Insatiable

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does.

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CHAPTER 11: UNNATURAL
 
 
Shun stood in the shadows watching them with blazing brown eyes – his friend and his fiancée. Gripping the pint of beer tightly with his hand, he watched her gasp, enchanted by man in front of her. And his blood boiled with jealousy. He took that single pint and drank it in one go, slamming the pint over the counter, once he had finished. He ordered the bartender to give him a double scotch, his jealous gaze never leaving the two people who had finally finished their duet. He watched her scampered immediately to the bar counter for a drink. Nevertheless, his jealous and angry gaze returned and lingered over his silver-haired friend, who was now teasing the newly engaged couple that night. As soon as he noticed his fiancée standing up to join the others, he guzzled his shot of double scotch walking briskly towards her. He grabbed her arm roughly.
 
“Kagome, let's go. I'll take you home.” The tone he used was forceful, but there was a slight slur.
 
Sensing that she would refuse to go with him, he roughly tugged her hand dragging her out of the bar. He held unto her so tightly that she flinched. She told him to stop, as he was hurting her. He dropped her arm, not even bothering to apologize. He was already full of rage that he did not care if he was hurting her.
 
“What were you doing?” he yelled furiously. She stared at him confusingly like she didn't know what he was talking about. Yeah right! Like she had no idea was she was doing inside that bar. She was singing; she was having fun. She said.

Yeah right. He thought snarling at her.
 
“You were singing with Inuyasha!” he raged on. “And by the looks of it, you two were getting cosy with each other in there. Too cosy for comfort if you asked me!”
 
Yes, that was right. They were getting too cosy. He had seen it in their eyes and in the looks they were giving to each other; their body language just screamed it. She tried to explain but his mind was already made up. Inuyasha was trying to take Kagome away from him. He had done it with Shizuru in the past. He would do it again. He scoffed when he heard her say Inuyasha was his friend.
 
“He's not my friend.” There, he finally said it. “I hadn't considered him as one since that day he took the one thing that was most important to me. And I won't let him take you away from me. I won't let him make a fool of me again,” he told her, his voice lacing with venom.

He watched as her expression changed from shock to anger.
 
“This isn't about me, is it?” He heard her whisper heatedly.
 
What? How could she think that? He was doing all of this for her… and for him… and for Shizu. He wouldn't allow Inuyasha to make another fool out of him. It was better to tell her off – to tell her that she was wrong. She was being stubborn. Sometimes, he hated her independence, her strong will. He hated that most of the time she contradicted him.
 
“This isn't about me. All of this has nothing to do with me. In fact, I reckon this has everything to do with you. You and your failed relationship with a bitch named Shizuru.”
 
“Take that back,” he hissed. She had no right to say that. She had not been there. She did not know what had happened, and so she did not understand. She had not known how important Shizuru was to him. Shizuru had been his most-loved and most important person in his life. Kagome hand't known this and neither did his friends; that was because they had refused to see Shizuru like he did. And so, he couldn't just take that from Kagome. He could not just stand there and let her insult Shizuru.
 
“Why are you so ticked off by Inuyasha?”

He heard her ask. Could she not see why he was acting this way? Could she not see that he was protecting her? But instead of letting her see that, he threatened to leave her. With that she would see his way. However, he was wrong because she never wavered. She did not even flinch when he had told her he would break up with her. That infuriated him. So, he left.
 
He drove hard all throughout Tokyo. Her last heated question replayed in a loop in his mind – why Inuyasha ticked him off?
 
He had been the last addition to their group of five. The five of them had the same classes since kindergarten, but he only became part of the group when he participated in the play, “The Feudal Fairy Tale” during 5th grade. He had played the bad guy, and because he played a major role he had spent more time with the other four. However, he had a difficult time adjusting. He had never been good with having friends. He had grown up in a disordered family; his father worked too much while his mother partied all night long. He had craved for love and attention but he could not get it from his parents, or from anyone else – until one day when he met a young girl with bright green eyes. He befriended her instantly. Her name was Shizuru Yuki, and she was his first friend – his first love. And he prayed she would be the first and last of many aspects in his life. However, not all prayers were meant to be answered because she and her father migrated to London when her parents divorced. He had been 11 then, but he had already fallen hard for her. She came back during senior year in high school, and he did not waste any time making her his. Like any couple, they had fights. They argued. What angered him most, though, was when she compared him to Inuyasha.

“Shizu,” he whispered as he stepped on the breaks. He had stopped across the looming gates of the Takahashi mansion.

“Why can’t you be more like Inuyasha?” he recalled one argument that he and Shizuru had had before his friendship with Inuyasha had fallen out 6 years ago.
 
“Be more like Inuyasha, huh?” His lips quirked into a snarl, as he gripped the stirring wheel of his car. He recalled what Kagome had accused him. Why was he so ticked off with Inuyasha? It was because he had never measured up to Inuyasha in any way; and Shizuru had told him that herself. And he feared and would despise Inuyasha even more if Kagome thought likewise. He would not have that. He swore to himself, as he watched a black BMW convertible entered the tall gates. Minutes later, he followed it inside.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion…
 
“Did you have fun?” Sesshomaru greeted his brother without looking up from his laptop. As usual, he was doing work in the study when Inuyasha had barged in loudly. It was already 1 in the morning.
 
