Chapter One
"This is What I Get for Being A Nice Person"
Honestly.
She had no one to blame but herself. Sango had asked her to drive up with them, but she'd neglected to go pick up her dress the day before, and there might have been a little issue with her writing the wrong dates on her time off form. Good news was that she'd have an extra day after she got back to do her laundry!
But that also meant that she was making the seven hour drive by herself, instead of with Sango like she'd initially planned.
Of course, Sango and Miroku would want to be married in a place that was important to them both, but still, seven hours?!
Sango was so lucky that she loved her. So, so lucky.
Well, loved her enough to go driving for nearly an entire day to get to the very specific town for their wedding.
Actually both of them were lucky that she loved both of them enough to do this.
If plane tickets weren't so expensive, she would've flown. But by the time she got to the airport, flew, and got to the hotel, she'd only be saving an hour or two. Not worth the money she'd spend.
Though now, after four hours of nearly non-stop driving, it might be worth considering next time.
She pulled in to the gas pumps, looking for an open spot, but there were none available. Leave it to her to arrive at peak traffic hours. She really needed to pee and get up and stretch her legs. She looped the gas stalls twice waiting for someone to leave.
How was it that so many people needed gas at—she looked at her clock—two in the afternoon? Didn't normal people have jobs?
Finally—Finally!—someone began pulling out, and she was quick to pull up and into the spot just recently vacated, fist pumping and mentally high-fiving herself for her own victory and luck.
Pulling her wallet out, she walked over to the pump to see a note over the credit card reader that read, "CC not working. Please see cashier to pay." This was right next to the sign that stated they persecuted drive offs.
Groaning to herself and her sudden simultaneous fortune and misfortune, she put the nozzle into her tank and then proceeded to lock her car, shove her phone and keys into her back pockets, and take her wallet into the store to pay for her gas. At least she'd get to pee finally.
She stretched her arms over her head as she walked towards the side entrance. She always stopped at this particular chain because their reputation was for having plenty of bathrooms and for those same bathrooms being almost spotless. She'd yet to be disappointed.
She glanced at the line at the front of the store and grimaced at the potential wait. She'd pee first.
Coming out of the bathroom, she felt a smidgen of guilt at making someone wait for her spot at the gas pumps. A look outside showed it was still just as busy as before.
She got in line to pay for her fuel, and considered maybe buying a snack and a drink to break up the monotony of the last three hours of driving she had in front of her. She was a little hungry.
Tapping her wallet against her fingertips, she glanced around the store while she waited, eyes alighting on a man whose abs probably looked like they were chiseled out of granite or marble or something else that would be equally fun to run her fingers over or—
Loud pops made her ears ring, and she covered them with her hands as she ducked down by the counter as people screamed.
"Money in the bags!" A man shouted. "Nobody try to be a hero!" Kagome looked up at the man who wore nothing to disguise his appearance. A second man was behind him, armed with a shotgun that looked like it should've been mounted on a tank.
This—This wasn't happening, right? This was something that happened on television and, quite frankly, to other people. She wanted to bolt, run away. She could hear people running on the far sides of the store and escaping out to their vehicles.
Those in the front, like her, they were trapped. There was no escaping, and she wasn't brave enough to risk it.
The one man moved from cashier to cashier and then started looking at the customers who were cowering on the floor.
"Rings, give them." He motioned to a woman who wore several rings across her fingers, wiggling his fingers towards her. As she pulled them off, he moved the bag to the next cashier, and then returned to take the rings from the woman, pocketing them himself.
When his back was turned, she slipped her necklace down the collar of her shirt to hide it.
The other man stayed close to the doorway, watching the roadway intently.
The little boy next to her started to sniffle and cry and his own mother looked positively petrified, one hand reaching out to hold his while she held onto her youngest, who looked to barely be considered a toddler.
"It's okay," Kagome whispered to the little boy. He clung to her legs, rubbing his face against her thigh. She could see the tears building into a wail, and she hugged him, making eye contact with the mother, who gave her a panicked look as she shushed her younger child from doing the same thing. "You have to be quiet," she whispered. He nodded against her arms, but he made these quiet whines before breaking out into a loud howl.
"Shut him up!" The man yelled, and Kagome reflexively brought her arms around the little boy.
"Why don't you just take what you want and go?!" She shouted back.
That was—in retrospect—a really bad idea. She should've stayed quiet, but she'd never been one to react well to bullies and extremely high stress environments. And now she was in both. Fight or, well, fight had been officially activated.
