Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
Walking Tightropes
Chapter 16: Dropping Hints
Um, yeah. So karma really is that much of a bitch. Especially when she decides to come in the form of ex boyfriends.
-x-
"I want all the game booths to be set up in the same area, kind of in a row. I think the other people already set up a lot of the games around the fountain so if you could just find an empty spot by them that would be great." The man with the Tak Game's logo on his shirt nodded and started carting his cargo away. "Thank you!"
"Inuyasha did a pretty good job," Sango commented as I sat down next to her. "He really came through on the games," she added, taking the time to admire our progress on the banner we planned to hang over the park entrance.
"Don't mention that name," I grumbled, dipping my paintbrush into a can of orange paint. "He's dead to me."
"No he's not."
"Fine. He's pissing me off." I made angry brush strokes on the banner. "He's such a tease."
"Look who's talking," Sango snorted and I glared at her. "Whoa. Take a chill pill."
"He's just…" I scowled at the banner, dropping my paintbrush back in the can with a loud plunk. "He's so annoying."
After Inuyasha stopped by Thursday night, I expected some grand gesture signifying that we were going out. Actually, I didn't even want a big gesture; I just wanted him to say, "hey, let's go out this weekend." That's it. That's all he had to say and I would have spent the rest of the day tickled pink. But what did I get? A whole bunch of mumbo jumbo about the soundtrack for some movie I had to smile and pretend to give a damn about.
I decided to give Inuyasha the benefit of the doubt about Thursday night. I figured asking relationship related questions early in the morning would make the rest of the day awkward so it was only natural that he'd ask me out at the end of lunch. It was a mistake to have any kind of expectation considering Inuyasha just skipped away with Miroku, totally leaving me in the dust.
But did I get mad? No. I was disappointed and slightly irritated, but I didn't flip out. I figured he was testing me—making sure I'd actually wait for him after the Kickball Event. I lost to Shinji's team in kickball, was covered in red dirt because I uselessly tried sliding into home base, was pissed about Inuyasha kissing six girls, but still waited outside in the bed of Inuyasha's truck for him because that's how much I genuinely cared.
But then he ruined it by talking about everything except the one thing I wanted to hear.
Asshole.
"He could be waiting for the right moment to ask you out," Sango offered and I groaned loudly. "You know, something special."
"It's a date, not prom."
"It could be special to him." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe you should have hinted at it more?" Sango suggested, finishing our banner with a blue exclamation point.
"Sango." I sat back on my hands and gaped at her. "I basically said everything Thursday night. There was no need for hints!"
"Technically, Inuyasha said everything."
"But I played along with it and left very obvious hints." I shook my head and stood up, wiping dirt from my jeans. "He's so stupid."
"Well instead of getting mad at InuYasha, you should have just brought up the topic of a date yesterday." Sango stood up, grabbing a corner of our banner and I reached for the other one, helping her lift it. "This is the 21st century, Kagome. Take charge."
"I was giving Inuyasha a chance to take charge. I didn't want to kill his man pride." Not that he seemed to have any.
"You should have. If you let it go unchecked for too long he'll end up like Kouga. And while Kouga is a great guy, he is an insufferable, chauvinist pig ninety percent of the time." We started walking towards the entrance of Suzuya Park, mindful of how fragile the banner was. "You don't have to wait on Inuyasha, Kagome. Women are taking charge all over the world and—"
"And the point is I don't have a date with Inuyasha and it sucks." Not that I don't care about feminism—it's very important—but Sango can go on for a long time about it. "I only wanted him to ask me out. He walks around with so much confidence, but he does absolutely nothing with it."
"Maybe you intimidate him," Sango suggested and I rolled my eyes. "You do have quite the history, Kagome. A lot of guys would get nervous about that."
"If I tell him I like him, he shouldn't be intimidated."
"You hinted. You did not tell."
"I practically threw myself at him!"
"Admit it Kags, you were being a tease that night." I grumbled under my breath and Sango laughed. "What you should have done was said, 'I like you, too' when he was all nervous and blushing. But you had to tease him and then your grandpa came in and ruined everything."
I threw my head back and groaned. All I wanted was a date.
"On the bright side, you have all of today to ask him out."
"I'm not talking to him," I swore. "I'm protesting."
"Yeah, right."
"Hello ladies." Aki grinned at us when we made it to the arch that bent over the entrance of the park. He pointed to the ladder Raiden was leaning against. "We got the ladders."
"And we finished the banner." Sango and I stepped apart, displaying the banner in all its colorful, painted glory. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"Gorgeous," Raiden confirmed as he stepped away from the ladder, reaching to set up the other one on the other side of the arch. "I'll set this up and then Aki and I will hang it. We just need you to steady the ladders."
"Okay."
"I don't know…" Aki held his chin and tilted his head to the side, examining the banner. "Welcome to the Odd-Ball Carnival: Everyone's Accepted?" Aki read out loud, raising his brow at me. "Should we have bearded ladies and contortionists or something? This makes it sound like we're putting on a circus. Or a freak show."
I frowned at him. "This took a lot of work."
"I mean, I can call up some people and find a few sword swallowers if you want. Some rare demons, maybe?"
