Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any songs

Song: You're Gonna Go Far Kid… The Offspring

Guess who stayed up until 2:30 in the morning to get this typed for y'all so her editor (the still awesome hanmajoerin) could edit it when she woke up. I did, because I just love you all so much. And I don't think it was that long ago since I last updated, right? I hope not. But this chapter is fairly long so hopefully it makes up for the fact that I might have taken a while to update.

Walking Tightropes

Chapter 6: Prospect

I learned my lesson a while ago that alcohol is not something that should be taken lightly, and when the hangover hits it's not so much fun anymore. A bonus to remaining sober is that I get to remember all the amazing events and feelings of the night and not just let them disappear from my mind completely.

-x-

"I'll do it."

I could practically feel the color drain from my face as Inuyasha agreed.

"Really? Because, I mean, there are different events so you'll be kissing a lot of different girls; as in girls you don't know and I don't want you to feel sexually abused or anything."

Inuyasha laughed as he wrote down an answer for his homework (he was, again, copying from Sango). "I'll do it," he repeated. "I mean, you two keep telling me how important the paper is to both of you so, as a friend, it's the least I can do."

"How nice," I said with a forced smile. There was a lot less he could do to help out the newspaper that didn't involve swapping spit with a bunch of chicks.

"And what better way to make the transfer feel welcomed than to let him kiss a few girls?" Inuyasha added with a smirk and I rolled my eyes, hoping that all the girls he kissed were ugly.

"Oh!" Sango looked up from the phone she was hiding under her desk to text. "That is going to be used to advertise the prizes." Sango is on the poster committee. "Someone give me a pen," she demanded, snapping her fingers and I handed over my pen. Sango wrote the entire line down on her hand and looked down at it with satisfaction. "Perfect."

"So, how was your audition?" I asked Inuyasha, changing the subject as he handed Sango back her homework.

"It went well enough so I got in the band."

"So it was just… good and not outstanding?"

"Well, I always think I can do better but the manager was ecstatic." Inuyasha leaned back against the bar that connected his chair to his desk and smirked. "She was practically drooling all over me."

"Something tells me Erin wasn't drooling all over you. She's not really the type that would do something like that."

"There's a first for everything," Inuyasha said with another smirk. "She couldn't get over how amazing I was, how skilled I was, how my singing was great, and how I was a gift from above." Inuyasha sighed as if boasting about himself was tiring. "The girl's practically in love with me."

"I'm getting that you're embellishing on a lot of this," I deadpanned and Inuyasha just shrugged. "So how's the rest of the band?"

"They're pretty cool. Intimidating and over protective when it comes to their manager." I know exactly what he's talking about. The first time I met the band they were all towering over Erin, surrounding her like a group of bodyguards. They're great when you talk to them, but if you're just going by looks, they look like a gang, Erin being their leader. "Except the singer, Kouga. He's got some ego problems."

Sango snorted. "Look who's talking."

"No, I was just joking"—he wasn't—"it's amazing his head fits through the door."

"You'll warm up to him," I assured Inuyasha and he scrunched his nose up in distaste. "I, for one, think Kouga is great once you get past the cockiness. And he's a good singer—"

"The best," Inuyasha cut me off with a roll of his eyes. "He had to keep reminding me of that during practice."

"Kouga has plenty of likable qualities," I told him. "He's funny, caring, determined when he wants to be, and he's hot. He's smart, even though he forgets to show it sometimes."

"Sounds like you have a crush on him," Inuyasha said and Sango looked up from her phone to watch us both intently.

"Are you jealous?" I asked as a joke but the way Inuyasha stalled for a second made it more of a serious question, so I hurried on before we dove into that conversation. "Ayame is dating Kouga," I explained for him. "Again."

"Again?"

"They have a constant on-and-off relationship," Sango explained. "Ayame is always suspicious when it comes to groupies and when she flips out on Kouga he goes off and tells her to stop being so immature which is a really sensitive topic since Kouga's twenty and Ayame's seventeen. Well, then Ayame goes into her insecure bubble, wondering if she's overreacting and then proceeds to dump him before he gets the chance to do it to her. Give it a month at tops and the two will see each other and realize they can't go another day without the other. Give it six months and its happening all over again."