The man turned towards her, almost comically slow, and she gulped audibly. He towered over her, and she tried to not look at him, to not make eye contact. His eyes locked with hers, and she couldn't look away, and she knew that she was an idiot.
Grabbing her throat, he hauled her up to her feet, cutting off her air supply in the process. As she rose, she caught eyes with the beautiful stranger she'd been ogling a few moments before. He slammed her back to the counter, uncomfortably bending her backwards and knocking her head against the counter. Something sharp and hard stabbed into the flesh of her shoulder and lower back.
"Stay where you are!" the other man shouted. "I'm warning you!"
The too familiar sound of a shotgun cocking reverberated in the too small space.
She gripped his wrist, trying to stabilize herself and free her windpipe enough to breathe, just a little.
"Such a brave little girl," he mused. "Such a pretty little girl." His fingers lightly drifted over her jaw.
She glanced around for help, but everyone around her scooted away, giving them a wide berth. It was just him and her now.
His tightened his fingers around her throat and then pulled her up to a standing position and shot once into the ceiling. Her fingers dug into his wrist, and she sincerely hoped that she made him bleed. The hot metal of the barrel pressed into her stomach, and her lungs already burned. Her eyes watered, and she felt them trail down her cheeks.
She was NOT going to die in a glorified convenience store. She refused!
A car honked—repeatedly—and he turned to look at the doors. The hot metal pulled away from her stomach, and he casually tossed her to the ground. She yelped as her head connected with the edge of the counter, not hard enough to knock her out but enough to still rattle her senses.
"I'll take this," he said, tapping her thigh as she coughed. She squinted up at him as she brought her hand to the back of her head. He held her wallet between this fingers, wiggling it at her before standing up, grabbing the bag and then sauntering right out the front door.
Several things happened all at once.
More shots rang out.
People screamed.
People ran.
Kagome fell back against the cool floor to catch her breath and focus.
"Miss?" A hand cradled the back of her head, lifting it up from the floor.
She groaned; her head was pounding already. But she put her hands underneath her and pushed herself to sit up.
"Easy!" He scolded. "You hit your head pretty hard."
"It's fine. I'm okay," she said, shifting to lean back against the front of the counter. She looked up at the man now viciously prodding the back of her head. Oh no. It was the guy she'd practically been salivating over before this whole mess. "Ow! That hurts!" She smacked his hand away from her tender head and neck, covering the sore spot with her own hand.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help here!" He scowled at her, and she felt bad, she really did. He really was just helping and from the looks of the store, he was the only one.
She sighed.
"Sorry, I didn't—I just have a headache and poking it isn't helping."
"Yeah, I get that." He looked at the front doors, and she expected him to flee just like everyone else. "Cops are on their way at least. Ambulance too from the sound of it." His voice sounded like he was talking to himself, but he didn't move from where he knelt in front of her.
She probably looked eight kinds of a mess, and he looked like he just stepped off a movie set. No one should be that handsome that effortlessly.
"I don't hear anything," she murmured, but in all fairness, there was a ringing in her ears, and she crossed her arms to hide the trembling of her hands and fingers.
"Youkai hearing," he said with a flash of a smirk. "I hear better than you humans." Faintly, the sound of sirens, multiple types, reached her ears and she looked out the doors at the noise.
"Oh, there it is." She looked back up to him. Now that she actually paid attention, she could feel his youki. She should have noticed it before, but she'd panicked and not thought about it at the time. She was so used to keeping her reiki hidden and restrained that she sometimes overlooked using it as a tool.
It wasn't a minute later that the cops roared in, guns drawn, shouting and yelling at everyone that was left, which wasn't that many, before beginning the long process of collecting statements and evidence.
By the time she'd given her statement, three separate times no less, had her nails painfully scraped for skin cells, it was already the time that she was supposed to be arriving at Sango's. She groaned into her blanket as she sat on the back of the ambulance.
She was sitting in an ambulance because the handsome asshole insisted that she possibly had a concussion and needed to be checked out. Even though she argued that she was fine and didn't need it, they still forced her to sit down, wrap a blanket around her shoulders, because she might be in shock, and then proceed to make her wait for an EMT to pop by and shine light into her pupils.
She'd just wanted to buy gas and get to her friends' wedding, but that was apparently not in her cards.
Shit.
Shit shit!
He'd taken her wallet.
All her cash and credit cards were in said wallet.
And this particular stop was out in the middle of Dueling Banjos region, so there wasn't a bank around here that she could go to. Not to mention that it was already late and by the time she reached a bank, it would be closed.