"Don't talk to me."
"Chill, Kagome," Sango said, jabbing me in my side. "The weather is nice, everyone showed up to help set up on time, and no utter chaos has erupted yet. Plus, we're on schedule." She smiled. "Enjoy the little things for now and worry about Inuyasha later."
I let out a long sigh. "Fine."
"Okay." We turned to Raiden as he stepped back from the ladder. "Let's hurry and set this up so we can be done."
Sango and I handed the banner off to Raiden and Aki then spotted the ladders as they climbed up. After a few minutes of arguing over the position, the banner was tacked and ready to welcome everyone.
"Everyone's Accepted?" I glanced over my shoulder to see Kikyo looking up at the banner, her mouth twisted in distaste. "Now all kinds of creeps are going to be walking around, trying to snatch up high school girls and rape them. If someone gets murdered at this carnival, it's your fault."
"I told you!" Aki shouted, and I rolled my eyes.
"It's a park, not a private event. Even without the banner, all kinds of people will come. Besides, if Naraku can get in, there's no point in worrying about anyone else because no one is creepier than him."
Kikyo glared. "Watch it."
"I'm just being honest."
"At least I can keep a steady boyfriend."
"That doesn't change the fact he freaks everyone out."
"Okay ladies," Aki stepped in between us. "Let's put the claws away."
"No, let them keep going," Sango assured him. "This is just how they display their friendship."
"They're friends?"
"It's complicated."
"Did your dad get here yet?" I asked Kikyo, switching topics. "I reserved a spot by the picnic tables near the stage for him to set up his food booths and told the food trucks to park along the sidewalk." In order to expand the variety of food at the carnival, we invited all the food trucks in town to park and serve people all day, but still gave Kikyo's dad prime realty.
"Yeah, he's pretty much done. Ms. Kido sent me to tell you everything is set up and ready to go."
"Cool. I guess everyone can chill out then. Check in with Ms. Kido to make sure you don't miss your shift if you have to run a booth and I'll see you all later for clean-up. And Aki," I stopped him before he could take off. "Take actual pictures of people enjoying the carnival."
He picked up his camera from the grass and saluted me. "Yes ma'am!"
Raiden walked off with Aki and Kikyo left me and Sango to answer her phone and I sat down in the grass by the entrance. "I'm too tired to run a carnival today."
"You don't have to do much; just make sure you remember your dunk booth shift," Sango pointed out as she sat down next to me.
"The dunk booth," I groaned, leaning my head on Sango's shoulder. "I completely forgot about that."
"I didn't." Sango grinned widely at me. "I've been looking forward to this all week."
"I hate you."
"Love you, too."
I laughed and lifted my head off her shoulder. "Want to find something to do until the rest of the guys get here?"
"Ayame sent me a text saying they would be here soon so we should just wait."
Sango and I waited, directing people who came, until a gang of five canine demons and an almost midget-sized blonde girl finally made their appearance.
"For real?" Kouga asked, grinning at the banner as Sango and I stood up from the grass. "A friend of mine just got out of jail for murder. Should I call him over?"
"That joke has already gotten old," I deadpanned and Kouga frowned.
"It's very pretty," Ayame told me, giving me a hug. "So, do you want to go in or what?"
"Food first, then games," Ginta declared and Hakkaku nodded in agreement. "We're starving."
"I think I smell burgers," Inuyasha chimed in, lifting his nose and Ginta and Hakkaku's faces both broke out into giddy grins.
"We're going to go in ahead of you—you guys can catch up," Ginta said as he and his brother took off running into the carnival. Inuyasha made a move to follow them.
"Hey, Inuyasha," I stopped him before he could leave. "You're going to take off without even saying hi?"
"You don't hear that?" We were all silent, but heard nothing. "It's my stomach roaring. I'll catch you later, alright?"
"Yeah…"
"Cool." He smiled and then ran after Ginta and Hakkaku. Kouga shook his head, but followed InuYasha.
I turned and stared wide eyed at Sango. "Did you—did you just…"
"Deep breaths, Kags," Sango tried to calm me, patting my shoulder. "He's probably genuinely hungry."
"I swear to God, he's punishing me for avoiding him all week!"
"That would make sense…" I gaped at Ayame. "But I'm pretty sure that's not the case."
"He's nervous," Erin waved us off. "He wants to ask you out, but he doesn't know how and being around you makes him jumpy. Trust me. We were talking about this at band practice yesterday."
"Seriously?"
"Yes," Erin stressed, irritated. She held out her hand. "Keys." I looked at her confused. "Look, when I said we would perform tonight you promised me that I could sleep in your car as long as I wanted. Do you have any idea how early it is?"
"Erin, it's noon."
"Exactly.This is fucking insane." She shook her hand. "Keys. Please." I fished my keys out of my pocket and dropped them in her hand and she let out a deep sigh of relief. "What time are you going to be walking the plank?"
"Uh, four-ish? Why?"
"Tell one of the guys to wake me up around four so I can dunk you." I deflated. "This was another part of the deal."
"I thought you were my friend."
"I'm up at noon for you, Kagome. I'm a great friend." Erin smirked and I rolled my eyes. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, yeah. Make sure you roll the windows down before you fall asleep. And lock the doors."