"Wow," Inuyasha said, looking a bit lost for words. "That sounds…"

"Like it is right out of a T.V drama?" I asked him and he nodded his head. "Yeah, that's because it is. But, that's Ayame and Kouga for you; all for the drama."

"They make a great couple though."

"They most certainly do."

"You and Ayame have such crazy dating backgrounds…" Sango sighed, resting her cheek in her hand. "It makes the occasional fights I get in with Miroku seem boring."

"I wouldn't say that…" I mumbled. There isn't anything boring about Sango slamming Miroku's face into his lunch tray every time she catches him checking out some girl who walks by our table.

"Wait." Inuyasha held his hand up, stopping conversation. "What's Kagome's dating background?"

"Kagome's background is quite—"

"So what songs are you going to play at the gig tomorrow?" I asked Inuyasha, cutting Sango off and shooting her a glare to which she responded by holding her hands up in a surrender-like fashion.

Inuyasha looked back and forth between Sango and me before realizing it was best to abandon the topic. "You'll have to come to find out." He decided, before turning to face the front just as the bell rang and Ms. Muso shut the door.

I was getting my textbook out from under my desk when something hit me in the side of my head. I searched around on the ground and found a pencil; Sango's pink mechanical pencil to be exact.

I looked up to ask her what she wanted, but I was caught off guard by the message she had written in all caps on her notebook that was she pointing at frantically.

HE JUST ASKED YOU OUT IN DISGUISE!

Three exclamation points… she wasn't nearly as excited as I was.

-x-

"Kagome, you lying bitch."

I stopped the movement of my smoothie in its straw mid-slurp and froze for a second in the entrance of Shoe Carnival. I never thought to hear those words from someone like Erin, one of my closest friends. Those words are reserved for my ex-boyfriends.

"What?"

"You lying bitch," Erin said again as I began walking towards the counter, sucking down my smoothie I had picked up from Smoothie King (strawberry-banana). She was smiling when she said it this time and I grew less suspicious. "You made it sound like Inuyasha wasn't going to be good when he is, like…" Erin moved her hands around trying to grasp the right word. "Incredible! God, he's just… so fucking amazing."

"Oh god," I mumbled, placing my smoothie down and putting my bag under the counter, "Inuyasha wasn't kidding."

"About what?"

"About the fact that you were drooling all over him. He says you're just this close to falling in love with him." I told her, bringing my thumb and forefinger together so there was only a centimeter between the two.

"I, Erin A. Chiba, do not drool." Erin scoffed, with a roll of her eyes. "He's just as bad as Kouga. They should get along. You know, birds of a feather flock together?"

"Wrong," I corrected her, hoisting myself up on the counter to let my feet dangle. "Kouga is the only one Inuyasha has a problem with. He can't stand his big ego."

"Well, being around someone just like you does bring your flaws into focus." Erin shrugged and I snorted.

"If he heard you say that he'd probably go crazy."

"That happens to people when they're forced to face the truth." Erin reached under the counter and pulled out a stack of trivia questions. "Are you coming tomorrow night?"

"I haven't heard Midnight Blues play in a while so I guess I can make an appearance. Besides," I sipped at my smoothie for a short pause to build up tension, "Inuyasha did ask me and all."

"What!"

I couldn't help but smile at Erin's outburst. I had been riding this high all day. I had no intention of even considering Inuyasha as one of the subjects in my journey to find love since he was just that much of a great guy and if I broke his heart it would kind of suck if he hated me. But since he's offering…

"Well, he didn't say the words 'will you come see the band tomorrow?', but he asked it in a cool… subtle way." I explained.

"Wait," Erin wasn't so hyped up anymore. "How subtle was it?"

"I asked what songs y'all were doing and he said, 'You'll have to come to find out'. It's such a classic I-want-to-ask-you-out-but-I'm-trying-to-be-cool-about-it line, he practically gave himself away."

"You think Inuyasha would use such a cheesy line to ask you out?" Erin inquired, not buying it. "He seems like the kind of guy who would ask you out straight forward."

I got that vibe from him too, but admitting to that would completely rain on my parade and I don't like soggy parades.

