InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ That's Show Business ❯ What About A Yacht? ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha but I do have a tiny dog that could kick his @$$.

Chihiro-san: Thanks for the reviews everybody! I love writing this and, seeing as Inu Yasha decided to take Kagome to EVERYWHERE in California, my on-line story is going to be a few chapters longer than expected. I hope that's not a problem. In the orig-aw…man! I just stepped on my puppy's rawhide chew. Ulg…man, that was gross. She gnaws on that thing forever until its one long strip of mushy drool. Alk! As I was saying, the original storyline didn't have Kouga being Kagome's boyfriend or Inu Yasha kidnapping her or Sango and Miroku stuck in the elevator! My characters are writing this, not me! I love it though. They're not half bad. Later!

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"Are we-Yes! We're on the Golden Gate Bridge, aren't we?!" Inu Yasha began to laugh as he weaved in and out of the traffic. The bridge itself was a crimson blur around Kagome as they flew down the busy lanes. In no time they were on the other side. Inu Yasha drove into the city a ways. There were art shops, old houses, and cafés all around them. Businesses were taking it easy on this Sunday afternoon. It was a partly cloudy day and the mood of the town was sleepy. Inu Yasha pulled up in front of a touristy looking shop filled to the brim with various curios. He hopped off and, before she could even make a move, picked up Kagome and twirled with her in his arms, bridal style. They laughed and he set her on the sidewalk.

"Welcome to San Francisco!" He chirped as he took her helmet from her. He set them on the seat and turned to her. She blinked at him and grinned. They started walking down the street, going nowhere in particular. Kagome's grin began to grow, and by the time they reached the curb, she was smiling from ear to ear. Inu Yasha punched the button to cross and smirked at her.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked with a carefree taste in his voice. She squealed and kissed him on the cheek. His grin immediately dropped and was replaced with utter shock. Kagome was still smiling but a soft rose color graced the bridge of her nose.

"I'm sorry, but I've always wanted to go to San Francisco! I know so many people who loved it when they went here, and I've always wanted to check it out for myself."

"N-no…'s okay…" He was still in a daze as they crossed the street. When they got to the other side, Kagome mentioned what was on both of their minds.

"So what do you want to do today?" She asked. He had come out of la-la-land enough to answer in a complete sentence.

"Whatever you want to do. We could go to Pier 39, or Alcatraz, or to my yacht, or anywhere!" Kagome raised her hand to stop him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it! Did you say you have a yacht? Here!?" He looked unsurely at her, and then nodded his silvery head. His soft hair caught the sunlight, making it shimmer and shine. His golden eyes gleamed excitedly at her.

"Well that settles it, then! To the yacht!" Kagome pointed a finger in some random direction and began to march. Inu Yasha directed her back towards the Harley and they drove to the docks. Conveniently enough, he had a permanent slip just off of Pier 39. Hundreds of people were gathered by the wooden railing to get a look at the seals. Old, creaking fingers of broken docks were tied half-hazardly to broken poles in the water. On the archipelago of oak rested at least thirty huge seals. They barked at everything, slapped the water, basked in the sun, and fought with one another. Charming.

The only downside was the smell. However cute and cuddly the harbor seals might be, they reeked. The whole area stunk like decomposing fish heads baked in the sun over camel dung for a few days. It was an abominable stench, and as soon as they neared the seals, Kagome's hand flew up to her face and pinched her nose shut. Inu Yasha was familiar with the smell by now, so he only laughed at her.

"My God, what is that smell?!" Kagome choked. He directed her up to the railing and she gasped. She had never seen seals this close up before. They might not have been the most wild, or the most pleasant, but they were seals.

"They are a bit loud out night, so you might want to close the hatches when you sleep." He put a hand on her shoulder as they watched the lardy seals flop about. Suddenly, a girl screamed. Everyone turned around and looked at her in a distressed way. She was around twelve with brown hair and gold braces. A quavering finger was pointed at the hanyou.

"HOLY COW!" She shrieked. "It's Inu Yasha!" And then the poor dear passed out. Of course by now, everyone knew who it was that she was staring at and quickly pounced on the unaware superstar. He groaned and grabbed Kagome's hand. They wormed their way through the crowd and over to a metal door that faced the water. Inu Yasha dug around in his pants pocket. He finally found his keys and unlocked the metal door. Kagome squeezed past him and stumbled down the wobbly gangplank and onto the dock. He slammed the door shut and chased after her. Many girls and one or two guys groaned as the crowd at the gate dispersed. The two travelers panted and looked at each other.