“You weren't joking when you told me that you would make my tangle with Kagome your priority hobby during your stay here, weren't you?” Inuyasha immediately asked.
 
“No, I was not.” The answer was automatic. “I was even thinking of hiring a crew to capture your candid moments.” That was a joke.
 
Inuyasha glared upon seeing Sesshomaru’s smirk. He did not want Sesshomaru meddling with his business. He had enough problems already. They were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

Myouga opened the door slowly. “Excuse me for interrupting, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha. But Shun-sama is here. He says he wants to speak with you, Inuyasha. He says it's very important.”

Sesshomaru raised a brow. “Interesting.”

Inuyasha silenced him with a look, but the amusement in Sesshomaru’s face didn’t disappear. In fact, that amusement turned conniving. Inuyasha felt himself cringing at what his older brother had in mind because he was sure he was involved in it.
 
“Okay, Myouga. Let him in.” He kept his voice firm. With that, Myouga nodded and closed the door gently.
 
Sesshomaru stared at his brother, as Inuyasha’s gaze was fixed at the door. “Take your chances,” he said suddenly.

Inuyasha whipped his head to face him. He frowned.

“Take it from me. It'll be worth it.” There was a glint in Sesshomaru’s eyes. A glint that said he was right – a glint that demanded to take his advice.
 
The door opened with a loud crack, and Shun went inside, a scornful look marred his handsome face. He stared at Sesshomaru unwelcomingly – a gesture that the older Takahashi brother noted instantly.
 
“I'll leave you two,” Sesshomaru said. “Remember what I've said, Inuyasha,” he added as he walked passed his brother. Inuyasha simply nodded watching him leave the study. The door closed with a loud click and then…
 
Silence…
 
“Do you want to sit down, Shun?” Inuyasha offered but he was rudely interrupted.
 
“No.”
 
Inuyasha ignored his remark and continued rather irritatingly, “So what exactly is it that you want to talk about?”
 
“Stay away from Kagome,” Shun said intensely, glaring at him. “I want you to stay the fuck away from her.”
 
“And why would I do that?” Inuyasha responded, totally not intimidated by Shun's gesture. He matched Shun's glare with a prodding look, challenging him to give a reasonable answer if he wished for him to take his demand seriously. He had to hear it from Shun what Kagome was to him. If Shun would answer that he loved Kagome, then he would stay away from her no matter how hard it would be. However, he could not promise the same thing if Shun answered otherwise.
 
“Because she's mine,” Shun stated strongly glaring at him before he exited, leaving a now certain Inuyasha.
 
His lips quirked in a smile taking into thought what Sesshomaru has told him, “Take your chances, huh?”
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
Inuyasha yawned widely, as he adjusted his black shades. He yawned again, checked his watch and sighed. It was five in the morning, and he was so sleepy. He had slept around 2 in the morning. However, his glorious sleep was rudely interrupted when Sesshomaru had literally dragged him out of his bed and to the airport.
 
“Tell me, Sess. Who on earth scheduled Rin's flight?” Inuyasha asked Sesshomaru, who only shrugged as he was not feeling too talkative at the moment.
 
“Whoever has booked her flight is just mad,” Inuyasha continued yawning once more. If these were normal times, Inuyasha would have put a fight when Sesshomaru had forced him to accompany him, but these were not normal times. Rin was returning to Japan. But this was her first taste of her home country, as she had no memories of it since she was taken to Chicago when she was only two. That was six years ago.
 
Suddenly, a shrill shriek was heard from a far and a little girl with black hair and bright brown eyes ran towards them.
 
“Daddy!” she yelled running some more.
 
“Hey there, sweetie!” Sesshomaru called smiling lovingly as he opened his arms for her. She crashed into him in a loud thud that Sesshomaru lost his balance and fell backwards to the floor. Inuyasha chuckled, as he watched his niece make a softy out of his older brother.
 
“Daddy, I've missed you so much!” Rin exclaimed and gave him a wet kiss. She had not seen her father for the last 2 months, as he had not gone to Chicago because of business. She understood though; she always had.
 
“I have so many things to tell you. There's this boy and his name is Shi…”
 
“Wait a second! A boy?” Sesshomaru asked alarmingly.
 
Rin nodded happily. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. His daughter was still 8-years old. She should not be thinking about boys. She should be thinking about stupid boys when she was thirty!
 
Inuyasha could feel his older brother's anxiety rising, which was quite odd. He shook his head and patted Sesshomaru's shoulders, saying, “Calm down, Sess. You don't even know what she's about to say.”
 
Sesshomaru sighed deeply.
 
“Hey Princess,” Inuyasha called Rin. “Did you have a blast?”
 
“Uncle Inuyasha!” Rin exclaimed. “Yes, of course!”
 
“Cool! Did you sit on the window seat just like I had told you to?” He smiled at her and carried her backpack.
 
“Yes!” she answered, as she waved her hand to Kaede and her Dad.
 
“Nana, over here!” she called. Kaede had emerged with their luggages and Sesshomaru was helping her with it. Inuyasha chuckled at her energy even in the wee hours of dawn.
 