"The point is, he wants me to come," I said, wrapping up the conversation. "And if something happens at the club between us… well, I'll just go with the flow."

Erin sighed. "Look, I love you and I understand you're searching for true love, but if you dump Inuyasha flat on his ass we're going to have serious issues since he's now a part of Midnight Blues and you won't be able to avoid him like you usually do."

"One, I don't try to avoid my boyfriends, and two, I don't take victims." I sipped my smoothie. "They're prospects."

"Oh, okay, my bad," Erin said shaking her head sarcastically. "Point blank, I can't be completely on your side this time about the break up since I actually already like Inuyasha. Plus, he's a gift from Yaten. I knew that stinker was up to something up there in those clouds. He really was serious about wanting to keep the band alive." Erin looked me in the eyes to make sure I understood how serious she was and I did. If she was talking about Yaten like that, Inuyasha must really be like she says he is. "And another thing, you do avoid your exes. You just don't go running away when they talk to you to make it seem like you don't care that you broke their hearts to keep them from trying to get back with you."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Ayame says I'm pretty bad when it comes to breaking up."

"No shit."

"But, you know, if I really thought they were the one I wouldn't break up with them." I pointed out. "And what's the point of spending time with someone who's not the one?"

"You forget that I support you in your search for love." Erin argued looking up from the trivia cards she's currently flipping through to wink at me.

I simply smiled at Erin because she is the only one that knew about Dai that did support me. Ayame and Sango understand somewhat, but they think I should completely forget about Dai as if he's a lost cause. They just don't see how real he is, how perfect. Of course, Erin doesn't support the replacement for Dai thing, but she doesn't tell me to throw him out of the picture either.

"Your reasons make perfect sense, but your way of ending a relationship needs some serious work.
And," She narrowed her eyes at me in a warning look, "if you screw around with my guitarist we are going to be riding in some rough waters."

"I never have intentions to play around with the guys. That would make me a slut."

"And Kagome Higurashi is not a slut," Erin exclaimed, but she was smirking in a sarcastic way so I hit her arm. "It was just a joke!"

"Yeah, okay."

"Ms. Higurashi!" T.J's booming voice came from behind me and I quickly hopped off the counter, smoothing the wrinkles out of my shirt as he came to a stop in front of the registers.

"Yes?"

"You come into work five minutes late and instead of making up for lost time you sit and chat with Ms. Chiba." Erin just sighed and rolled her eyes; having heard this lecture over a hundred times by now. "We are running a business here; this is not a social event."

"I'm sorry," I apologized with my best humbled smile. "I will try to remember for future events."

T.J pressed his lips together, looking like he wanted to say more but he let it go. "Get to work, ladies." He mumbled turning on his heels and marching back to whatever it is he was doing in the back of the store.

"He should definitely fire us, but he just can't." Erin put her hands to her chest in a dramatic gesture. "He's showing us he loves us so much he just can't let us go even though we're horrible employees. It just warms my heart."

"What is wrong with you?"

Erin just grinned at me and laughed. "It's the top of the hour." She waved a trivia question in front of my face. "It's your turn to ask the question."

I read the question over while pulling the mike closer to me. "Who said: 'I am the president of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli'?" I glanced over to my co-worker, confused. "Am I supposed to be good at U.S History when I don't live in the States?"

"It's a funny line," Erin shrugged. "And the answer is George Bush. I knew that before I looked."

"I'm shocked."

"I am a person who is full of surprises."

-x-

"Wow Kagome, you look great!"

I smiled at Sango's compliment as I shut my car door, locking it. I usually am pretty faithful with my jeans and t-shirt, but I've been watching a lot of movies when I'm neglecting newspaper work and homework and when girls go clubbing they actually dress up. So, instead of throwing on a pair of comfy jeans and the first t-shirt I found, I put on a pair of form fitting dark skinny jeans, a white tank top with an off the shoulder band tee that hung loosely around my torso in a stylish way, and a pair of low black boots with a nice heel to them. I just felt like dressing up really; it had nothing to do with Inuyasha.

"Well, I decided I couldn't let this go to waste in the back of my closet."