"Yes, Mom," Erin exaggerated. "I'm not stupid."
"Just forgetful."
Erin waved to us over her shoulder as she headed back towards the parking lot.
"She really needs her nap," Ayame explained, watching Erin stomp away. "She's been grumpy all day."
"Shall we go in now?" A voice in my head kept nagging me to get to Inuyasha as soon as possible and who was I to ignore it? "I'm kind of hungry now, too." Ayame and Sango shared knowing looks and grinned at each other. "What?"
"Are you hungry for food or Inuyasha?" I shoved them both to the side and they cackled. "Be honest, Kagome."
"Shut up."
-x-
After Ginta, Hakkaku, and Inuyasha practically ate three food trucks completely out of supplies, we stopped by a few game booths where Inuyasha actually tried to win me the stuffed panda bear I wanted. I thought that was going to be his breakthrough, that he would build up enough confidence to ask me out, but he lost. And the fact that Kouga won Ayame three prizes in a row didn't exactly make things better.
And then I got called away to handle issues with people not showing up for their shift at the pie booth and by the time I patched that up, Inuyasha already disappeared into the mob of people. Needless to say, my Saturday wasn't off to the best start.
"I thought you were boycotting him," Bank said, shoving a handful of cotton candy into his mouth. He came late and was the only one of my friends I could find after the pie booth fiasco. So far he has done nothing but blow his money at every food stand we passed. "That's what Sango told me."
"I was bluffing."
"Shouldn't you have at least tried to ignore him a little longer?" Bank raised a brow at me. "When girls do that it makes us think we did something wrong."
"Where were you earlier when I needed advice?"
"Sleeping." I rolled my eyes and Bank laughed. "Where are we going anyways?"
"My shift for the dunk booth is about to start so we're headed over there."
"What!" Bank stopped walking and I looked back at him over my shoulder. "I have to get my camera. I promised the yearbook staff I'd get a lot of pictures."
"Please," I begged him, "be a real best friend and save me from the humiliation, just this once."
"You mean like when you showed everyone the video of me dancing in my car when you happened to see me at that one intersection?" I snorted at just the thought of it and Bank frowned. "That's exactly why I'm going to get my camera."
"Oh, come on." I hung on Bank's shoulder, pleading and he shook me off. "That was two years ago. You need to let go."
"I'm going to get my camera," I started to whine and Bank pushed me away, "and you can go to the dunk booth."
"Bankotsu…"
"Here." Bank gave me his stick of cotton candy. "As an early apology."
I frowned at the cotton candy. "Why do you hate me?"
"When you look back at your yearbook twenty years from now, you'll look at all the pictures I took of you and laugh. I'm doing this for all the wonderful memories you'll have later in life." I stared at him, unconvinced. "I'll see you later, Kagome."
"Bye, jerk." I watched him jog back down the hill we were climbing and then continued on my way to my impending doom.
When I finally reached the top of the hill where the dunk tank was, the area was overflowing with people. Clearly, I had missed out on this being advertised as the carnival's main event. I could see just about all of the Morning Ribbet cast and crew waiting in line. Joy.
I spotted a head of silver hair in the crowd of spectators and immediately made a beeline for it. As I got closer to Inuyasha, I was able to see Ayame and Sango pointing to the line and whispering in his ear.
Nothing good ever came from Sango whispering in others' ears.
"Hey!" I shouted when I was close enough and they all turned back to look at me.
"Hey," Ayame smiled as I stood next to them. "Did you settle the pie booth dispute?"
"Yeah, we just made up a new volunteer list with staff members we know are actually here." I smiled at Inuyasha. "Hey."
"'Sup."
"So…" Sango was biting back a smile as she looked at me. "Did you check out the long line of people waiting to dunk you?"
"Yeah…" I trailed off as more than the Morning Ribbet crew began looking familiar. "God," I mumbled. "Why do a lot those guys look extremely familiar?"
"It's because you dated just about all of them," Sango pointed out and my stomach dropped.
"No," I protested, shaking my head. "There is no way I could have dated all those guys, that's just…" I was actually starting to recognize them, but the line was so long. "Nope. Can't be them."
"Well, it is," Ayame confirmed. "We counted and they're all there. All thirty of them. We were filling Inuyasha in just before you got here."
"Thirty!" My eyes popped out of my head. "I didn't… thirty?"
"You've clearly forgotten how promiscuous your high school years have been," Sango said and I glared at her as she pointed to a guy in jeans and a bright yellow shirt in the middle of the line. "That's Kenji, the guy you dumped because he wasn't committed to the relationship and was only in it for the sex. And behind him," Sango said, pointing to the guy with short brown hair, "would be Daisuke. We all thought he was a keeper, but according to Kagome, he was too much of a suck up," Sango said, turning to Inuyasha who I just remembered was there. Listening to my dating history.
Shit.
"And there's Romeo!" Ayame shouted, pointing to the back of the line. "He was so romantic, but he made the mistake of serenading Kagome at her window and Kagome doesn't really appreciate mushy stuff. Or being woken from her sleep with off tune singing."