“So, did you see HIM?” Inuyasha asked Rin as Kaede and Sesshomaru approached them.
 
“Who's HIM?” Sesshomaru butted in while he carried three luggages at the same time.
 
“Will you stop it, Sess?” Inuyasha scolded.
 
“No, I won't, Inuyasha,” his older brother replied. “I have every right to know what my daughter has been up to, especially when it comes to…” he retorted but Inuyasha shoved Rin's backpack straight to his face and stopped him immediately.
 
“Hello Inuyasha,” Kaede greeted as soon as she had joined them. Sesshomaru angrily pushed the backpack away from his face and glared at his brother.
 
“Come on, Nana. Tell Daddy and Uncle Yash that we have seen HIM,” Rin said. Sesshomaru turned to stare at Kaede raising a skeptical and annoyed eyebrow. Inuyasha chuckled beside him.
 
“Of course, Rin,” Kaede replied. “And calm down, Sesshomaru. We are just talking about the comet that has passed by last night. It is named HIM.”
 
“Oh,” Sesshomaru replied meekly.
 
Inuyasha guffawed in the sidelines and copied his brother's ridiculous response jokingly.
 
“Shut up,” Sesshomaru hissed elbowing him roughly.
 
“Aww, ass!” Inuyasha retorted and was about to retaliate when…
 
“Stop it, you too. You're acting like stupid idiots,” Kaede scolded, immediately shutting up the brothers.
 
“Yes ma'am,” they both answered, defeated.
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 
Narita Airport, 5 hours later…
 
“Hey,” Shun called smiling at the woman approaching him. “You came.”
 
Kagome shrugged smiling at him. “Well, I've promised to send you off. So here I am.” She adjusted her sling bag. He walked over to where she stood and hugged her tightly. She gasped at his sudden embrace.
 
“Hey, what's wrong?” she asked.
 
“Nothing… nothing's wrong,” he sighed. “It's just that, I'll miss you.”
 
“It's only 2 weeks, Shun.” She frowned. He was being too emotional all of a sudden. He had gone to business trips before, and some even took longer than 2 weeks, but he had never been this expressive about it. This was just unnatural of him.
 
“I'll see you in 2 weeks, okay?” she told him pulling away from his embrace.
 
“Okay,” he replied. “Kagome?”
 
“Yeah?”
 
“Could you do me a favor?”
 
“What… what favor?”
 
“While I'm gone, can you stay away from Inuyasha?” Shun asked firmly.
 
Kagome gaped at him unbelievingly, “Pardon me.”
 
“I don't like him getting too close to you,” he told her.
 
Kagome took a calming breath. “I… I just can't do that. He's my client, Shun.”
 
“What do you mean he's your client?” he asked heatedly. He now had a scowl on his face.
 
“The last design that the company had long been working on was for the Takahashi Corporation's new high-rise project. We had just won the bid early this week, and…” she sighed. “Shun, please understand. I don't want to risk the project the company has worked so hard for months just because of this. Besides, I'm the head architect,” Kagome explained.
 
“And you have not told me this, because?” Shun asked angrily.
 
“You've never cared about my work then, why now?” she prodded. He was starting to annoy her.
 
He avoided her question. “It doesn't matter when I have started caring about your work. The important thing is that I do care. Withdraw from the project.”
 
“What?” Her anger was rising.
 
“I want you to withdraw from the project. There are plenty of projects that you can work on. Take a renovation job, and withdraw from the project. It doesn't matter if you are head architect. Make Shiro the head architect. He has been in that job before. He can do it this time so it doesn`t put your company at risk of the losing the stupid project,” he retorted heatedly.
 
“It doesn't matter if I'm head architect?” she hissed. “Do you know how much time and effort I've put to that design? And you dare and say to me that it doesn`t matter if I get the top job?”
 
“There are other jobs and you will get those, but not this one… so withdraw,” Shun told her.
 
“No!”
 
“Damn it, Kagome. Why can't you understand?” he yelled furiously.
 
“That's because this is ridiculous! You want me to just throw away the months of hardwork I've spent on that design just because you want me to stay away from Inuyasha?” Had he freaking lost his mind? “Now tell me Shun, which one of us doesn't understand?”
 
He sighed loudly, “Look, Kagome, please understand that I'm doing this because I'm just trying to protect you.”
 
“Protect me? From what, whom? From Inuyasha?” she retorted incredulously, as she was now utterly annoyed by his reasoning.

“Yes!” His voice took a hard tone. “From him! Look Kagome, you don't know Inuyasha like I do. You don't know what he’s capable of doing like I have experienced in the past.”
 
“I may not know everything about your past but that's because you have never shared it with me, Shun,” she rebutted. “You tell me you don't want to talk about your past, but you always bring it up whenever you reason for something as ridiculous as this! If you want my sympathy for whatever Inuyasha has done to you in the past then I suggest you tell me once and for all, so that you won't have this much of a hard time convincing me.” She took a deep calming breath. In the past, she had encouraged Shun that they talk about his past relationships, since she had sensed that he was too caught up in them. But he had declined. She had not insisted on the idea because she knew it would a waste of time convincing him. However, she was considering the idea now because of the couple of fights they had.
 