"Mmhmm." Sango gave me a knowing look and I rolled my eyes.

"Why is it that you always assume I'm trying to impress some guy when I decided to dress up? I actually do like getting all fancy some days."

"I didn't say any of that," Sango offered innocently with her hands up. "You assumed all that on your own."

"Whatever." I dropped my keys in my purse and pulled out my wallet so I would have my ID ready when we got in the door. This was an 18 and up club, but the bouncer usually lets you in if you're turning eighteen this year so there was no need for a fake ID since neither of us were planning on drinking. "Is Ayame here yet?"

"She came with Kouga, the band, and Erin." Sango answered, linking her arm with mine as we started towards the door. "They'll meet us inside."

There wasn't a line to get in like they show in movies so Sango and I handed over our IDs and walked into the club. Lady Gaga's Super Lover was blasting and the strobe lights were practically blinding me with their constant flashing as we entered. I had distanced myself from places like these after I got completely wasted at a party last year and ended up with alcohol poisoning, having to crash at Sango's since her parents were out of town for the weekend. Going through experiences like that is enough to sober me up for life.

"I don't see them!" I shouted over the noise to Sango after we scanned the crowd for five minutes.

"They might be downstairs!" Sango shouted back. I didn't even know a downstairs existed, but Sango's been here a lot more than me with Ayame and Erin so she knows her way around.

Sango took my hand and pulled me through the mob of girls jumping around to the chorus and to a staircase in the back of the club that led to the basement. As we descended down the steps the music above faded, but was replaced with another drumming beat that was blasting in the underground club.

"There they are!" Sango shouted, pointing to our group of friends that were huddled by a booth in the far right corner. Erin was standing at the head of the table, Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, and Inuyasha filling the seats of the booth, Ayame enjoying her spot on Kouga's lap.

Erin looked up from the piece of paper she was pointing at and talking to the band about and smiled when she saw me and Sango approaching.

"About time you two got here," she greeted us as we came to a stop beside her. "We go on in an hour."

"You make it sound as if we got here with only a minute to spare," I told her. I caught Inuyasha's eye and smiled at him and he didn't hesitate to return it. "What are y'all talking about?"

"Just the songs they're going to do." Erin lifted the paper and shook it in my face for a second before placing it back down on the table. "Inuyasha here is talented enough and learned three original songs. Amazing."

Kouga sucked his teeth. "Don't build his ego up too much; he might leave us for a solo career."

"He won't do that," Erin dismissed the idea her face darkening dramatically. "Because if he did I would make sure that he regretted every single day of his life. The one rule about joining Midnight Blues is that you don't walk out on us. I made the mistake of forgetting to tell our previous guitarist, but I learned my lesson." Erin looked Inuyasha straight in the eyes wearing her serious face, the one that is rare to see her with. "You quit this band and you're dead to me—to us." Ginta, Hakkaku, and Kouga nodded their heads behind her. "This is a dream I'm trying to keep alive and if you try to ruin it I'll hurt you. You don't screw with this band, got it?"

Inuyasha didn't even seem taken off guard by the sudden seriousness in Erin's tone. "Got it."

"Good." Erin smiled and the heavy atmosphere instantly lifted. "Now y'all can go and mingle and I'll start setting up upstairs. And you," she pointed to Ginta, "have lucked up and get to help."

"But Eir," Ginta whined, using Erin's nickname pronounced like air, "I helped last time."

"And you loved spending time with me." She grabbed his hand and moved him off the booth, pulling him through the crowd of grinding bodies.

After that, everybody else began to abandon the booth. Ayame immediately dragged Kouga to the dance floor and, after talking Hakkaku up quite a bit, he and Sango followed after them.

And then there were two.

Inuyasha slid out of the booth and stood next to me, looking at the masses of dancers, sliding his hands into the pockets of his perfect fitting jeans. I crossed my arms for a second before uncrossing them and then crossing them yet again. I bit my nails.

"You like dancing?" Inuyasha asked nonchalantly.

"Not at the moment," I answered, still too nervous for some reason. "Too many people."

"Yeah." We were silent for a while. "You thirsty?"

"Parched."