"Ken was too forward," I mumbled, trying to defend myself, using "Romeo's" real name. He was sweet but not the type of guy I pictured growing old with. I didn't want an extremely sensitive guy like Ken. The balcony scene just seemed like the perfect reason to break it off with him.
"And then there's Benny the Bum with the green Mohawk," Ayame pointed out. She really loved to use nicknames. "Kagome said he only went out with her because he needed someone to mooch off of."
That one was actually true.
"Kagome!" Bank shouted as he ran up to us, camera draped around his neck. "You've got my buddy Promise Ring turning against you and, since I'm good friends with both of y'all, I can't be asked to pick a side."
"But we're best friends."
"But I don't have many guy friends. I have to try to keep the few I have." I frowned at him and he shrugged. "I gave you my cotton candy."
"Promise Ring?" Inuyasha asked.
"My friend Webb," Bank clarified for Inuyasha's sake. "Made the mistake of bringing out the promise ring on the second date. Kagome dropped him like a bad habit."
"He moved too fast," I mumbled again.
"It's Niran!" Sango shouted, pointing to her favorite out of the bunch. I never understood why she liked the mysterious poet so much. "They—"
"Were better off as friends," Ayame and Bank finished together for Sango with an eye roll.
"Of course, they're not even friends now, so…"
"Please," I begged Bank, "shut up."
"Wow," Inuyasha said not looking away from the long line of ex-boyfriends. "That's… a lot."
What did he think of me now? He believed I didn't have a sex addiction, but with all these boyfriends from the past lined up to get their revenge, I really looked like a slut. It's not like I could tell him that I only went out with all these guys because I wanted a replacement for Dai since…
"So wait," Inuyasha said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "Kagome hasn't been dumped by any of these guys?"
Bank snorted. "Hell will freeze over the day Kagome gets dumped."
"Geez, Kagome," Inuyasha mumbled looking at me. He was smiling but didn't seem genuinely happy. "You're—"
"Look!" Ayame pointed to a tall red head, his hair untamed and standing up in a perfectly effortless way. "It's Renji."
"Isn't he three years older than us?" Sango squinted at him. "Why is he even here?"
"He really wants revenge on Kagome, obviously."
"Or he could be here to beg for her back," Bank mumbled under his breath and we all glared at him. "What! You all know it's a highly probable possibility."
"Shut up."
"Why are you so mean to me today?"
"What happened with him?" Inuyasha asked and we all fell silent.
"It was just a really intense relationship," I finally spoke up. "I was only sixteen and it was too much."
"You know how people say they got their heart broken?" Bank asked Inuyasha and he nodded his head. "Yeah, well Kagome shredded this guy. She like—"
"It's not like I intentionally meant to do it," I defended myself. Bank was making me out to be some kind of man-eater. "And there are some real assholes in that line who shouldn't be there. Ryuuji? Yamato? Dai?" Dai, as in Douchebag Dai, the farthest thing from Bulletman Dai. "I should be getting revenge on them. And why is Raiden even in line? We're actually friends."
"I genuinely believe there is some secret society for all your exes and showing up here is like confirming their allegiance to the brotherhood," Ayame confessed, Sango and Bank nodded their heads in agreement.
"Kagome!" Thankfully, Ms. Kido decided to interrupt the conversation then, waving her clipboard above her head to get my attention. "Let's not keep the young men waiting!"
"Okay!" I shouted back and Ms. Kido nodded her head.
"If she wasn't married…"
"So, I gotta go," I told them, already walking away. I was more than ready to run away from the look of shock that had yet to leave Inuyasha's face. "I'll see you later."
-x-
Hojo was at the front of the line, glaring at me as he tossed one of the balls up and down in his hand. Honestly, these guys were being just a tad bit immature. People break up all the time. It's like the circle of life: you date, you break up, you get over it.
Hojo got into his pitcher's stance and narrowed his eyes at the target. I was hoping that, despite being the baseball team's star pitcher, Hojo would miss.
As Hojo reeled his arm back, I caught sight of Ayame whispering to Inuyasha in the distance. His eye started to twitch as Ayame pointed to the line. God what was she telling him—
Splash!
I was instantly dropped into the tank of freezing water. When I surfaced, spitting out water—which tasted horrible, by the way—the entire line of my ex-boyfriends were laughing. They probably thought I looked like a swamp monster with so much hair in my face.
I pulled myself back up to the plank I was sitting on and pushed my hair out of my face. Hojo was smirking at me, his next ball ready and aimed.
Note2Self: No more baseball players.
-x-
"Hey, Kagome," Sango grinned when I walked up to them, unbelievably drenched. My biggest mistake this morning was forgetting to bring spare clothes. And a towel. "How was it?"
"Did you know all my exes would be lined up to dunk me? I feel like you planned it just to get a good laugh."
"I did not plan it, but I had a feeling it might happen." I moved to punch her shoulder, but she dodged. "Violence is not the answer."
"I can't believe I missed it," Erin groaned. She glared at Ginta and Hakkaku. "I gave you one job: wake me up when Kagome goes to the dunking booth. God, you idiots chose some stupid trampoline thing over me!" She raised her hand to hit them and they both flinched, ducking out of her short reach. "I can't believe you two!"