“It's not that simple, Kagome,” Shun answered.
 
“What is so difficult about telling me, Shun? Huh? Why can't you just tell me? I have waited for you to open up back then.” She had waited – waited for him to tell her the answers as to why he had left her so abruptly for another woman in the past. “You know that I have forgiven you for that, right? Because I have seen that you have been devastated, and you have regretted leaving me. I've wanted to understand you more, Shun. But you won`t let me. And I hate that, Shun! I hate being left in the dark.” Because she felt like a fool when that happened. “Besides, as far as I'm concerned, your past has been nothing but a pain in my ass,” she retorted. “And you know what? I think Inuyasha is a good guy, and I like his company. Our friends obviously think so too; it is just a pity you don't.”
 
“That's because you don't know shit about him,” he spat. “Tell me Kagome. How long have you known him? 2-3 weeks? And you think you already know him? You know nothing shit! You want me to tell you the truth? Fine! He has stolen Shizuru from me! You get that! He has seduced Shizuru to his bed and has tried to fuck her. Can't you see? He'll take you away from me.”
 
Kagome just stared at him. She knew Shizuru had an important role in the fall out of their friendship, but she had never thought it was because of a love triangle… and an attempted rape? But that couldn’t be right. That had to be a lie because Inuyasha could not do that. He was not the type of person.
 
“You're lying,” she whispered. “He won't do that.”
 
“You think I will lie about this?” Shun was gritting his teeth.
 
“No, but I think you're wrong about him,” she replied.

He scoffed. “All of you think so highly of him, when actually he's not,” he hissed. Then, his lips quirked in an uneven sneer. “But it doesn't matter `coz I've already warned him.”

Looking incredulous, Kagome stared at him. “Warned him? Warned him about what?”
 
“To stay away from you,” Shun replied.
 
She gawked at him and then glared, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
 
“I'm doing this for your own good!” he explained heatedly.
 
“No, you're not!” she retorted. “You're doing this for yourself, you selfish asshole. Can't you see what's at stake here? The whole project is at risk because of what you've done!”
 
“You'll understand someday that what I'm…” He tried to explain but she ranted on.
 
“I don't care what has happened between you, Inuyasha and anyone else in the past. If you're too hooked up with your past then that's your problem to deal with, not mine! God, I don`t know what’s eating you these days. You`re infuriating.” She sighed dejectedly.
 
He just stared back at her.
 
“This isn’t working,” she uttered suddenly.
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Us,” she answered staring at him. “We are not working.”

She kept her gaze on him. Shun, on the other hand, turned his gaze away from her. The grip he had on his plane ticket and passport tightened.

The animated voice of a woman was heard all throughout the airport announcing the boarding of Shun's flight. Kagome sighed loudly.
 
“We'll talk about this some other time.”

“I don’t know, Shun.”

“No!” he whispered, and then gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I'll call you once I arrive. We'll work this out, okay?”
 
 She did not reply. She chewed her bottom lip instead, as she watched him walk away.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
“An action figure,” Inuyasha said blankly as he passed the ball to Miroku.
 
“An action figure?” Miroku asked absently. Yet, his body contradicted whatever tone he had used as he moved in driving passed Hiten who had his hands raised to block his lay-up. Miroku leapt in the air and twisted his wrist, making the easy lay-up.
 
“An action figure,” Miroku said once again when he was down on the ground.
 
“Yeah, that’s right,” Inuyasha replied while Sesshomaru checked the ball with him.
 
They were inside the Takahashi mansion's gym playing 2-on-2 basketball. Skin and shirts were on play. Inuyasha and Miroku were skin, while Sesshomaru and Hiten were shirts. Kouga, on the other hand, was late even though he had promised to join them. He must be exhausted from rutting, or maybe, he was rutting at the very moment.
 
Sesshomaru passed a long one to Hiten and positioned himself in the post with Inuyasha guarding him. Hiten caught the ball and skillfully dribbled it. Miroku eagerly guarded him.
 
“Who and why will somebody call you an action figure, Inu? Don`t you think it`s weird?” Hiten asked as he made a fake drive. Miroku took the fake, giving Hiten the chance to pass the ball to Sesshomaru who was free under the basket. Hiten's “who” question had caught Inuyasha off guard, leaving Sesshomaru open to get the easy 2-points.
 
“That's what I'm wondering too, you know,” Miroku asked as he stared at Inuyasha who held the basketball in his hand.
 
“You see there's this,” Sesshomaru butted in, trying to somewhat rescue Inuyasha's ass from the hot seat. He had no idea what Inuyasha was talking about, but somehow, he knew it had something to do with Kagome. Furthermore, he got this feeling that his younger brother wanted to avoid the question. But he was wrong because Inuyasha answered the question.
 
“It's Kagome,” Inuyasha replied.
 
Sesshomaru looked at him interestedly. That surprised him. He had not expected Inuyasha to answer the question. Sometimes, his gut feeling was wrong after all.
 
“Hmmm,” Hiten pondered. He was the youngest of the four of them inside the gym, but he had known a lot of girls. Somehow, he had considered himself an expert on them. Nevertheless, this one was tough to solve. Out of all the words to describe Inuyasha, why had Kagome chosen `action figure.' That was just; well, totally ridiculous if you asked him.
 