Another groan escaped her as she flopped her head into her hands.
She really just wanted to cry.
"Alright," came a male voice as an EMT appeared with a light and clipboard in hand. "Let's see if you're able to get back on the road."
He shined the light in her eyes, asked some questions about nausea, ringing in the ears, unconsciousness, before declaring that she was fit to drive herself home. But she needed to contact her doctor if—blah, blah, blah happened, and she nodded agreeably and promised that she would head straight home and get some rest.
In like three hours, at a hotel, and after she'd had an entire bottle of wine to make the day seem less shitty than it already was.
She returned his shock-blanket before walking back inside to see about the gas situation. The cops had been deterring people away from the store because of the entire 'we've been robbed scenario', but they were already packing up their things and heading out, giving the manager the all clear to begin 'operating as normal' again.
There was a cashier wiping down her workstation. One who looked like she'd just arrived, since the look of utter fear and shock wasn't written across her face.
"Hey," she said, and the young girl looked up at her. She looked up and had a surprised look on her face.
"Oh, you're the girl from earlier."
Kagome winced.
"Yeah, that's me. Anyway, I came in here to buy gas when all—that—happened. But the guy, he took my wallet, so do you take any type of mobile payment?"
"Oh no. It's cash or card here."
"Of course, it is." She leaned her head back and took a deep breath. "Look, is there anyway that I could talk to the manager and work something out? I have to get somewhere tonight, and there's no way for me to get money out."
"I mean, you could always come back tomorrow," she suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.
"That's not really possible. I have somewhere to be tonight. It's really important and not optional. Can you please just point me in the direction of the manager or someone in charge?"
She jumped as a hand pressed lightly against her shoulder blades.
"You okay?" Handsome Asshole asked.
"Fine," she answered, turning back to the cashier, who was now almost drooling looking at him.
Like she got it, the dude was pretty much as good looking as they got, but seriously, could she not focus for two minutes?
"I'm working it out." She scrambled to think of a solution. "Can I just Venmo you the money and you pay for it?"
"Oh, I don't have a credit card," she said, because of course she didn't.
"Venmo's not—" She cut herself off and tried to refocus the daft little child. "Do you have cash then?"
"I have, like, five dollars, maybe?"
Kagome fought the urge to throttle the high school student and slam her head down on the counter in frustration.
"I'll pay for it then," he said.
Kagome snapped her eyes at him.
"No!"
Stupid, stupid girl. Why did she stop him?
Oh, right, her pride.
"Why not?" He asked, already handing the cashier his card. Kagome reached for the card to stop her from ringing it up.
"Because I can handle it! I am handling it!" She snatched the card out of her hand.
"You said that you had somewhere to be tonight, so I'm just speeding up the process!" He took the card back, holding it out of her reach, but towards the cashier, who took it and began ringing up the charge.
"Fine, at least let me Venmo you the amount."
"No."
"What pump are you on?" The girl asked, pressing in a few buttons.
"What?" Kagome asked.
"The pump number. I need the number to start it."
"Oh, I don't—fourteen, I think?"
"You think?" He asked, and she glared at him.
"In case you didn't notice, a lot has happened between now and then."
"Could you go check, please?"
Was she actually serious?
She felt the pure, unadulterated rage build up, and she took a deep breath and rein it in. The girl was probably, like, twelve and just following instructions. She probably really did need to know the pump number to make sure she started the right one.
"You okay?" Handsome Asshole asked again. She looked up at him, and—God, no one should be that handsome.
"Yeah," she breathed. "I'll go check the number."
She walked out towards the side entrance, and saw her very lonely car—and the pump was fourteen—thank you very much—and walked back towards the register.
She rounded the corner and Handsome Asshole leaned against the counter talking to the little girl of a cashier. She was clearly blushing and refusing to make eye contact with him.
He was handsome but clearly also a flirt.
"It's fourteen."
"Oh, you were right!" She sounded surprised, and Kagome bit back her retort, only making a small noise of acknowledgment. "Okay, pump fourteen is active. Have a nice day!" She grinned—God, she still had braces.
She couldn't punch a girl in the face with braces.
"Thanks, you too."
"I'll walk you out," he said.
"You don't have to do that," Kagome insisted.
"I know," was all he said, ushering her towards the side entrance, a small plastic bag in his other hand. He followed her out to her car, even though she insisted that it was fine, repeatedly, and he'd already done so much for her.