After almost suffocating in the crowd of dancers, we made to the other side of the room where the bar resigned and I ordered myself a water and Inuyasha got a Sprite.

"You don't drink?" I asked as the bartender set our drinks down in front of us.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Never before a show." He answered, taking a sip of his soda.

"Oh." I sipped at my water for lack of anything better to do. I am unreasonably nervous. "So—"

"You look great," Inuyasha complimented, motioning to my outfit and I blushed. He was making my nervousness worse with his compliments.

"Thanks." I sipped more water. "Are you nervous?"

"Nope," Inuyasha denied with no hesitation. "I love performing."

I was going to start another bad conversation topic when, thankfully, a group of obviously underaged girls stumbled up to the bar in their short skirts and stilettos, laughing obnoxiously as they ordered five Sex on a Beaches. Annoying as hell they were, but they were the distraction I needed to try to get my thoughts together and calm down.

"I can't stand it when people come to watch bands but get trashed before the show even starts," Inuyasha said, glaring at the girls as they went back to the dance floor, drinks high above their heads. "What's the point of playing for a bunch of drunken idiots who can't give us any valuable feedback?" He shook his head. "Fucking assholes."

"Wow," I said blinking. I had never looked at getting drunk at bars like that at all. "You make me feel bad about all the times I used to get trashed at parties."

"Used to?" Inuyasha asked with a quirked brow. He titled his head to the side and examined me. "For some reason I just can't see you going to a party and getting wasted."

"It's the glasses," I joked and Inuyasha smiled at me. My contacts were bugging me again and I can't drive without visional aid so I put my glasses on. "But yeah, I used to go to parties all the time last year." Yoko liked to party, meaning Dai liked to party, meaning I had to go to all of the parties in case they showed up and got in a fight and I'd be there to pick up the pieces. When I look back on it now…it sounds more pathetic than devoted.

"What made you stop?"

Only the single most embarrassing night of my life. As said earlier, I got wasted and after standing on a chair—or was it a table?—dancing like a maniac, being drunk, I built up the courage to tell Dai I was in love with him, deciding to screw the fact that he was with Yoko. When I finally found a very blurry version of Dai I didn't even manage to get the 'I' out of my mouth before I threw up all over him. Yeah; I had to hide my face for a month after that. And I got alcohol poisoning and the worst hangover in the universe.

"Alcohol poisoning," I told Inuyasha, leaving out everything else. "What a bitch."

Inuyasha seemed to be thinking it over "Nope, I just can't see it."

"Well, believe it." I sipped my water. "Do you know the song Shots by LMFAO?"

"Vaguely," Inuyasha answered looking confused. "Why?"

"Well, at the party where I decided to quit alcohol all together after a horrible experience, they played that song and I took a shot for every time they said shots." Inuyasha looked shocked and I nodded my head. "I was definitely 'fucked up'"

"You're shitting me," Inuyasha laughed with uncertain disbelief. "You have got to be shitting me."

"Bank has pictures." Then I processed what I just said. "But I'd prefer if you didn't see them. Ever."

"They say shots like…" Inuyasha counted on his fingers while he mumbled the lyrics to himself. "That's thirty-two times in just the chorus!"

"Yeah," I nodded. Those were the days I was really stupid. And the timing of the party wasn't the best. "But the shot glasses weren't as big as normal ones since they were all souvenir glasses the girl's parents had brought back from vacation. They did do enough damage though when you down over sixty."

"How'd you not die?" Inuyasha asked, looking more worried than curious and something tightened in my chest.

"The Higurashi family can hold their liquor," I said, patting my stomach. "But that was the second worst day of my seventeen years of life. I only remember a few things, like Christina Aguilera's Woohoo while standing on top of a table."—did not help disprove the rumors of people calling me a slut—"Sango and Bank filled me in on the rest with descriptive details and photos." Instead of stopping me, I have the kind of friends who are useless when they're drunk too, choosing to take pictures instead of pulling me down and saving my sorry ass.

"Damn Kagome," Inuyasha mumbled, his emotions so mixed that his expression was unreadable.

