Enchanted
By: Rasberry Kiss

Disclaimer: alas..no..I do not own the most kawaii Inuyasha. ::sigh::.how do I manage to live?!

PROLOGUE:

Kagome took another long drag from her cigarette and dropped it into her mother's beer bottle. She figured that would be a nice little test for how drunk Aika was --see if she would swallow a butt whole.
They were up on stage still, Aika and Seiji and the rest of "Drowned World". It had been a bad set, and seeing them break down the equipment, she could tell that they knew it too. It didn't really matter, the sound system was loud and scratchy and everyone had kept boozing and smoking and shouting so she doubted the manager really cared.

Some people had even started dancing.

The barkeep sneered at her again and offered her a drink "on the house".

"Water." Kagome smirked, brushing back her ragged ebony hair, and pocketing a couple of matchboxes when his back was turned.

Then her mother was next to her, taking a deep dreg of the beer before sputtering it all over the bar.

Kagome couldn't help the laughter that escaped her mouth. Aika looked at her with confusion and disbelief.

"Go help Seiji with the equipment, Kagome." Aika sighed, her voice hoarse and raspy from singing. She was smoothing her sweaty hair back from her face. Her lipstick was rubbed off the inside of her lips onto one of her cheeks, almost in a Robert Smith tribute.

Kagome thought she looked a little tired.

She jumped off the stool and climbed the stairs, that lead onto the stage. She started to pick up the stuff randomly, not really taking any notice as to what instrument belonged to who. She noticed Seiji was frowning at her, so she stuck to what was her mother's, rolling her eyes discreetly. She glanced at him again and saw that his eyes were slightly glazed over. "Hey, you got any yen on you?"
Kagome nodded and took out 20 yen. She had a little more, and he probably knew it -- She'd come straight from Fei Ming's Take-out. Delivering Chinese food might pay shit, but she still got paid more doing that than she would say.being in a band..

He took the yen and ambled off to the bar, probably getting some drinks to take with them.

Kagome picked up Aika's stuff and started dragging it through the crowd. People mostly moved out of her way. The moist autumn breeze outside the bar was a soft, a quiet relief, even stinking as it was with iron, exhaust fumes and different bits and particles of pollution here and there.

It took her a few minutes to get the van loaded up. She skipped back inside, intent on getting her mother in the van before someone smashed open a window and skived off with the equipment or an instrument. You couldn't leave anything just sitting in a car in the more dodgy part of Tokyo anymore. The last time Aika's van had been broken into, they'd taken only a bottle of shampoo and an old sweater.

The boy checking ID's stared at her longer this time, but didn't say anything. It was pretty late, almost last call. Aika was still sitting at the bar, dragging on a cigarette and chugging down something that looked to Kagome, something stronger than just beer. Seiji was talking to a guy with long, wavy black hair. The man looked out of place in the bar, he was nicely dressed, but Seiji was talking animatedly with him. She happened to catch a glance from the man. His eyes were a pool of black, reflecting brightly in the darkened bar. Kagome shuddered.

But then again, Kagome saw odd things like this all the time. She had learned to overlook them.

"Van's all ready to go." Kagome told her mother.

Aika nodded, not attempting to listen. "uh..can I have a cig sweetheart?"

Kagome unzippered her bag and handed a cigarette and lighter to her mother.

Her mother bent into the lighter and Kagome caught a whiff of whiskey and sweat, which seemed to linger frequently on her. After the cigarette was properly lit, her mother took a long drag.

"Ready to go, guys?" Seiji asked, Kagome jumped. nearly having a heart attack. It wasn't that she hadn't sensed his presence behind her, his voice seemed especially silky. Almost as if, he wasn't just doing it out of normalcy, as if he was purposely trying to hide a the real emotion in his real voice.

Aika's drunkenness caused her not to notice this. She guzzled down the last drop of her drink and got up, putting her cigarette out in the ash tray. " yeah.lets get the hell outta here."

A short moment later, Seiji lifted his arm, as though he were going to punch Aika in the back. Kagome acted without realizing why, crashing into the side of him. Causing him to lose his balance, and topple to the ground, while she steadied herself on a bar stool. She noticed the knife go ricocheting away just as he fell onto the floor.

Seiji's eyes seemed to lose focus, devoid of any emotion at all. His pupils were dilated and his mouth was slightly open, taking short breathes.

Ryoko, Drowned World's bassist, grabbed Seiji's wrist. Seiji had enough time to slap-punch Ryoko in the face before attempting to run out of the bar, before the bar tender and a few other men pinned him to the ground and called the police.

By the time the police were there however, Seiji had recovered his senses, and hadn't remembered anything that had happened. He was furious, screaming and cursing at anyone - Aika, Kagome herself, different members of the band.

The police decided it would be best if they drove Kagome and Aika to their apartment. Once they got home, Aika told Kagome to pack up her clothes and any belongings she wanted to take with her.

Kagome grabbed any clothes she could, shoving them into old plastic trash bags. Aika was on the phone, hysterically crying to anyone who would listen, and allow them a place to stay.

"Sweet heart," Aika sighed, "We're.going to have to crash at ojiichan's ."

"Did you just call him?" Kagome asked sleepily, meanwhile trying to place her cure records safely inside her trash bag. They hadn't seen ojiichan in at least 10 years. He lived in Hokkaido, and it was too far a drive for the two women in their dilapidated van.

"Yes...I had woken him up and he's not very happy.."

Kagome couldn't recall the last time her mother looked so drained and tired. "It'll only be for a couple of months, oh and you can visit that little friend of yours.whats her name again?" "Sango.mom." Kagome rolled her eyes. She had hoped especially that her mom hadn't been referring to her about the youkai crap again. She wouldn't have been too happy to hear yet another story about her cute little imaginary youkai friends. "The one you, uh, write and email right?" She inhaled off her half finished cigarette and threw her remaining pack into her pocket book.

Kagome walked into the kitchen and got out a soda. She was actually half excited to be going to see Sango again. 'Gods.' she thought sulkily, and rolled her eyes. 'ojiichan..oh fucking great.'