"Can you please let me pay you back?" She said once they'd reached her vehicle. But he just motioned to the gas pump, and she sighed. Once the gas was pumping into her car, she looked back at him. "Really, just let me Venmo you or whatever."
"I can afford to buy you a tank of gas."
"Okay, fine, but you shouldn't have to." He looked off to the side, contemplating something.
"You wanna pay me back?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk that definitely did not make her swoon.
"As long as it's not something weird and kinky," she stated, and his cheeks flushed.
"That's not—That was—It—That wasn't what I meant!" He'd taken a step back, and she giggled at his sudden embarrassment. "I just wanted you to text me when you got to wherever you were going," he said, not meeting her eyes, but cheeks and nose still flushed and growing brighter red by the minute. "That's all."
"And you won't send me inappropriate pictures? If I give you my phone number?" Actually, he was one of like one people who she actually wouldn't mind getting inappropriate pictures from.
"What the fuck?" He sputtered. "Do people actually do that?"
"Oh, like you wouldn't believe. My friend and I—well, that doesn't really matter." She looked back at him, staring for just a moment longer. Like she wouldn't mind if that face was burned into her retinas, but he looked away after a moment, and somehow that made her feel a little better. "But if you promise, then I guess it wouldn't hurt. You seem nice enough."
"You've spent like two whole minutes with me," he scoffed, the pink returning.
"Yeah, but most guys I know wouldn't pay for my gas and then ask for nothing in return."
"You must know some really shitty guys then."
He wasn't wrong, but the accuracy of the statement hurt still.
"Yeah," she mumbled, and then took out her phone. "What's your number?"
He rattled off the numbers and she sent him a quick "Hi" text so he had hers.
"There," she said, tossing her phone into the front seat. "I have your number."
"And you'll text me when you get to wherever?"
She nodded.
"It'll be a little bit though."
"That's fine. I'm sure I'll be up anyway." He shuffled his feet for a moment and the machine finally clicked that she was done. She took the nozzle out and put it up, closing out the sale.
"Well, thank you. It was really nice of you to do this. And I promise to text you when I get there."
"Yeah, sure." He took the bag in his hand and held it out to her. "For the road."
"No," she put her hands up to refuse. "You've already—"
"Are you always this stubborn?" He practically snarled before moving past her and tossing the bag, albeit gently, into her passenger seat.
"Hey! I am not! And don't just toss things into my car!"
"Just get in and quit arguing, would ya?" She climbed in, setting her phone into her cup holder. "It ain't like it's a five course meal, so just shut up and take it, alright?"
"Fine," she grumbled, starting her car. Her phone rang, and she knew that it was Sango calling before her name popped up on the dash.
"Just text me later," he said. "Don't make me track you down." He shut the door before she had a chance to respond and walked away.
She pressed the answer button on the screen as she put the car into drive.
"Hey," she greeted.
"Hey you," Sango answered as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Where are you?"
"I'm still about three hours out."
"I thought you were planning on being here by now. What was the delay?" She asked, and Kagome could hear the concern in her voice.
"Yeah, just got waylaid a bit. Don't worry, I'll be there in plenty of time though. It'll just be a later dinner. I'm really sorry." She'd tell her everything once she got to the hotel. This was a better in person kind of story.
"Don't be. I just wanted to make sure something didn't happen to you."
"Nope, I'm fine. Just running a little late is all."
"It's going to be really late, and some of those roads don't have any lights on them."
"Sango, you have enough to worry about. I will be there, and if there's any concerns, I'll drive extra slow so that I get there in one piece. Your maid of honor will be there as soon as she can."
"She better. Do you know how hard it would be to find a replacement two days before the wedding?"
Kagome winced at how close that scenario almost came to be.
"I mean, I am irreplaceable," Kagome bantered. "If it wasn't for me, this whole thing would never be happening."
"You dork. I left your key at the front desk. So come find me once you've put your things away?"
"I'll call when I get there. Love you!"
"Love you too!"
The call ended and Kagome's hands trembled, and she gripped the wheel tighter to stop it.
Three hours and then she could drink everything at the bar and forget that this ever happened.
"What the fuck do you want?" Inuyasha barked as he answered the phone.
"You know, I'm not your brother."
"Half-brother."
"And you like me better."
"Keh. Not like it's hard," Inuyasha muttered, shifting his grip on the steering wheel while he took another bite of a burger he'd grabbed in the only drive thru in Bumfuck-Wherever-he-was.
"So, you know why I'm calling."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm late."