"Yeah… so I've sworn off alcohol after that." I lifted my glass of water, bringing attention to it. "So, that was an example of having to learn things the hard way. Alcohol is bad. I can tell you that I hang on to my mom's every word now." Minus, the whole sex talk (please forgive me!). "I've never smoked. Like anything."

"Well I'm glad you made it out okay." Inuyasha took my hand in his, stroking my knuckles with his thumb gently. He smiled one of his killer smiles and continued to say, "I never would have had the chance of meeting you."

I should stop this right now. I should pull my hand away from his, get off this bar stool and go to the bathroom where I can throw some water on my face to get my act together. Inuyasha had pulled a total "player" line out of the hat and that should be my sign to completely stop the blush that was rising on my face, the flips in my stomach, the dryness in my throat, and the uncontrollable beating in my chest. I just don't deal with players because they're a waste to include in my search for true love.

And I definitely don't agree to dance with a player when he smiles and offers his hand to lead me to the middle of the dance floor.

And yet I am.

-x-

"I do all this work to get the band playing, and this facility has the nerve to delay the show thirty minutes," Erin huffed, crossing her arms from her seat beside me at the bar upstairs where we had a good view of the stage. "Do you know that people actually leave if the band doesn't start on time? Stuff like this just pisses me off." She shook her head. "Very unprofessional."

"You can calm down Erin," I told her. "They're about to start."

"Yeah, thirty minutes late."

"Watch them cut their set short because it's going too long." Ayame seethed, crossing her arms as well. Those two are very serious about the band. "Assholes."

"I second that."

"Don't be such party poopers!" Sango shouted unnecessarily loud. "These guys are… are going t-to be WILD! And the crowd is…is going to be wild and me? I… I am going to be sooooooo wild. Wild." She nodded her head, taking another slug of whatever it was she had in her cup.

"Yeah, I'll drive her home," I assured Ayame and Erin and they nodded their heads. Somehow, even without a fake ID, Sango got her hands on some alcohol and now she's pretty tipsy. Inuyasha wouldn't be impressed.

The music stopped playing and the people on the dance floor stopped moving and looked around for a reason.

"Alright we're going to take a little break from the dance music," The DJ spoke into his mike, "and entertain you with some live music from a local band named Midnight Blues!"

There was a scattered applause as the crowd turned their attention to the stage where all four of the guys were standing.

"Don't worry," Sango assured us as she leaned against the bar. "The crowd will get wild soon. Real wild."

"That's not much assurance coming from a lush," Ayame mumbled and we all laughed before Erin shushed us as Ginta started his light tapping on the symbols, starting them off before everyone joined in quickly and Kouga started singing.

Show me how to lie
You're getting better all the time
And turning all against the one
Is an art that's hard to teach

"I love this song!" Sango shouted and the majority of the crowd seemed to agree with her, instantly warming up to the beat and banging their heads, throwing their hands up.

"Starting off with a cover," I said, turning to look at Erin who was smiling which obviously meant she was proud of the band, "Very clever."

"Of course. You always start off with a familiar song to get the crowd used to you before you start bringing out new stuff that they never heard before." She said just loud enough to be heard over the music as Kouga started the chorus.

Now dance fucker dance
Man he never had a chance
And no one even knew
It was really only you

And now you steal away
Take him out today
Nice work you did
You're gonna go far, kid

I had seen the original members of Midnight Blues play a thousand times before so it wasn't much of a surprise to see that, yes, they were really good—Erin wouldn't invest so much time in them if she didn't think they would go far—but I have never seen Inuyasha in action and he was really good too. I don't know much about music when it comes to all the technical stuff, but you could tell by the way his fingers moved skillfully over the strings, the intense look on his face, and how lost in the music he was as he opened his mouth to sing back-up that Inuyasha was more than just good.

With a thousand lies
And a good disguise
Hit 'em right between the eyes
Hit 'em right between the eyes
When you walk away
Nothing more to say
See the lightning in your eyes
See 'em running for their lives

"I told you," Erin began, grinning, as she kept her prideful eyes on InuYasha. "A gift from Yaten."

-x-

"Y'all were amaaaaaziiiing!" Sango complimented them when we met up after their set. "The crowd was just, like… like…"

"Wild?" Erin answered for her and Sango nodded her head enthusiastically. "You need a little work on a few songs, you were falling behind a bit Ginta, and you played a few wrong notes, Inuyasha, but y'all were good." She smiled at them. "Really good."