“Well, I have no fucking idea why she has compared you to an action figure. But I can assure you that if she has compared you to any of the Super Saiyans, then you're really powerful, and your hair is spiky and golden,” Hiten said smugly.
 
Sesshomaru raised a brow while Miroku rolled his eyes. What the hell was he talking about?
 
Inuyasha scoffed, “You're talking nonsense, Ten.”
 
“What?” Hiten asked incredulously. “I was being serious, Inu. Super Saiyans are powerful and they have spiky, golden hair. They are my favorite action figures, by the way.”
 
Miroku chuckled shaking his head. Sometimes he had wondered how his friends had grown up to maturity. Perhaps, they had skipped a developmental stage or something of the sorts because they were just plain crazy.
 
“I think it means you're exceptional,” Miroku said and immediately caught Inuyasha and Hiten's attention back to the conversation. “I think it means that you are not ordinary. Perhaps, even out of the ordinary.”
 
“Like an alien?” Hiten supplied jokingly. The three of them ignored him.
 
“Well, that's what I think. If you have noticed, action figures are only dolls if you put it so blatantly, but they are dolls representing extraordinary personalities.”

“Where did you read that from, Miroku?”

Shrugging, Miroku chuckled. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Sometimes, Kagome says stupid things. But I think Hiten knows about this, since he's an artist himself,” Miroku added as they continued their game. He passed the ball to Inuyasha, who dribbled the ball against Sesshomaru who was guarding him.
 
“Of course,” Hiten said cockily as he screened Miroku. “I've told you. Just like Super Saiyans, they are extraordinary persons. It's obvious with the golden hair.”
 
“Be serious, Ten,” Miroku told him.
 
“All right. It's as simple as saying that you are uncommon, exciting, likable, and pretty much, very hot,” Hiten said running after Inuyasha who had overtaken Sesshomaru and was already driving straight to the basket. Hiten leapt and collided with Inuyasha in midair, fouling Inuyasha as he slammed the ball hard into the basket. Inuyasha clung unto the ring, smirking at Hiten.
 
Basket count…
 
“Damn!” Hiten said loudly as Inuyasha jumped down, his shoes screeching as he jogged towards the free-throw line.
 
“Nice one, Inu,” Miroku told Inuyasha as he slapped his butt.
 
“I'll get you for that one, Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru told him wiping his face with his shirt.

Inuyasha only smirked at his brother and threw the ball. Swoosh! It did not even graze the ring.
 
“That's a three-point play, Sess,” Inuyasha bragged.
 
“What, Inuyasha? Had an ego-boost just because someone had thought you were hot? I didn't know you were that shallow,” Sesshomaru taunted.
 
“Yeah,” Hiten agreed. “Whoa, wait a sec. Kagome thinks you're hot! Damn!” Hiten said loudly. He was standing close to Sesshomaru so he was practically yelling at him.
 
“What the fuck's wrong with you?” Sesshomaru asked.
 
“That is so unfair. She has never told me I’m hot! She hasn't even said I am Son Goku even if I`ve forced her to,” Hiten whined. He had hit on Kagome the first time he had seen her. That was almost one and a half years ago. That time, he still hadn`t known that she was Shun's girlfriend back then. Oh boy… was he disappointed once he knew. She had said once that he was charming, but she had never told him that he was hot, nor implied anything that had made him think so. That definitely had been a knockout blow to his confident playboy ego.
 
“Ten, don't be so sour about it. Every woman thinks Inuyasha is hot. That’s typical. If some woman comes up to me and says, that Inuyasha is just average? I'll immediately start thinking if I've been transported in twilight zone because that is downright unnatural. It's just loco, I tell you,” Miroku told him. “I mean, just look at the guy,” he continued and gestured towards the shirtless Inuyasha. He and Inuyasha had chosen skin so they played without shirts on, whereas Sesshomaru and Hiten played wearing some.
 
“He's just sexy. And that's already coming from a pervert like me, who strictly uses that word for women only,” Miroku said.
 
Hiten sighed.
 
“It's in the genes, Ten,” Sesshomaru smirked, a fang peeking out.
 
He had overheard Hiten and Miroku's conversation. Some people would think it was weird for grown men to converse about aesthetics. Our present societies had laid down the groundwork that only women did that, but that was not true. Because men were never an exception when it came to self-image issues, including gorgeous people like Inuyasha and his friends. It was just that Hiten had raised the issue in a comical way.
 
“It's the wonders of Deoxyribonucleic acid,” Inuyasha supplied copying his older brother`s expression.
 
Hiten scowled at them both, and muttered, “Weird brothers.”
 
He roughly snatched the ball from Sesshomaru and walked to the outbound. “I'll check it,” he said.
 
Unexpectedly, the sliding door of the gym suddenly slid open with a loud bang and revealed a very irritated Myouga, who happened to be wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and a pair of Air Jordan I.
 
“Whoa!” Hiten yelled.
 
“Let's play ball!” Myouga yelled while he raised a clinched fist in the air.
 
