the ideas—"
"Kagome, I think we should have a fashion show!" Aki called, and I fought to hold on to my patience. It wasn't a bad idea, actually. "Girls walking in bikinis… it would bring in so much—"
"I have thought about it and I've come up with an idea for the fundraiser," I cut Aki off. I don't know why I even had a little bit of hope in him. "My coworker was talking about holding a ferret racing event and having student lace bets and—"
"So you're going to let a few stretched out rats race to raise money for the paper?" Kikyo cut me off. "That's so stupid."
"No, but the ferret racing gave me an idea to hold an Odd-Ball Olympics." They all looked a bit confused, but interested. "We would all be contestants and we would participate in events like… a three-legged race, musical chairs, some kind of eating/drinking contest." They all seemed to be liking the idea. "And we could do something using the pool," I added, to get Aki's vote in particular. "We can make up a whole bunch of different events and then the student body will pay for a ticket, and if they want to they can bet on a staff member and… we'll have to think of something to give them but—"
"If a guy wins I'll give him a kiss on the cheek," Ms. Kido offered from the back and there was a round of agreement. "I'm sure that will bring in a good amount of bets."
"For real?" I asked and Ms. Kido nodded her head. "Okay then, now we just need an award for the girls…"
"A kiss from Inuyasha," Sango offered from the back and when I widened my eyes at her she shrugged but her smile was mischievous. "You're just friends and Inuyasha is all the single girls talk about; if we get him to agree, we could make a ton of money. You don't want the paper to die, right?"
Damn Sango. "There's always time to think of another prize," I answered, moving along. "I'll ask the principal for permission, some people can work on posters, other people can work on gathering supplies and the rest of us can think of more events." I drew three columns on the board and headed them Posters, Supplies, and Events. I turned back around to the staff. "Who's up for making posters?"
-x-
Win the bet and get a kiss from Inuyasha. What the hell was Sango thinking when she threw that plan out there in the open! Like Inuyasha would ever agree to anything like that. At least I hope he doesn't. It's not like I can place bets since I'm competing… Not that I want to!
-0-0-0-0-0-
Finished! And it's all been done in a day. Again, hanmajoerin helped me come up with the idea for the Odd-ball Olympics but if you have idea for the events PLEASE SHARE! And if you can think of a way for the bidders to be rewarded besides a kiss PLEASE SHARE! And I was bored the other day so I started a playlist for songs that relate to/inspired me to write Writing Tightropes in hopes that it would help me get over writers block the next time I hit it so if you have any songs that you think relate PLEASE SHARE! You know, for the sake of more often updates maybe. So, now that I'm done with all that if you liked this chapter PLEASE REVIEW!
~Kimiko888~
hanmajoerin says to get funky with the Odd-ball Olympics ideas! Let those crazy brains of yours get the creative juices flowing. Kimiko888 and hanmajo both agree that you readers & reviewers need to have fun! So think of your strangest ideas and REVIEW.
~hanmajoerin