"Take notice that she had nothing to say about me." Kouga pointed out and I didn't miss the roll of Inuyasha's eyes, as Erin and Ayame both punched him in his arm. "Hey!"

"Okay, so we're going to start packing up the stuff," Erin announced, grabbing Hakkaku's wrist, much to his dismay. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at practice. Don't be late!"She called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the crowd that was back to grinding to the beat of a pop song that played overhead.

"She's the one who's always late," Ginta mumbled. "Except when she crashes at your house, of course."

"Well, she's not welcomed tonight." Kouga smiled broadly as he draped an arm over Ayame's shoulders, not the one for subtlety. "I'm celebrating an epic performance," he said, and Ayame turned bright red.

"TMI!" Sango shouted obnoxiously as she leaned against me for support. "God. I thought you… you weren't going to let me drink, Ka-go-me."

"I'll take you home soon." I assured her. "Ginta, can you go lay her down in a booth or something?"

"No problem." Ginta peeled Sango off my shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her through the crowd to a table nearby.

"Don't hate her," I told Inuyasha when we were alone again. "She really wasn't planning on drinking, but I guess something happened…"

"I can't really refer to my friends as fucking assholes." Inuyasha sighed as if he was hurt by the fact that he couldn't hold Sango to the name. "But her hangover will be my secret pleasure as an act of revenge for putting me in the paper."

"Oh, don't be so insulted. You're obviously pretty interesting if Sango thought to do her column on you." I looked up at him and smiled. When Inuyasha came to the lunch table, waving a copy of Shikon Times in his hand, he wasn't too happy about the fact that he was featured and a bunch of people were giving him long looks in the hall. "You should be honored."

"To have a bunch of girls knowing where I work, my schedule, and my hobbies?" He was attempting not to smile as he said all this and I started to laugh. "No thank you."

"Hey, party people!" I turned around to see Erin skipping over to us. "How goes it?"

"There's no possible way you're done already," Inuyasha said, looking over at the stage to see the equipment still up. "What happened?"

"Oh, well Hakkaku was doing a lot of complaining so I told him he would receive a real punishment by having to pack all the stuff away by himself!" Erin's voice was absolutely ecstatic. "I don't expect him to be complaining anymore after tonight."

"You're such a tyrant," I told her and she shrugged her shoulders, scanning the crowd before her gaze locked on somebody.

"Oh Shit."

"What?" I asked, turning to see Erin staring at something in the distance.

"It's Failure #15. I wasn't expecting him to show up."

"Who?"

"My ex," I told Inuyasha. Erin counted them off by numbers, as if they all had labels on their head. She said it wasn't worth knowing their real names because she didn't like the majority of them and if she named the ones she did like, it would cause her to lose count.

"He wasn't pleasant," Erin mumbled, glaring at Failure #15. "When y'all were dating and after."

"Yeah…"

I dated Ryuuji around the end of sophomore year, beginning of the summer and he was kind of… pushy. I was still a virgin then but he really wanted to change that. So, when I kept on refusing, he wanted me to send him a naked picture of myself to him so he could 'imagine how great it would be when it really happens'. It was the most degrading request I have ever heard in my life. It creeped me out beyond belief and I would never do that so I dumped him. He got really mad after that and started spreading rumors and harassing me… it took a while for things to finally start cooling down.

"What happened?" Inuyasha asked looking at me and then back to Ryuuji who was laughing with a group of friends.

"It's not—"

"The guy's a fucking prick, that's what!" Erin grounded out before I could completely dismiss the topic. I didn't want Inuyasha to know. "He demands Kagome to send him a picture of herself naked and when she refuses he blows crap like, 'I thought you would be happy since you're the easiest smart girl in Japan'" I watched Inuyasha warily as his eyes narrowed and hands turned into fists. "And then he has the nerve to keep coming back to Kagome, saying more stupid shit and once he grabbed her and tried to—"

"Erin!" I cut her off, and it looked like she had snapped back to reality.