“What's gotten up your ass, old man?” Inuyasha asked curiously. He had noticed it ever since that morning that Myouga was in a bad mood.
 
However, Myouga ignored him. He appeared to be furious. “Huh! I'll fucking show him… that good-for-nothing, backstabbing, foolish-old bastard!”
 
The four younger men just stared at him. The old man was livid, dangerously livid.
 
“Who's got the fucking ball?” Myouga asked as he walked towards them.
 
“He-here s-sir,” Hiten stuttered like a scared 5-year old boy. Myouga's eyes were blazing. It was scary as hell.
 
“You!” Myouga shouted glaring at Hiten.
 
“Y-ye-yes, S-s-sir!” Hiten answered, not knowing if he should salute or just stand erect. Well, it didn't matter.
 
“Be a man, boy! And don't you fucking mumble!” Myouga told him heatedly. “We will play 2-on-2! You are the fucking referee. Do you understand me, bitch?”
 
“Sir, ye-yes Sir!” Hiten yelled aloud while saluting his hand stiffly.
 
“Oh yeah, and give me you're fucking shirt!” Myouga demanded. Hiten scrambled to take his shirt off.
 
“Sir!” he yelled loudly and handed the shirt to the livid old man. Myouga turned away from him. Hiten sighed deeply in relief as his three other friends chuckled in the sidelines.
 
“Well, don't just fucking stand there,” Myouga told the other three. “Let's play!”
 
It was an interesting experience playing against Myouga. He was a strategist. He was not tall enough to dunk, or fast enough to drive inside the basket and outdo his younger and taller opponents, so what he did was attack the basket from the perimeter… but not just any perimeter shot, as they were all 3-pointers.
 
“Man.” Miroku panted and slumped on the wooden court. “I can't believe we've just lost the game.”

Hiten was looking at Myouga in awe. The old man was a fucking ace shooter.
 
“So… what's your story, old man?” Inuyasha asked Myouga while he finished off his energy drink. He took another bottle from the cooler and tossed each one a drink. He opened another bottle and drank it for himself.
 
“Kaede,” Myouga whispered forlornly.
 
“What?” the four of them asked simultaneously.
 
“She's back,” Myouga said.
 
“And… aren't you happy now that she's back?” Inuyasha asked. “I've heard you have a major crush on her,” he teased jokingly and cajoled the old man, his friends joining him, except for Sesshomaru.
 
“You boys need to grow up,” Myouga told them. “Kaede is not just a crush. She's my one and only love.”
 
“Then why sulk here and play ball with us when you can have canoodled the whole afternoon with her?” Hiten asked wiping his face with a towel. But before Myouga could answer his inquiry, a very excited Kouga came in. His eyes flashed naughtily, as he walked towards them.
 
“Hey guys, you should have seen what I saw,” he began sounding like a hormonal teenager.
 
“You're late, Kouga,” Miroku interjected, but was completely ignored by the man.
 
“That old man Totosai was making the moves on Kaede. Oh man, all of you should have seen it,” Kouga continued.
 
Myouga scowled growling lowly while his younger companions sweatdropped. They had seen his wrath. They would not want to witness and experience it again. Hiten gestured for Kouga to stop, but he was already in too deep with what he had seen that he had not even noticed Myouga's clinching fists and low growling.
 
“And oh yeah, hear this,” Kouga continued. “Kaede was giggling. Yeah, you heard that right. Giggling – like some school girl with a crush.” And he giggled as well.

Myouga growled some more. Now, Kouga noticed him.
 
“What has gotten up your ass, old man?” he asked uncaringly and walked to Myouga so that he could clearly see Myouga's red angry face.
 
“Oh hell no! You're jealous!” Kouga exclaimed. “Oh man, this is just a shock for me, I tell you. A love triangle between old geezers, this is just monumental! Shit! This is a priceless piece of history!”
 
Inuyasha coughed warningly; he could sense that Myouga was close to rampage already. Hiten was waving for Kouga to stop, but he continued his mockery over Myouga nonetheless. Miroku was about to jump on Kouga while Sesshomaru just stood there and chuckled as he waited for the brutal show to start. And finally…
 
BONK!
 
SMASH!
 
SLASH!
 
WHOOSH!
 
BAM!
 
BANG!
 
BOOM!
 
And a resounding AWWWWWW was heard.
 
But no need to worry, Kouga was still alive. Well, barely… but nevertheless, still alive.
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
“Oh God, my head hurts. I’ve gotten so drunk last night. Kagome, please help me. My head's going to crack open,” Sango moaned in pain as she massaged her temples. She turned and looked at Kagome who was driving rather fast. She watched the speedometer; it pointed 110.
 
“Kagome? BFF of mine, please mind the speedometer. Your passenger has a hangover. I can't stand your bad-ass driving right now.”

But it seemed that Kagome had set herself on ignore-mode. She did not even twitch, nor blinked an eye. She scowled when a Toyota Altis had overtaken them without even signaling. She roughly pounded the horns and yelled, “Damn it! This is not the freeway asshole! And signal before you make a stupid turn!”
 
“Kagome?” Sango called. “Hey Kagome…?”
 
“What?” Kagome yelled loudly.
 
