IMPORTANT: Okay before you read, this is not really and update…

A/N: Hello all, okay so I've re-posted all the old chapters of MM with corrections and a few changes here and there with the plot line. The changes are probably very discreet and I haven't really altered the plot line…I think. But I've finally got some good ideas for the story and chapter 10 will be posted tomorrow hopefully.

Chapter 1: The Ups and Downs

Every time the clock ticked Inuyasha had another impulse to knock it down.

Tick…tick… tick…

"Oh the hell with it!" He grumbled striking out and making it fall down to the pale green carpeted floor with a nice, loud clatter.

Everyone in the waiting room turned to look in his direction and the nurse at the front desk cleared her throat irritably while giving him a pointed look. Inuyasha just got up grabbing his black coat from the cushioned seat beside him and stalked into the gleaming white halls of the hospital.

It was taking too long, what the hell was happening?

Inuyasha sighed and leaned against the wall, quickly shoving his hands into his pockets. It was too cold in here why would anyone turn on the air conditioning full blast in a hospital, wouldn't that make people more sick?

He shook his head of the trailing thoughts. Even at an important time such as this, he could notice every little thing, as if it were any other day. But, it wasn't.

It took one call, just one measly call from the hospital, to make him leave work and run all the way here like his own mother had been the one that had gotten hurt. But then again, Kikyo did scold him and nag at him like he was a three-year-old.

And then again, it didn't matter if he left work, after all the person he was working for had just been in an accident. A car accident.

Inuyasha turned his eyes back to the waiting room when he heard the clicking of the nurse's heels on the tiled floor.

"Mr. Inuyasha?" She asked not lifting her eyes from the clipboard to see him.

"Yeah?" Inuyasha asked. Finally, after waiting for almost two hours, he'd get to see Kikyo.

"I think you'd be happy to know that Miss Kikyo is absolutely fine." The nurse said giving him a flat look. "I can tell by the way you knocked down my clock… but there is still a small problem."

Inuyasha rose an eyebrow, waiting for her to tell him what the hell she was talking about. The nurse just told him that everything was fine, Kikyo was all right and now she was saying that there was a problem. Great, just what he needed. Another 'small' problem to add to his list.

"What is it? What happened?" He asked.

"She broke her leg and she won't be going around anywhere soon. It's not too bad, the doctor has put it in a cast and it should be off in hm… about two to three weeks. After that she'll need some bed rest. I don't suppose she's broken her leg before but it's going to take a while for her to be up and going. The doctor thinks she was very lucky to-"

"Where is she? I need to see her." Inuyasha cut in. The nurse talked too much and she would have kept going on and on if he hadn't interrupted her. But he really did need to see Kikyo; he had to talk to her. This was all her fault, if she hadn't suggested getting a driving license than that idiot drunk wouldn't have crashed into her.

She shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry, she said she didn't want to be disturbed. I think she wanted to catch up on her beauty sleep." The nurse chuckled at her own little joke and murmured, "Ah, Kikyo Kinto-Japan's famous model- and beauty sleep…I am getting better these days."

"But I'm her agent!" Inuyasha cried, ignoring the nurse's lame attempt at a joke. "I need to talk to her!"

"Sorry Mr. Inuyasha, but you could talk to the doctor if you'd like. Someone around here has to pay the bill."

The nurse walked out, leaving Inuyasha alone in the eerily empty hallway. The fluorescent lights were too bright and they were reflecting off the white walls and making the hall all the more brighter.

Inuyasha cursed to himself, and ran a hand though his tousled hair. "I should get a different job." He muttered darkly.

Being agent for a model did have its perks- like getting an abnormally high salary- but there were more downs than ups in this particular career.

Almost everyday he'd be working late hours, trying to set up meetings with the high-class advertisement facilities, booking a different skilled photographer for every week, paying the bills, handing out pay checks to his staff…the list could go on.

And by next week, he'd have to get Kikyo ready for her interview with Mike Claire, the producer for the 'Strung High' fashion show. He personally wanted to talk to Kikyo, as in a 'get to know you' kind of thing but Inuyasha knew better. It was probably because he wanted to check her out himself, if he liked her he'd invite her to his private suite in Kyoto for an all nighter. Inuyasha knew this because the man had done it a couple times before with his previous models. But anyway, after the interview (not much hassle there) Kikyo would have a photo session with Claire and then the next week she'd be in his fashion show, out on the catwalk.

He had a lot to do this week, with so much work he wouldn't be bale to do anything else. But shit, how was he supposed to do all that when Kikyo had a broken leg!