"We waited in line for an hour to do flips on the trampoline with the harness. We couldn't leave when we were almost at the front."
"Yeah," Ginta agreed with his brother. "And we tried calling Kouga and Inuyasha, but they wouldn't pick up."
"I was in line for rock climbing," Kouga defended himself. "And dog boy was moping in a dark corner about Kagome's long line of ex-boyfriends."
"Shut up," Inuyasha hissed, punching Kouga in the shoulder hard enough to move him over a couple of feet.
"You are all completely useless to me," Erin seethed, shaking her head. "She was up there for an hour! Was there no time for you to get me within that hour?"
"Well, we forgot after a while…"
"I'm going to—"
"Rather than dwell on the upsets of today," Ayame cut in, always the mediator, "Let's go find something to do. We have some time to burn before you guys have to perform."
"Oh! One of the food trucks is selling shrimp tacos," Bank announced and Miroku nodded his head. "They smelled really good."
"Have you two just been going around eating all day?"
Bank and Miroku looked at each other and shrugged. "Pretty much."
"You're going to get fat," I told them and Bank rolled his eyes.
"Unlike you, Kagome, I give a hundred percent effort when I workout so I won't get fat."
"Just wait and see."
"Whatever you say. But seriously, can we go eat some tacos? I'm starving."
"Children in Africa are starving. You're—"
"I'm greedy for food so let's go." Bank waved us all in the direction of the shrimp taco truck. "Hurry up before they run out of ingredients."
"But I really wanted to do some of the obstacle courses," Ayame whined. She pulled on Kouga's arm. "Will you come with me?"
"Uh…" Kouga looked longingly after Bank and Miroku as they skipped away. "After we eat?"
"But you're always tired after you eat."
"I promise I won't get tired," Kouga sighed. "Come on."
"Hey." Inuyasha stopped me as I followed the rest of the group, tugging at the back of my shirt. "Don't you want to change?"
"Yeah, but I didn't bring any other clothes with me." Inuyasha raised a brow. "I was too stressed about making sure everything was set up on time"—and the fact that Inuyasha failed to ask me out yesterday—"to remember extra clothes."
"Do you at least have a towel?"
"I'll air dry."
"I can't believe you forgot to bring a change of clothes."
"I can't believe you were jealous of my exes," I shot back and Inuyasha's face went up in flames, making me laugh. "You have nothing to worry about though," I promised him, resting my hand on his shoulder. "They weren't very serious relationships." But that made me sound like a floozy. "I mean—"
"Sango!" Ms. Kido's voice called out over the crowd as she was made her way over to us, clipboard clutched in her right hand. "Where have you been? The pie booth has been waiting for you over ten minutes!"
"The pie booth?" Sango looked confused. "Are you sure that's right?"
"Your name is on the list for the five o'clock shift," Ms. Kido said, consulting her clipboard. "Yes, Sango Tanaka. Says so right here."
"But I didn't sign up for the pie booth."
"Really?" I gave Sango a wide-eyed look "You mean the same way I didn't volunteer for the dunk tank?"
Sango's eyes narrowed. "That's low."
"Somebody has to pay for the fact that I'm soaking wet right now," I shrugged. "You're the one most responsible for my current condition."
"You did forget to bring clothes," Kouga reminded everyone. "And a towel."
"That's irrelevant."
"Hurry up, Sango," Ms. Kido called out, beginning to walk away from us. "There's a long line of people wanting to pay to throw a pie at you before the concert starts."
"Joy," Sango grumbled as she trudged off in the direction of the pie booth. She glared over her shoulder at me. "I am definitely going to get you back for this."
"Uh-huh." I watched Sango's retreating back for a few seconds before turning back to the rest of my friends. "Do you want to throw a pie in Sango's face?"
"I want tacos…"
"Yes!" Ayame cried out, almost too enthusiastic. "What?" she asked, having caught my confused stare. "Do you know how many times she's tried putting my name in that damn column of hers? If it weren't for you vetoing all those articles, my personal life would be all over the frickin' school."
"That's right," Inuyasha agreed. "I still owe her for putting me in her column that week. I swear, I was being stalked by ten girls."
"I think you're over exaggerating."
"No, I counted," Inuyasha insisted and I rolled my eyes. "But why wasn't my personal information kept out of the paper?" Inuyasha asked, looking at me. "Why didn't you veto that article from being published?"
"What?" I pretended to be confused, faking ignorance, but InuYasha wasn't impressed. "Well it was either publish news about the new transfer student or the latest break-up which just so happened to be mine."
"I get it," Inuyasha nodded. "I was just being used again."
"That's right, I only use you when you're convenient." I smiled at the false expression of hurt Inuyasha wore on his face then laughed, grabbing his wrist. "Come on. I don't want there to be a long line when we get there and for Sango's shift to be over by the time it's our turn." I started dragging Inuyasha towards the pie booth as Erin and Ayame walked ahead of us, followed by Bank and Miroku and the wolves of Midnight Blues bringing up the rear. "It'll ruin the whole point of signing her up in the first place."