Sango gave her a scolding look.
 
“Sorry,” Kagome apologized, and then sighed loudly.
 
“You're pissed.”
 
“Tell me the not so obvious, Sango,” she responded sarcastically.
 
“So what the hell happened?” Sango asked.
 
“I broke up with Shun.”
 
“You what!” Sango shrieked. “When? Where? Why?”
 
“Please… just one question at a time. I only have one mouth.” Kagome did not hide her annoyance.
 
“Okay,” Sango said. “So, you broke up with him?”
 
“Well, I tried to.”
 
“But you wanted to break up with him,” Sango clarified.

Kagome refused to respond. But the absence of it was telling though, because it meant yes.

“When?”
 
“Just hours ago… right before his flight,” Kagome answered.
 
“You're cruel Kagome,” Sango said. “But really sneaky. Break up with the guy right before his 2 week trip so that you won't have that awkward phase when you avoid seeing your -ex.”
 
“I totally resent that,” Kagome told her. “It wasn't what I was thinking. It was just not working, Sango. I thought we should give each other that space and time to think about what and where our relationship had brought us, and what and where our relationship would bring us in the future.”
 
“What did he say?” Sango asked.
 
“He said we'd talk about it some other time,” Kagome answered.

“And that would be when?”

“He said he’d call as soon as he arrived there.” Kagome released a frustrated breath at the thought of Shun’s demands to her. “I can't believe him. He wants me to quit the high-rise project I’m currently working on.”
 
“What? That's just absurd! You’ve worked so hard with that design. Why would he want that?”
 
Kagome froze at her question and then whispered, “Inuyasha… he wants me to stay away from Inuyasha.”
 
Sango gasped loudly.
 
“Sango?” There was something that Kagome needed to know. “Answer me honestly, okay?”
 
Sango nodded.
 
“Is it true that Inuyasha has forced Shizuru to sleep with him?”
 
Her bestfriend gave her a bitter smile and Kagome's heart leapt in anticipated revulsion, fearing that her friend's expression meant that Shun was telling the truth.
 
“No, Kagome,” Sango answered sighing deeply. “Shun had assumed so for the longest time that Inuyasha did that. But no, Inuyasha would never do that. In fact, Shizuru was the one head-over-heels over Inuyasha; while Inu, well, he basically hated everything about the bitch.”
 
Kagome just smiled – relieved at what she heard.
 
“Shun told you Inuyasha did that?” Sango asked sadly.
 
“Yeah,” She nodded her head, as she signaled to turn right.

Sango released a weary breath. What the hell was Shun thinking? She had thought he had gotten over what had happened six years ago. She had thought that he had everything from the past buried. She guessed wrong; it would not be the first time. But this would be a complication because if he kept insisting stupid demands with Kagome, he’d surely lose her.
 
“Do you want to talk about it, Gome?” she offered.
 
Kagome shook her head. “No, I think I know enough about it. But thanks, Sango.”
 
“Anytime,” she replied smilingly, while Kagome returned a grateful smile. “Could you turn left next corner?” Sango had called Kagome to drive for her because Miroku had taken their car without permission. He said he had some basketball game against the Takahashis. With no car, she had no choice but to take the cab. It was a good thing she had called Kagome. Conveniently, her bestfriend was already on the road.
 
“Which left?” Kagome asked.
 
“That left,” Sango answered. “By the way, thanks for doing this, Gome.”
 
Kagome smiled. “No problem. Besides, I’ve wanted to have a long drive this afternoon to clear my head anyway. So it's no big deal. Anyway, where are we headed?”
 
“To see Rin.” Sango was busy tinkering with her mobile phone.
 
“Rin?” Kagome asked curiously.

Sango smiled meekly. “She's… um… She's Sesshomaru's daughter. So she's also…”
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
“Your niece, Inuyasha,” Seshomaru scolded.
 
Inuyasha had taken Dash and Chase, his two Siberian Huskies, out to the backyard garden to unleash them – in every sense of the word. The poor garden was a mess. There were broken flowerpots and uprooted plants everywhere. The water hose had holes in it out of the big huskies' chewing. Rin was playing with them, equally soaked and muddied.
 
“What?” Inuyasha mocked his older brother.
 
“I said, `Take those dirty mutts away from my daughter and your niece!' How many times do I have to tell you that?” Sesshomaru repeated more scornfully.
 
Inuyasha just laughed at him. “Chill out, Sess. Besides, Rin is having tons of fun, right princess?”
 
Rin nodded happily at her uncle.

Sesshomaru fumed. “You're spoiling your niece!” And he didn’t want that. “It’s already getting late. The temperature's dropping and I don't want my daughter catching a cold. Do you understand me?”
 
“Okay, okay.” Inuyasha relented walking towards Rin. “We'll do this again tomorrow, okay princess?” he winked at her. A gesture that his niece really loved, since the wink promised something more exciting and fun to come. And she could not wait for it even though she had to.
 
Rin puffed a disappointed breath, but nodded. “Okay. But you do promise, right Uncle Yash?”
 
“Yep,” Inuyasha replied.
 
“Pinky swear?” The little girl raised her pinky finger.
 