"Not that it's out of the ordinary."
"I could just not show up, you know."
"Please, your brother is coming and you'd rather chop off your own arm than let him show you up."
Miroku wasn't wrong, per se. Inuyasha really hated it when his brother showed him up at anything. Fucking full youkai.
He took another large bite of his burger. It tasted awful, but it was better than nothing.
"So care to explain why you're going to be late?"
Inuyasha grinned. This was going to be so fun.
"Well, I met a woman."
A loud cough erupted over the speaker.
"You what?"
"You sound so surprised, Miroku."
"I'm just—uh, surprised, is all." He cleared his throat. "You haven't exactly seen anyone in a while. So how did you meet her?"
"We were being robbed."
This time it sounded like Miroku actually spat his drink out.
"What?!" He shouted. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Guy robbed the store and bailed. Got held up by the cops wanting statements and shit."
"And the girl?"
"She's fine. Supposed to text me when she gets to where she's going."
"And you're sure you're fine?" Miroku asked. "Like you're sure-sure?"
"Yeah," Inuyasha swallowed the large bite of burger he'd just taken.
"Are you eating?"
"I was hungry!"
"Only you would be capable of eating after a traumatic event."
Inuyasha didn't say a word in response, instead opting to gulp down a couple swallows of soda.
"I swear," Miroku mumbled. "So tell me about the girl."
"She's a girl," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Can you tell me actual important information? Like what's her name? Where's she from? Astrological sign?"
"Uh," Inuyasha stammered, swallowing what food was in his mouth. "I don't know."
"You don't know her name?" Miroku sighed.
"Look, she's got my number. And I have hers. Don't see what the big deal is."
"Are you serious? You haven't had a serious relationship—hell, you haven't had any relationship since—well, in years." Miroku had caught himself before he revealed too much or mentioned things Inuyasha didn't want to hear. "Anyway, I was hoping that my best man might have a plus one." He sighed loudly and obnoxiously in the phone. "But I suppose that is simply too much to ask for."
"Whatever," Inuyasha muttered. "Look I gotta go. Driving and all that."
He hung up, refocusing on the road ahead of him. He still had a couple hours ahead of him. He hadn't heard from that girl either.
Though she did say that it might be a while.
Of course, it wasn't like he cared or anything. She was . . . cute, but that was about it. Yeah, she was a pretty face and nothing more. Probably wouldn't see or hear from her ever again. And he wouldn't care one way or another. He wouldn't.
Kagome pulled up to the hotel with half a tank to spare. She cut the engine and then took a deep breath, before dramatically throwing the door open, well, slightly open because there was a car next to hers. She stepped out, raising her arms over her head and stretched.
She'd finally made it. All she had to do was go up, change, and then they would grab dinner with Miroku's best man, so they could meet before the ceremony.
Kagome knew of him, but they'd never formally met. Though Miroku recently exclaimed that he might be moving back to Tokyo, which he was almost stupidly excited about. Not that she blamed him, if Sango had been gone for years, and was moving back, she'd be stupid-excited too.
But she'd never actually met the guy that had been Miroku's best friend from childhood. He'd gone to another university, and they'd often joked that Miroku had a long-distance bro-mance with him, even when he started dating Sango.
She'd frequently complained that she got ditched whenever Inuyasha called. They'd had lots of girl nights because of it, much to Miroku's dismay.
Kagome went back to her hatch, opening it, and pulling out her carry on and the bag with her dress in it.
Closing everything up and locking it until she heard the familiar beep, she walked towards the front door of the small hotel. Modern-looking but still somewhat traditional looking from the front of it.
There were hot springs. One of Sango's conditions, along with a view of the mountains. It wasn't tall. But tall enough that Kagome was sure that the sunrises would be amazing.
Kagome walked in as the doors slid to the side, and she walked across the tiled floors to the front desk.
"Good . . . evening," the hostess greeted, though her smile faded somewhat as Kagome approached.
"Evening. I need to pick up a key for Kagome Higurashi."
"Of course," the clerk nodded, moving to the side to rifle through the paperwork there. She pulled out one envelope, setting it on the counter. Kagome took the envelope, giving her a smile.
"Thank you!"
"Do you need any help? Do we need to call someone?"
Kagome shook her head.
"Oh, no. Thank you though." She dragged her suitcase over towards the elevator and pushed the up button. They were on the eighth floor, which Kagome noted when she stepped inside, was the absolute top floor.