By the time we reached the pie booth—which was only a table stacked with aluminum pans of pie crust, plenty of whipped cream cans and a chair set in front of a black backdrop—fifteen people were in line, all seeming eager to pay a dollar to pie Sango. I assumed they were all victims of Sango's gossip column and sought revenge.
We spent ten minutes waiting in line and being a "captive" audience for the beginning of a verbal war between Inuyasha and Kouga. Now that we were at the front I could see Sango was covered from head to toe in whipped cream. At least she maintained good posture.
"Did a lot of people want revenge on you because of the column?" I asked as Inuyasha paid his dollar and started filling a pan with whipped cream, choosing to make his own pie with more whipped cream.
Sango glared at me through the glop of whipped cream that clung to her eyelashes. "I hate you."
"I was just returning the love you showed me."
"Don't be so generous next time. Really."
"Hey dogturd, don't screw up and miss her face," Kouga told Inuyasha as he got ready to throw. "Like when you tried to win a prize for Kagome at that bottle game and royally fucked up. Don't want a repeat of that episode."
"No, it's okay," Sango assured Inuyasha. "You can royally fuck this up. I promise I'll forgive you."
Inuyasha glared at Kouga. "Would you shut the hell up?"
"What?" Kouga feigned innocence. "What did I do? Oh, were you embarrassed that I—"
"For the love of God!" Erin cut in. "Would you throw the pie? I want my shot at Sango, too."
"What!" Sango gawked at Erin in disbelief. "But I never even tried to write you into the column!"
"I know, but I missed my chance to dunk Kagome in a tub of water since someone"—Erin glared at Hakkaku and Ginta who made a point to find great interest in the clouds—"didn't wake me up from my nap, so you'll just have to be my consolation prize."
"Wow," Sango deadpanned. "I feel so special."
"…wipe your ass up and down the damn park, flea bag." Apparently Inuyasha and Kouga found yet another reason to verbally abuse each other while I wasn't paying attention. I think they both just liked to hear themselves talk.
"I'd like to see you try, dogbreath."
"'Try?" Inuyasha laughed. "I can promise you that my foot will be so far up—"
"Inuyasha," I politely interjected. "Can you please just throw the pie so I can have my turn?"
"Mine, too!" Ayame agreed and Erin nodded her head vigorously.
"I hate all of you."
"Please?" I asked, batting my eyelashes for extra effect.
Inuyasha looked between me, Ayame, and Erin before finally sucking his teeth. "Keh. Since you're all so vengeful."
"Bullshit," Kouga scoffed. "You're so whipped and you're not even dating her because you—"
It happened so fast it almost played out in slow motion. It was fast in the way that I didn't see it coming. But, as InuYasha spun on his heel and pied Kouga in the face, it was moved in slow motion as the action that initiates chaos always does.
"There." Inuyasha squashed the pan on Kouga's face, turning it side to side and smearing the whipped cream all over. Once he was satisfied he let the pan fall to the ground. "White looks good on you."
I just stood there, stunned.
Kouga, like the rest of us, was too shocked to move for a second before he wiped the whipped cream off his face, glaring at Inuyasha. "You asshole."
Kouga grabbed a pie that had already been made by Kazumi, the sophomore reporter in charge of the booth, and threw it at Inuyasha. Inuyasha ducked out of the way and I was too slow to dodge the pie and it hit me smack on the side of my head, whipped cream clogging my left ear.
No really, being soaked from head to toe wasn't enough for me; please, please throw pies at me too.
"You jerk!" I grabbed a pie from the table and aimed for Kouga. "I'm already soaking wet!"
"Blame your boyfriend for ducking."
"We're not dating!" My aim sucked so somehow my pie curved and hit Ayame after Erin jumped out of the way. "Crap."
"Kagome!" Ayame wiped whipped cream out of her eyes and Erin started cracking up. Ayame ran to get a pie and I ran to use Ginta as coverage, gripping the back of his shirt to keep him still.
"Keep me out of this!" Ginta cried, trying to break free from my grasp as Ayame aimed the pie towards us. "I just bought this shirt—" Ayame's pie hit him in the shoulder, barely missing my face. "—yesterday… Dammit!"
"No, you have to pay for that!" Kazumi protested, trying to stop Ginta as he grabbed another pie off the table. "You owe me a—" Kazumi's voice was cut off when Kouga's pie hit her in the face, missing Inuyasha as he ran behind her. "Alright, screw this." Kazumi grabbed a pie—without paying—and started after Kouga.
And so the pie fight started. Miroku joined in after Kouga used him as a shield against a pie Ayame threw at him because Kouga thought it was hilarious to smother a whipped cream all over her hair. Erin got involved when she caught Sango trying to make a break from her pie booth duty and decided to stop her, nailing her right in the center of her back. Sango tried running away from the pie fight anyway, but after seeing Miroku try to grope Kazumi while she aimed a pie at Kouga, she got pissed and joined in. Hakkaku was hit for laughing at his brother's misfortune and Bank came in after I threw a pie at him for just standing on the sidelines, snapping pictures for the yearbook with a shit eating grin.
Some random kid screamed, "PIE FIGHT!" and people who weren't worried about their hair or clothes or having their pie-covered faces featured in the yearbook and next week's edition of Shikon Times came in the masses, filling pie crust with whipped cream as fast as possible before aiming at the closest target.