"Now that's a rush…" Kagome breathed. Inu Yasha raised an eyebrow at her.

"You thought that was bad?! That was nothing! I have to deal with things like that almost every moment of every day!" He smiled in a weak way and walked past her. She followed him down the small dock. Most of the boats were catamarans, but one or two little boats were tied up in a random slip. Kagome looked around in surprised.

"Where's your yacht?" She asked. He walked over to the largest of the small sailboats.

"This is it!" He said, leaning against it proudly.

"This is it? I didn't expect it to be so…so small." He smiled at her in a coy way.

"Not all yachts are triple-decked wonders, doll. Plus, this is pretty big."

It had to be about thirty-three feet in length and sported two stripes on the side. One was a deep blue and the other was gold. It was in excellent condition with an enormous mast. Next to the wheel were a few electronic devices that Kagome didn't think she should touch. She glanced at the name: "ΜποÏείÏ" ε να δοκιμά 07;ƒÏ"ε πάλι".

"So…what's your boat called?" She queried, still staring at the name with an inquisitive brow.

"I haven't a clue on how to pronounce it, but its English translation is `music of the sea'." He hopped up onto the deck and unlocked the hatch. Kagome mouthed the words `music of the sea' as she climbed on board. Inu Yasha took apart the teak slats that made the door and carried them below. He flipped on a light and set them down. When Kagome stepped lightly down the stairs, she gasped and stared at her surroundings. Inside the boat it was surprisingly spacious. The walls were polished teak wood with portholes looking out. There were royal blue silk settees on both sides of the boat. A wooden folding table was positioned in the center of the room. The mast of the boat came down through the ceiling and through the center of the table. Inu Yasha gave commentary as she looked around.

"There are berths at both ends here. You'll be sleeping in the v-berth," he muttered as he searched through a closet for something. Kagome nodded and walked over towards the v-berth. She slipped past the table and stood in front of her door. It was also polished wood. A frosted glass window was set in the center. Its oval shape was outlined with gold. Her fingers wrapped around the gold handle and she slid the door open.

Her berth had silk sheets the same color as the settees. They were tucked neatly over a down mattress and soft, white pillows were propped up against the bow of the boat. A small shelf rested on the wooden wall she stood next to. It had a few novels on it that looked mildly interesting. The hatch above her bed was tinted and covered with a white snap-on sheet. `This is nicer than my hotel room,' Kagome thought as she shut the door. Inu Yasha was still digging through the closet in his berth.

"The kitchen's stocked, in case you're hungry," he called over his shoulder. A state-of-the-art kitchen rested in front of the door to his berth. It was all chrome, complete with a microwave, a conventional oven/stovetop, and more compartments and drawers to keep knick-knacks in than most houses have. A small refrigerator was conveniently set in the side of the counter. Kagome opened it to find a number of sodas, some beer, and a few bottles of wine. She sighed and shut the door of the fridge with a soft shlufp.

"What's with the alcohol? I thought you didn't drink? Or is it…for us?" she added as a side note. He whipped his head around and looked at her in a disgusted way.

"Of course I didn't get it for us! You have a boyfriend, Kagome, and even if you didn't I wouldn't be interested!" She crossed her arms in a huffy way.

"Gee, thanks for the encouragement. So whose is it?"

"Its Sesshomaru's," he stated and turned back to the closet.

"Sesshomaru's?" Kagome repeated.

"Yeah. This is really his yacht, but I steal it for the weekend sometimes. Don't worry," he interjected when he saw the look on her face. "He might be an emotionally-stunted prick, but he doesn't mind me taking it."

"You really love your brother, don't you?" She spat sarcastically.

"Let's just say he didn't fulfill his brotherly duties when we were growing up," he growled. Kagome decided that it was time to shut up and went back to exploring.

She opened a door to her right. It was the bathroom, and everything in it was pristinely clean. Another door with frosted glass was, as Kagome suspected, the shower. A toilet sat next to the bathroom counter. The sink was chrome and shined in the cabin light. A mirrored medicine cabinet hung on the wall and a rectangular porthole was built over the counter. It had blue curtains to match the towels and everything else on the boat. She flipped off the light and stepped off of the white tile and onto the grey carpet.

Inu Yasha found what he was searching for and tossed it to Kagome. It was a strange, high-tech life jacket. It was blue, of course, and had a plastic box inside of it at one of the ends. It was shaped like an extremely skinny horseshoe and was about as wide around as a coffee cup.