Miroku spared no expense. She grinned. He knew that Sango wanted to see the mountains in the sun, and he'd made it happen. Sango was so lucky; he really loved her. Like really, really loved her.
The doors opened and Kagome stepped out following the arrows for the room numbers. They were at the end of the hallway. Kagome stuck her keycard into the slot, waited for the light to turn green, and then opened the door when the deadbolt unlatched.
The room was decent. There was a small half-fridge with a small freezer that probably held a couple containers of ice cream and that was it.
Ugh, ice cream sounded so good right now. Her throat hurt.
"Kagome?" Sango's voice came from around the corner.
"Hi, honey! I'm home!" Kagome replied, hearing Sango's squeal as she came around the corner, dressed in a skirt and her bra.
"You're here!" She laughed, leaping at her right as Kagome laid her dress bag on the counter, catching Kagome in a hug. "I've been all alone here!"
"It's only been a day, Sango! Besides, I doubt that Miroku let you be that alone." Sango leaned back, swatting her shoulder in a laugh.
"You're as bad as—What the hell happened?" Sango held her at arm's length, staring not quite at her face. Her fingers gripped her chin, moving it as she saw fit. Kagome batted her hands away from her face.
"What is your problem?" She said, leaning away from Sango's groping hands.
"What's your problem? I'm not the one who showed up looking like someone tried to strangle me!"
"What are you talking about?"
Sango jerked her into the bathroom, forcing her to face the mirror.
"What happened, Kagome?" Sango asked again.
Her throat—her throat was shades of blue and purple. If she looked hard enough, the imprints of fingers across her skin was visible. Her own fingers danced across the darkening marks. She hadn't thought that it was that bad.
"Kagome," Sango asked again, hands on her shoulders as they both stared in the mirror.
She could feel the tears rolling over her cheeks.
"Let's stay in," Sango stated, turning her shoulders until they were face to face and away from the mirror. "I'll change," she said as she reached for a wipe on the counter, rubbing it over her face, clearly giving Kagome no way to refuse. "We'll order pizza and watch terrible television. Miroku's buying. He gave me his credit card, the fool!"
"Aren't you about to marry him in like two days?"
"Yeah, but I'm not married to him now!"
"But we were supposed to meet up with Inuyasha tonight," Kagome said, wiping her cheeks.
Sango waved her hand dismissively, unzipping her skirt.
"We can meet him at breakfast. Tonight, it's girl night. I can go down and get us drinks."
"No, we can still go." Sango pulled her gaze away from the mirror, forcing their eyes to meet.
"Kagome, no. We're staying in. Miroku's going to want man-time with Inuyasha anyway."
Kagome couldn't help but snicker at her statement.
"That sounds like they're a couple," she laughed and Sango rolled her eyes.
"You don't even know. I don't think that Miroku looks that excited when he's talking to me." Sango squeezed her shoulders. "How about you take a shower, put on your favorite kitty pants that I know you brought with you, and I'll order us a couple pizzas and some ice. And then, and only then, you can tell me all about it, okay?"
"Miroku's not going to be mad?"
"As his wife, I speak for both of us. He won't be mad."
Kagome giggled again.
"You've got twenty minutes!" Sango swatted her ass before walking out of the bathroom. "Make them count, Higurashi!"
Kagome threw her suitcase on her designated bed and flopped it open. Kagome dug out her favorite kitty pants and a loose t-shirt to change into after her shower. Sango had flopped down on her own bed, phone in hand. She slipped back into the bathroom and into the shower.
Sango was right. She definitely felt better after the shower. Her damp hair up in a bun, she stepped out shoving her dirty clothes into a small bag in her suitcase.
Sango was reclined on her bed, playing with her phone.
"Everything okay with Miroku?"
"Yeah, he's fine. I told him that we were having a girl's night instead and we'd meet up in the morning."
"He's really not upset?"
"He just wanted to make sure everything was okay," Sango answered, sitting upright from her pile of pillows.
"Did you say anything?" Kagome asked, hesitantly.
"Nope! Not a word! I'm going to go down to the bar and get our pitcher of margaritas!" Sango hopped off the bed and headed towards the door. "You good? Do you want anything else? The app says our pizza should be here soon. There's a gift shop if you think you might want some aspirin to help."
"I'm fine, Sango. I'll just be unpacking." Kagome gave her a smile.
"'kay, I'll be right back and then girl talk!"
"Yeah," Kagome said with a nod. Sango darted out the door, and Kagome began putting her clothes up on hangers and in one of the drawers, before putting her suitcase in the closet next to Sango's.