“Pinky swear,” Inuyasha replied curling his pinky with hers. Then he pinched her nose playfully, making her giggle. “Okay, run along, now,” he said.
 
Rin pouted. “I am not a kid, Uncle, so you can't tell me to run along.” She then smiled brightly before running towards the door where Sesshomaru was waiting.
 
Inuyasha chuckled lightly, as he watched Sesshomaru walked with Rin inside the mansion. He turned and looked at Dash and Chase, which were delightfully chewing the water hose. He shook his head disapprovingly. They were very filthy.
 
“Now, what will I do with you two?” he asked them. They barked loudly.
 
“Bath… I see. Well, come on.” He patted both their heads whistling for them to stand up and follow him. He walked straight towards the back of the mansion where the doggie-showers were located. In the past when he was not busy, he made it a point that he bathed his dogs to bond with them. It was perfect timing because he was already filthy, sweaty and still shirtless from their basketball game, so he might well give his dogs their much needed bath.
 
He was already halfway to the showers when he noticed that neither Dash nor Chase was trailing behind him. He sighed. He should have put them on their leashes. He walked back towards the garden, picked up their leashes, and started to search for them. The mansion's yard was rather vast, and it would take a long time to find them.
 
“Dash! Chase! Here boys!” he called aloud.
 
He continued to call them whistling on his way, when all of a sudden, he heard an alarmed shout, followed by dog barks. Running towards the frantic cry, he cursed when he spotted a woman on the ground with his dogs above her!
 
“Shit!” His dogs had always been friendly. This was very unnatural of them. But who on earth was this woman? They were not expecting any visitors today.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Kagome drove through the long driveway of the Takahashi mansion. Wow. She thought, impressed by its grandeur. The architecture was just superb. Even from the distance, she could tell that it was an architectural gem, as it must have been built tens of years ago.
 
“Stop here, Gome,” Sango told her, as Kagome was not paying attention on the road. Sango chuckled lightly at the look on Kagome's face. If one wanted Kagome to be speechless, this was one effective thing to do: show her a great piece of architecture. Kagome stopped the car, and Sango went out immediately after unbuckling her seatbelt.
 
“I wonder where Myouga went?” Sango whispered when no one welcomed them. “We'll just have to go inside, Kagome. Myouga's nowhere to be found,” she told her bestfriend.
 
“Okay,” Kagome absently answered while she traced the outer walls of the mansion. Sango raised a brow clucking her tongue playfully.
 
“Kagome?” she called.
 
Kagome whirled her head and faced Sango.
 
“Do you want to stay out here first and stroll on the mansion's grounds? I know you want to see what piece of architecture this gigantic shit of a house is,” Sango said knowingly.
 
Kagome smiled to her sheepishly.
 
“Well, what do you say?” Sango asked again.
 
“Thanks Sango,” was Kagome’s only reply, as she waved a grateful hand to Sango. “See you,” she added as she sauntered towards the mansion grounds.
 
“Don't get lost okay? Be careful!” Sango called to her laughingly, shaking her head as she entered the door.
 
“Sure Sango,” Kagome yelled back.
 
Kagome gasped at the fine details of the mansion's architecture. It was old, antique; yet, it looked new and well kept even up to now. She was nearing the back garden already, and she could already see the ruined state of the garden. She shook her head disapprovingly. Her mama would be livid if this was her garden. She smiled, missing her mom and her family already. She had not seen them for a long time. Maybe, she would take the time off and visit her family back at the shrine.
 
She continued her appreciative sauntering when she heard several barks… big and loud barks. She backed away several steps and then, she saw them: two big, very dirty and very scary huskies running straight towards her. She froze. Her head was telling her to run, or else they would take a pound of flesh out of her; but her body just stood there refusing to move.
 
They were getting closer now. Suddenly, they leapt in the air and pounced at her, fangs showing as the dirt from their furs dripped from their velocity. She gasped, as she was knocked out from her standing position. They fell on the ground in a loud thud. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable bite, but… nothing. Instead, she felt tongues, dirt and a lot of slobber. They were licking her while they made this sweet whining sound.
 
“Hey stop!” Kagome told the two dogs, as they licked her face. “Hey wait… stop, dog! That tickles,” she giggled.
 
She heard someone curse from the distance. She sighed in relief. Someone had come to help her.
 
“Dash! Chase! Stop!” that someone shouted.
 
The two huskies instantly stopped and sat up beside her. She slowly sat up and examined her clothes. They were filthy. She was filthy. Her face was sticky with doggie-saliva and some dirt. She guessed she was indistinguishable right now.
 
“Hey, are you okay?” that someone asked worriedly.
 
“Yeah, I am,” she said looking up to face her rescuer, and then froze. Why was her heart beating like a drum inside her chest? And it paced double when she realized his shirtless state. “Thanks…Inuyasha.” She had to force her voice to come out.
 
Inuyasha frowned. Did he know this woman? He stared at her and gasped in realization.
 
“Kagome?” he asked. He could not be wrong. He could never be wrong about those eyes. Those amazing blue eyes only belonged to one woman.
 
“Yeah,” she replied as he helped her stand up.
 
He stared at her. “Hi.”
 
She stared back and said, “Hi.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
R & R!