"What's this?" She asked, even though she knew what it was.

"It's a lifejacket. You just slip it around your shoulders and it hooks in the front. It's a new kind that inflates when it gets really wet. You can keep it in your berth for now." He tossed his lifejacket on his bed and began to shove the clutter he took out back into the closet. `No wonder it's so small,' Kagome thought. `I just assumed that it was for a kid, or something.' She opened her berth door and set the lifejacket on her silk sheets. When she closed the door, she sat down and noticed that Inu Yasha had managed to refill the closet with the aforementioned bric-a-brac. He flopped down on the couch opposite her and turned his head towards her.

"Well, seeing as it's your first day here, we'll take it easy." Kagome frowned.

"You mean we're not going to do anything?!"

"Of course we're going to do things; we're just not going to go sailing today. What would you like to…?" He stopped and became oddly nervous. She cocked her head and stared at him.

"What's wrong?" She asked. The hanyou jumped up and ran to his berth. He opened the door with a loud slam and dove frantically into his duffle bag. Finally, he pulled out his Pocket PC. When he opened up its calendar, his golden eyes widened.

"Damn it…" he muttered as he turned his hand-held off and shoved it back into his bag.

"What? What is it?" Kagome was thoroughly unnerved now. He sighed and looked at the floor.

"It's a new moon tonight."

~*~*~*~

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN `THE ELEVATOR'S BROKEN'?!" Sango yelled into the emergency phone inside the mirrored cell. A small voice crackled into the earpiece.

"There was a bit of an electrical problem, ma'am. All of the elevators will be down for a few hours. Please stay calm and don't call again unless it's an emergency." The man hung up and Sango slammed the phone down on its holder. She began to rub her temples and sat down next to Miroku on the grotesque paisley carpet. He sighed and looked wistfully at the ceiling.

"Looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while, so we might as well make the best of it!" He slipped his arm around her waist and scooted her closer to him. She slapped him across the face and scrambled over to the farthest corner of the ten by eight torture chamber. Miroku rubbed his face and glared at her.

"Just trying to be friendly," he muttered. She snorted and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You just stay on your side of the elevator and we'll be fine, capisce?" She hugged her knees and looked at the floor. He stopped rubbing his cheek.

"Fine, fine: I promise that I won't touch you again without your consent. There, happy?! Now chill out. We're going to be here for a while and we'd better learn to get along." Sango's expression softened and she relaxed.

"Promise to behave?"

"Yes, you have my word."

"You swear?"

"Yes."

"You swear on the Holy Book not to touch me without my consent?"

"YES! Yes, damn it, I do!" She smirked at his anger and untied her hair. When she shook her head, her chocolaty locks puffed out and fanned behind her head. With her hair down, and being in that skimpy black party dress, Miroku hated himself for swearing not to touch her. He bit his tongue and looked at his feet.

"Well, what should we do? We're going to be here for a while." Sango stated. `I can think of a few things to do, but after that promise…' Miroku thought and inwardly kicked himself.

"Oh! I know!" Sango dug through her handbag and pulled out a deck of cards.

"What? We're going to play strip po-I mean-go fish?" Miroku asked. Sango glared at him and began to shuffle.

"We can play anything that isn't dirty," she said.

"Why do you keep cards in your purse?" he queried.

"In case something like this happens. I'm a city girl, and sometimes things in the city take a while. To keep myself entertained, I always carry a deck of cards in my purse. So, what do you want to play?" She stopped shuffling and had him cut the deck.

"How about rummy?" he mumbled half-heartedly. He put the other half of the deck on top and handed it to her. She took it and began dealing the cards. The rest of their night was spent playing different card games and telling stories. They laughed at some of the embarrassing family moments they've had, and Sango told him of a worse situation than the one they were in now.

"So there I was, on this broken down ski lift, sitting next to the most annoying human on the planet …" she paused to give it a dramatic effect, "…for seven hours." Miroku cringed and smiled as he shuffled.

"Ouch! Now that had to be Hell." Sango laughed and picked up her cards.

"Yeah, it was," she muttered as she looked at her hand. She yawned and stretched. Miroku organized his hand and looked at her from over top of his cards.

"You look tired," he stated and put down a card. Sango yawned again and took the card he set down.

"I kinda am, but I'll be alright." He glanced down at his watch and stared at her.