She'd brought more than enough clothes, and she really did feel bad that she'd bailed on Miroku and his friend.
She was really looking forward to meeting Inuyasha. She'd heard a lot about him from Miroku, and Sango seemed to like him too. It made her curious about the mystery man that they always seemed to talk about, and she always seemed to miss out whenever he briefly came to visit. Oh well, Sango was right, she could meet him for breakfast. Her hand lightly touched her bruised neck.
Someone knocked, and Kagome moved to the door, quickly opening it up.
"You're supposed to use the peep hole and ask who it is, Kagome," Sango said as she walked inside, setting the two pitchers on the counter.
"Two?" Kagome asked, opening up the counters to find glasses. She found them on the third try with a huff.
"You've had a rough day," Sango explained, pouring them both very full glasses. "You should really relax." She slid one across the counter towards Kagome. "Okay, I'm going to change before pizza boy shows up."
Sango disappeared into the bathroom and reappeared a moment later right as a knock came from the door. She glanced through the peep hole and then unlocked the door, closing it a moment later with two pizzas in her hands. She set them on the counter as Kagome pulled down plates.
They settled onto the sofa in the corner, and Sango allowed her a couple bites of pizza before launching into her interrogation.
"Okay, so who am I going to have to kill for doing that to you right before my wedding?"
Kagome took a large gulp of margarita before speaking.
"Well, you'll have to beat the cops to him."
"Done." Sango took another bite. "Keep talking."
"So I stopped to get gas and the credit card reader thing wasn't working, but it was the only one not in use so I had to go inside. It was super busy." Kagome took another drink. "And while I'm inside, it gets robbed by this guy and this other guy."
Sango erupted into a fit of coughing as she choked on her food.
"What?" She rasped out after a moment.
"Yeah, it was literally like the movies. Like robbed the cashiers and took stuff from some of the customers."
"Kagome! You were robbed?!"
"Well, the store was. I was just kinda there."
"So, how did this," Sango motioned to her own neck, "happen then?"
"Well, he was yelling at this little kid, who was really scared by the way," Kagome started with a swooping hand motion to stave off any diatribes coming from Sango.
"Kagome, no," she groaned.
"What was I supposed to do? Just let the kid cry?"
"Yes!" Sango exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, I didn't." Kagome fiddled with the crust of her half-eaten pieces of pizza. "So, I yelled at the guy."
Sango dropped her head into her hand not currently occupied with her drink.
"The guy actively robbing the convenience store? That one?" She looked up at her through her fingers. "Please tell me that there weren't guns involved."
Kagome flushed a little but didn't answer her directly.
"Kagome!" Sango groaned. "You don't pick a fight with a guy who has a gun."
"Yeah, well, hindsight," Kagome said.
Sango took a deep breath before motioning at her to continue as she gulped down the rest of her margarita.
"So he was definitely a little upset about me yelling at him, so that's when this happened." Kagome casually motioned to her neck, hoping that Sango would now let the matter rest.
"And? What happened then?"
"Oh, well, then he just sort of bailed. I think he had a getaway driver, and he just kinda left."
"That's why you were late!" Sango realized. "Why didn't you tell me this over the phone?"
"We had to wait on the police, and I didn't want you to worry."
"You should have told me!" Sango shouted at her.
"Shh!" Kagome motioned for her to lower her voice. "Someone might hear you!"
"Good!"
"Sango!" She chastised. "We both know that you would have bailed in a panic and driven there."
"Uh, yeah! Because that's what best friends do!"
"Sango," Kagome's voice softened slightly. "There was literally nothing that you could have done. What were you going to do? Drive three hours to sit with me while I talked to the police?"
"Yes!"
"We both know that would have been a waste." She countered. "Besides, uh—" Kagome hesitated, and Sango sensed blood in the water.
"What?" She sipped from her drink, eyes watching her over the edge.
"Uh," Kagome winced, knowing that Sango wasn't going to let it drop, and maybe it would distract her from the freak out that was building up. "There was a guy." She said the last word with a grimace.
"So you've said. Two of them, actually. With guns."
"No, a different guy."
"A different guy?" Sango leaned forward at the word, looking at her glass. "Okay, wait. More pizza and alcohol." She clambered off the couch and refilled their drinks and plates. "Now, spill. Was he the getaway driver?"
"Uh, he was kind of a jerk. Like a nice jerk though."
"But was he hot?"