Damn, I thought as I tackled Inuyasha to the ground, catching him off guard and straddling his stomach. I shoved a pie right on his face. I'm on clean-up duty.
"That's for dodging earlier," I told Inuyasha as he wiped whipped cream off his face. "Thanks for sacrificing me."
Inuyasha smirked. "No problem." I smeared whipped cream from his bangs into his face before rolling off him. "I didn't say you had to get off."
"I figured I was overstaying my welcome in your personal bubble," I answered, surprised at how well I was able to suppress the heat from my cheeks. "Besides, I can't get too close to the enemy."
"Then let's form an alliance." Inuyasha suggested getting off the ground. "I, Inuyasha Takahashi, promise to—"
"Noooo!" Aki objected, seeming to have materialized from thin air. Aki smashed a pie over the top of Inuyasha's head.
"What the hell…?"
"Don't do it," Aki begged me, stepping in front of Inuyasha as Inuyasha pulled the pan off his head. "Don't form an alliance with him—I've known you longer!"
"Jesus, Aki," I rolled my eyes, but smiled at the stupid grin on Aki's face. "Don't be such a drama queen."
"That's it!" I turned my head as soon as I heard Erin scream and saw her pointing a finger at the twins. Judging by the two fresh splotches of whipped cream on the back and front of her head, they must have teamed up and sandwiched her face. "You two are on set-up and clean-up duty for the next fifty gigs!"
"You can't do that," Ginta protested. "That's cheating!"
"There aren't any rules!"
"And I let you copy off my science test last week," Hakkaku added. "Have some mercy."
"I failed that test!" We had this theory Hakkaku purposely flunked his senior year last year so Erin wouldn't have to survive in their high school alone, but there was a slight chance that we overestimated Hakkaku's intelligence. "Besides," Erin started, crossing her arms over her chest, "we're all out of pies so this is my new plan of attack."
"That's bullshit!"
I looked around, confirming the fact that all the pies were gone. There were still a few people spraying each other with whipped cream straight from the cans and other people laughed in the aftermath of the war. Some people were taking turns giving each other whipped cream shots. I was trying to think of a way to collect the money that everyone was supposed to pay. My mind was pretty blank.
"Well then, it looks like I can't form an alliance with either of you since the war's come to an end."
"Damn." Aki snapped his fingers. "I thought this was my chance to get to know you better, too."
"Uh-huh. Did you take a lot of pictures?"
"Yes ma'am," Aki saluted me, standing at attention. "But you really let me down today. A couple of guys were willing to pay a lot of money for a shot of you at the dunking booth in a white t-shirt, but you ruined it by wearing that blackt-shirt."
"I can't say I'm sorry."
"I didn't think you would." Aki looked at Inuyasha. "Women are such insensitive creatures." Inuyasha stared at Aki like he had three heads. "So about this clean-up duty…" Aki eased out, looking up at the sky instead of me.
"You're still on it," I told him and he groaned. "And remember anybody who took part in the pie fight too, because I need to collect money from them. And they're also going to help clean up this mess."
"I'll start taking pictures of the culprits." Aki walked towards the group of people who hadn't fled the scene. "See you tomorrow!"
I waved to Aki as he left. When I turned back to Inuyasha he was giving me a questioning look.
"And he is…"
"He's one of the photographers, Aki," I explained. "He comes second only to Miroku in the womanizing department. And also like Miroku, he's completely harmless." I looked over to Inuyasha as we started heading towards Erin who seemed to have won the argument against Ginta and Hakkaku. "You know him. He was the announcer for the Odd Ball Olympics."
"Oh, right. Him." Inuyasha nodded his head. "He made the comment about your swimsuit."
"And every other girls' swimsuit," I reminded him. "That's just Aki."
"Yet another pervert, I see." Inuyasha shook his head. "Where do you find your friends?"
"School." I grinned at him. "Quite the environment, right?"
Inuyasha just laughed.
"Alright guys, since Inuyasha decided to start a food fight, you all need to get cleaned up as fast as possible so we can start setting up on stage." Erin was already giving orders by the time we joined the group. "You can rinse off in the bathroom sinks and since I'm the genius I—Kouga!"
Kouga had his arms wrapped around Ayame's waist and was eating the whipped cream off her face and neck. "What?"
"Calm it down for a second and listen." Kouga rolled his eyes, but stopped licking his girlfriend's face anyways, resting his chin on Ayame's shoulder. "Because I'm a genius and I'm always prepared, I made sure you all had a change of clothes and they're all in the Band Van. So hurry up and get ready. I can't have a bunch of bums performing on stage, even if we're doing this for free." Erin clapped her hands twice. "So let's move! You've got twenty minutes."
Kouga kissed Ayame goodbye while Ginta and Hakkaku took off running for the Band Van, clearly in fear of Erin. Inuyasha stayed behind, talking about the set list with Erin, wanting to make changes in her well thought-out plans.
I looked down and observed my own clothing. After sitting on the plank for a good hour, I was still soaking wet and now I was covered in whipped cream. All that was missing was a cherry on top of my head. Yeah, then I'd be a complete hot mess. Cold mess.