"It's almost two in the morning and we have to be at the studio in less than six hours. I really think we should sleep." Sango collected up the cards and put them back in their pack. She crawled over to her side of the elevator and put the cards away. After kicking off her high heeled shoes, she turned to face the wall and lied down.

"G'night Miroku," she sighed. He, too, took off his sneakers and put his back to the wall. It was quiet for a while. He watched her breathing steadily, but she hadn't fallen asleep. After a few more minutes of intense silence she began to shiver.

"You know," he said placidly, "if we sleep closer together, we'll be warmer. I'm not trying to get anything from you by it. It's a fact that humans emit large amounts of body heat and-" Sango got up and slumped over to him. She fell down next to him and faced the opposite way.

"Fine, whatever, just shut up." He nodded to her and closed his eyes. His back was still to the wall, but he didn't want to lie down. It would not be appropriate for both he and Sango to be on the floor together.

"Sango?" He chirped.

"Hm?"

"Out of all the people in the world I could be stuck in an elevator with, I'm glad I'm stuck with you." `Awww…That was so sweet. Maybe…' Sango thought to herself, and then decided.

"Why don't you lie down? You can't sleep sitting up." He hesitated.

"Are you sure? I don't want to invade your personal space." She smiled at him and he took it for a `yes'. He slid down the wall and onto his back. Sighing, he closed his eyes.

"Thank you. This was the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Miroku, all we did was play cards. You could play cards with anyone."

"Yes, but anyone isn't you." She bit her lip and scrunched up her nose. `Oh, sanity be damned,' she thought as she slipped her arms around him. He jumped a bit at the surprise of her putting her head on his chest.

"I thought you didn't want me to touch you," he said. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I touched you first. It's a completely different ball game now." He smiled and they snuggled down for the night.

~*~*~*~

"So what about it?" Kagome asked, crossing her arms. Inu Yasha stared at her in an exasperated way.

"It's the new moon tonight! On the new moon, I…I become human." Her expression softened and her hands fell to her side.

"Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't know. Well…" She thought for a minute as he paced the floor. She suddenly had an idea.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! This is perfect!" He stopped and looked at her.

"WHAT?! How is this perfect?!" He asked.

"Now we can go out tonight and no one will know that it's you! We won't be mauled by thousands of girls when we're out!" He shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders.

"What do you mean `when we go out tonight'?" His voice had a hint of nervousness on it. She shrugged off his hands and backed up a pace.

"I mean that we'll wait for the moon to come up and then we'll go to dinner, or something."

"You mean, like a date?" He asked. Kagome's face contorted in disgust and she slapped him.

"OF COURSE NOT! Augh! How could you say that?!" He put a hand over the red mark on his cheek and glared at her.

"Well by how you were talking I assumed that you meant `going out' as in a date! I was going to tell you off, but you slapped me before I could!" She crossed her arms and realized something.

"Um…Inu Yasha?" She said meekly.

"What?!" He barked, rubbing his face. She looked at her feet sheepishly.

"I, um, don't have anything to wear. And I don't have a toothbrush or anything." He scowled and opened up his wallet.

"Here," he said simply and tossed her his credit card. She caught it and stared at him in shock.

"What?"

"Go get yourself something." Her eyebrows disappeared into her hair when she heard that.

"Are you serious?" He was beginning to grow impatient with her.

"Yes, I am. Go get yourself something. Now." She scuttled up the stairs and glanced back at him.

"You're not coming?" She asked.

"Do I look stupid? You're going clothes shopping by yourself. Not only do I not want to wait while you try on everything, but the shops you go into are bound to be crawling with women. They'll recognize me and we won't get a thing accomplished. Here are the keys to the dock's door so you can come back in. Now go before I take my card back!" He shoved her out onto the deck and put the slats up, creating the hatch door once again. Kagome pocketed the precious plastic and hopped down onto the dock. `Now where do I go first?' She thought. Smiling, she headed up the gangplank and out onto Pier 39.

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Chihiro-san: Howdy-hey everyone! I didn't mean to be so cruel with the whole "Sesshomaru being an emotionally stunted prick" thing. I really do think that he's a good character, but in my story he is a…well…you get the idea. I'm sorry for those of you who like this story (those precious few), but I don't know how much I'll be able to write over the next week. It's Turkey Hols (Thanksgiving Break), and I'm heading to the mountains with a bunch of loons who claim that they're related to me. I'll try to write, but I don't know if I can. Happy Thanksgiving one and all!