"Uh, yeah, he was," Kagome blushed and let out a small groan. Sango wasn't going to let this go. "Oh no!" She gasped, diving for her phone.
"What? What is it?" Sango asked as Kagome slid open her text messages, choosing the contact she'd appropriately labeled 'Handsome Asshole' because he was all those things.
"I promised I would text him when I got here! And I totally forgot!" She quickly typed out a message.
8:44pm
I got here okay! Thanks for dinner!
She closed the app and set her phone beside her on the couch.
"Wait." Sango swallowed her bite. "You have his number?"
"Yeah, how else would I text him?"
"Kagome!" Sango groaned. "You have a hot guy's phone number!"
"Sango, no." Kagome said, already sensing where this conversation is going. "No." She pointed her finger at her for emphasis.
"But—"
"No!"
"It's my wedding!" She whined. "Think of it as a birthday present, just for me!"
"No! He was nice enough to pay for my gas. I am not bothering him!" She paused. "And it's your wedding. What does your birthday have to do with anything?"
"Wait, why did he pay for your gas?" Sango tilted her head at the question.
"Oh, the guy stole my wallet."
"The hot guy?"
"No! The robber!" Kagome took a sip of her drink. "He took my wallet right before he left, so he got all my credit cards, but don't worry because I already called the banks and canceled them! I should have new ones by the time I get back home!"
"He knows your name?" Sango asked, setting her plate down in front of her. "Kagome, this guy knows your name? He knows where you live?"
"Well, yeah, if he bothers to look at my credit cards, but what does that matter since I live four hours away? Besides, the guy would probably see the cash and drop the rest of the wallet." Kagome took another bite of pizza. "I mean, I'm a little pissed about losing the wallet. I really liked that one."
She took a sip and glanced back up to Sango who was still looking at her with concern.
"Kagome, this could be really bad."
"But it's not, because I live four hours away. And criminals are lazy."
"I still don't like it." She took another long sip of her drink before going back for refills. "And I'm only saying that because I'm worried about you, because you're the love of my life."
"Isn't Miroku the love of your life?"
"Different kinds of love," Sango corrected, flopping back down. "You are my platonic love. Miroku's is Inuyasha."
Kagome laughed.
"Maybe don't tell Miroku that."
Sango's face brightened before she leapt off the couch and grabbed her phone from the nightstand.
"What are you doing?" Kagome asked as Sango fired of a text message.
"Telling Miroku that Inuyasha is the love of his life. And you're mine."
"Sango!" Kagome laughed. It didn't take long for Sango's phone to ping in reply. "He's going to say something super weird."
Sango read, while grinning, "How much have you had to drink?" She paused as another blip came through. "Inuyasha is making gagging noises next to me." Another ping. "Breakfast will now be considered lunch, because we will be hungover."
"Did Miroku actually write that, or did you make that up?"
"Nope, they went to a bar." Her phone pinged several times. "Aww, he loves me."
Kagome rolled her eyes at the sentiment.
"Of course, he loves you. I mean, the view is proof of that." Kagome looked at her half-empty glass. "But I do need to go to the bank in the morning. I have no cash for this weekend." She reached up to her neck. "I'll also need to buy some concealer so that I can cover this up. I refuse to ruin your pictures."
"Mmm, we can do that before lunch." Sango nodded refilling their drinks with what was left of the second pitcher. "Besides we're out of alcohol."
They finished eating, shoving what was left of the pizzas into the fridge before brushing their teeth and drinking a bottle of water. Kagome moved to slip under the blankets, when Sango made a pathetic noise holding her arms out to her, wiggling her fingers at her.
"What?" Kagome asked. "Use your words, Sango."
"Come here, the bed's too big. I want to cuddle someone."
"Call Miroku."
"No, he'll want to do more than cuddle."
Kagome made a face.
"You almost died today. Please? You need to cuddle too."
"I didn't almost die, Sango. Don't be so dramatic."
Sango continued whining and holding her arms out.
"Fine," Kagome relented. Sango was right though. She really did almost die today, but Sango didn't need to know that.
Sango fluffed up the pillows, grabbed the remote, and turned on the television.
Kagome wrapped her arm around Sango's as she settled in next to her. They flipped through the available shows until they found something halfway interesting.
"You should set an alarm," Sango murmured.
"I already did."
Sango let out a noise of acknowledgment, and the two of them sat there and watched bad television until they fell asleep.
A/N: So I didn't realize that my edits didn't save, so this is the updated version!
Anyway, as promised, here is the new story. I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!