"I should have brought a change of clothes, too," I mumbled, holding out the edge of my shirt.
"You knew you were going in the dunk tank and you didn't bring a change of clothes?" Ayame asked. "Are you crazy?"
"I was bit frazzled and half asleep when I left my house this morning so a change of clothes was the last thing on my mind." I looked down at my wet and whipped cream covered body again. Damn. "Do you have a change of clothes?"
"Nope," Ayame shook her head. "I'm letting Kouga clean me off."
"Ewww…" I cringed, scrunching up my nose. "I think you and I need to discuss the meaning of too much information."
"Whatever," Ayame laughed, but I was dead serious. I got way too many glimpses into Ayame's sex life. "I'll go find Sango to see if she has a change of clothes for you."
"Thanks." I watched Ayame disappear into the crowd then allowed my surroundings to sink in. As editor-in-chief, I could remove myself from clean-up duty without being criticized, right?
"You can wear my gym shirt." I looked up at Inuyasha. "To change your clothes," he clarified."I forgot to take my gym bag into the house the other day so my shirt should still be in there."
"You're going to lend me your gym shirt?" I asked, arching my brows. "Your sweaty and stinking gym shirt?"
"I'm pretty sure all the sweat's dried up now." I fought the urge to gag. That was not a selling point. "It's better than the sopping wet shirt you have on now."
And the shirt probably smelled like him…
"Fine," I relented. "But if it smells musty I'm not putting it on."
I followed Inuyasha back to his car and waited as he dug his gym bag out of the back seat and unzipped it.
"Alright..." Inuyasha dug around in his gym bag and I waited patiently, shivering in my wet shirt with my arms crossed over my chest. "Here you go." Inuyasha tossed me the longsleeved gym shirt he had on Wednesday and I caught it, holding it away from my wet body. "Is that good enough for you?"
I sniffed the shirt, nearly gagging. "Uh, no." I held the shirt back out for him to take. "I think your dried up sweat added a real... unique addition to what a shirt is supposed to smell like."
"Well, sorry my BO offends you so much." Inuyasha stuffed his shirt back in his gym bag and tossed it in the bed of his truck.
"I was just kidding. Kind of." Inuyasha gave me a blank stare over his shoulder and I threw my hands up in defense. "Would you prefer that I lie to you?"
"That'd be better than having BO."
"You don't have BO, your shirt is just dried up with sweat. It's not something I really want to walk around in. People may think I have bad BO." Inuyasha leaned back against his car and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's called honesty, appreciate it."
"Maybe another day."
"Okay, putting your issues aside, what the am I going to wear?"
Inuyasha looked me up and down. "Looks like you're wearing a wet t-shirt."
"Shut up." I shoved Inuyasha to the side and he laughed. "I hope Ayame finds Sango soon and Sango actually has clothes." I wrapped my arms around me as a gust of wind blew and I shivered. "Now I'm wet and it's getting cold."
"Hold on, I might have something else for you." He opened the back door again and leaned in; after a few seconds of shifting all his CDs, he emerged with a hoodie. He sniffed it before handing it to me this time. "I think it's good."
Though Inuyasha's nose was ten times stronger than mine, I smelled the hoodie for myself, overwhelmed by the scent of Inuyasha's soap. Natural and woodsy and perfect.
I grinned up at him. "This is perfect."
"Really?" A smile spread across his face. "Cool. Well, uh, you can change out of your shirt in my car and I'll wait for you. I promise I won't look."
"Thanks." I climbed into Inuyasha's truck, checked one more time to make sure he wasn't looking, then pulled my t-shirt over my head. It felt amazing to not have the shirt stick to my stomach anymore. I pulled Inuyasha's hoodie on and the soft fabric instantly soothed my goose-bumped flesh. Honestly, I think I'm in heaven right now.
"It looks good on you," Inuyasha nodded, giving me a once over as I climbed back out the car.
"Should I keep it then?" I teased and Inuyasha blushed.
"Yeah." Inuyasha smiled at me and my face went blank at the implication. "It's all yours."
-x-
Hehehehe. Yeah…
I'm way too happy for words right now.
-X-
It's finally done! Sorry it took so long, but the editing process was longer than we intended. So any thoughts, comments, suggestions? All would be delightful to read in your REVIEWS! Tomorrow I leave for college which is going to be extremely stressful for me and may lead to a nervous breakdown so some reviews would be great to see.
And, because I was extremely bored at some point this summer I made a tumblr page for this story. Lots of deleted scenes, backstories, previews, recacps, fun little things—you should definitely check it out. The link is on my profile. I'm going to post a quick backstory about one of Kagome's exes (Yamato, who received a shout in this chapter) right now actually.
Please review, check out the page—all that jazz. So sorry it took so long!
~Kimiko888~
It only took me forever and a day to finish this. We've had these chapters done for a while, and I'm pretty sure I have a paper edit of the next chapter somewhere in my binder of paper-edits so hopefully I'll be able to make those edits soon. Well, actually, within the next few days. Before all this crazy stuff starts happening for school. Because it's back again. Dammit.
~hanmajoerin