"Sorry," she mumbled, giving me an apologetic smile meaning I-didn't-mean-to-spill-something-you-didn't-want-spilled. "Point is the guy's a dickhead that deserves to burn in the pits of Hell."

"You don't have to worry about—"

"Excuse me for a sec," Inuyasha bit out through clenched teeth, not hearing a word I said. "I'll be right back." He told us, pushing by and heading towards Ryuuji.

Shit.

Erin and I watched as Inuyasha approached Ryuuji and tapped him on the shoulder, his other hand curled tight into a fist by his side. The second Ryuuji turned around Inuyasha threw what looked like a super punch packed with demonic power and laid him out.

"Yep," Erin said, nodding to herself. "I definitely like this guy."

"Bank punched Ryuuji too…" I mumbled. And Sango and Ayame attacked him one day, even Kikyo sent some guy after him—which was really nice considering she is Kikyo after all.

"Yeah, but Inuyasha's only known you for a week." Erin turned to me. "That's some promising material."

-x-

"Okay, just watch your head." I eased Sango into the passenger seat of my car as she held one hand to her head.

"My head is already killing me," she moaned, resting her head against the headrest. "I am going to kill you for letting me drink. You should sleep with your eyes opened."

"You brought this on yourself, Sango." I told her and she only moaned, shooing me away with her hand as she reached to close her door.

I jogged back around to the other side of my car where Inuyasha was waiting. He had agreed to drive Sango's car over to my house and then catch a ride home with Ginta and Hakkaku and Erin who would also be following us. We had gotten kicked out the club earlier than we planned thanks to Inuyasha starting a huge fight. But I did like the fact that he stood up for me, even though the issue is about a year and a half old.

"You think you can handle a drunken teen all by yourself?" Inuyasha asked as he opened the door for me. "I mean, knowing your history as a teen alcoholic too makes me worry for Sango's safety."

"Your concern isn't needed," I said, rolling my eyes as I slid into my seat and Inuyasha closed my door and I rolled down the window. "But it is greatly appreciated."

Inuyasha shot me a grin. "So you never did tell me what you thought about the performance."

"The musical performance or the brawl?"

"Ha ha," Inuyasha deadpanned, but his eyes were shining and it made me smile. "I'll take your opinion on both," he decided, leaning in so he was closer to my window.

"Well, for the musical performance, I thought y'all were amazing and I can see why Erin might have been drooling all over you."

Inuyasha smirked, nodding his head. "And for the brawl…"

"As for the black eye Ryuuji will probably have come Monday?" He still kept his smirk, waiting in anticipation. "It meant a lot to me that you stood up for me. Ryuuji really had me messed up for a while after I went out with him"

Inuyasha's smirk turned into a full, 200-watt, heartbreaking smile then and my heart stopped for a second. He leaned in a bit closer and I was sure he was going to kiss me, but he lifted his head at the last second, stepping away from my car, patting the roof twice.

I was pretty disappointed.

"The guy pretty much deserved it," Inuyasha said with a shrug as if it were nothing. "You don't deserve that, Kagome."

Despite my disappointment I couldn't' stop myself from smiling. "Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem." He slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, looking up at the sky and I could only look at him. Stare at how perfect he looked in that one instant and I wished I didn't have to drive home right then.

"So I'll see you Monday?" He asked as I turned the key in the ignition and put my car in reverse, already inching out of the parking space.

"Maybe tomorrow."

-x-

I'm not doing anything wrong with Inuyasha. I'm not looking at him as a possible replacement for Dai, no. I'm just not stopping where our relationship might go. Really, would it be that bad if I ended up dating Inuyasha?

I didn't think so.

-0-0-0-0-0-

That's it! I'm going to keep this ending note short since I have school in the morning and I didn't do the reading for AP Psych where there is a 100% chance I'll have a quiz on, but I wanted to update. And I don't enjoy homework (yeah, shocker there.) So I will be taking requests for possible songs the band or Inuyasha could perform so REQUEST AND REVIEW! Thank you.

~Kimiko888~

Uhhgg, hanmajoerin has school again! Anyhow, another great awesome chapter with Kagome being epically attracted to the ego filled InuYasha. Bet y'all can't wait for another one.