If Kikyo couldn't get into the fashion show, she wouldn't get paid, if Kikyo didn't get paid, then Inuyasha wouldn't get paid…thus leading to a very stressed out hanyou.

Inuyasha heaved another frustrated sigh and flicked his cell phone open.

"Hey, Miroku?" He said into the phone.

"Yeah, what's up Inuyasha?" the voice on the other end answered. Miroku was one of the staff members that Inuyasha had to hand out the checks to.

"I'm in the hospital, Kikyo broke her leg."

"You're kidding right Inuyasha? Kikyo broke her leg?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes heaven ward. What the hell was wrong with everyone?

"Yes, that's what I just said, no? Anyway, I needed you to come over and pay the hospital bill then stay a while to check on Kikyo and have a chat with her doctor. He says she can't get out of bed for about a month, but see if we can change that okay?"

"Yeah, sure…but Kikyo actually broke her leg?" Miroku tried again.

"Miroku!"

"Sorry, sorry. It's just hard to believe. I'll meet you there okay?" Inuyasha shook his head and looked around the hospital again.

"Actually, I'll be gone before you're here. I've never really been fond of hospitals before."

"Scared of some big, bad needles aren't we, Inuyasha?" Came Miroku's teasing voice as the young man tried to stifle his laugh. Inuyasha glared at the phone, before deciding to not answer him and quickly flipped the phone shut.

How disrespectful his staff was getting these days, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Giving a quick nod to the nurse at the desk he strode out ducking his head against the sharp blow of the October wind.

Walking past all the EMERGENCY paramedic vehicles, Inuyasha got to the parking lot and took out his keys to his car. It wasn't a very fancy one, not like his brothers countless many, but it did do the trick and it saved him from walking to work everyday.

But as soon as he put the key in the ignition and tried starting up the car, he changed his thoughts. Maybe he would be walking home today after all, the engine wasn't starting up. Inuyasha brought his fist down hard on the dashboard, and the engine whirred to life. Now this was another one of his 'small' problems. He'd just have to get a mechanic to look at it sometime tomorrow- if it was possible- with Kikyo and her injured foot he'd have a lot more work to do and that could possibly involve trying to persuade Mark Claire to postpone his interview and photo session with Kikyo.

As soon as he'd reach home, Inuyasha decided; he'd surf the internet and have a little look.

He was so getting a different job…

"-and the winner for this years talent show is…Kagome Higurashi!"

The said girl was standing in the spotlight, her brown eyes wide with shock and her mouth opening and closing as if she were trying to form words but nothing would come out. The announcer was standing on the stage beaming and gesturing to Kagome to get up on the stage as well.

Kagome Higurashi wasn't moving from her previous position, her mouth was still moving wordlessly like a gold fish. It was simple, she was shocked.

Someone's hand squeezed her shoulder and Kagome turned around to see Sango standing beside her with an encouraging smile.

"I knew it Kagome! I knew you'd win!" Sango was saying. The older girl pulled Kagome out of her trance by taking her arm and leading her through the crowd of high school students and onto the stage.

"Come on Kagome, you're going to have to say something." Sango said smiling once again. She gently guided Kagome to the stairs helping her climb them. The stage lights were a blinding white and they made Kagome feel as if she was in a dream. And maybe she was. This definitely could not be happening; she had just won the talent show, something she'd been striving for the whole year. And now she'd done it.

Suddenly realizing what just happened, Kagome broke out of her reverie with a big smile. She'd done it- she'd set her goals and she'd reached them. The talent show at her school was no ordinary one. The students at her school were all very competitive nto to mention skilled in many different areas. To win the talent show was an honour.

Ah, mom is going to be so proud…

The announcer greeted her with a hug and a handshake then handed Kagome her glass trophy.

"Kagome Higurashi, you've shown the judges and our wonderful audience a spectacular performance that everyone loved. Your performance was rewarded with this years Furi Daiya Talent Show trophy. Would you like to share a few words?"

Kagome nodded dumbly not knowing what else to do. The announcer placed the mike into her hands and took a step back.

"Um, good afternoon everyone as you all know now my name is Kagome Higurashi." She said blushing slightly. "This is my third year trying out for the Furi Daiya girls Talent Show and I'm really glad I won." Kagome nervously wrung her hands in her purple dress as she talked. Talking into a mike in front of this many people had never been one thing she was used to.

"I really don't know what more to say, I mean I've been dancing for years and all those years I knew dancing was my life-I'm just glad I got to share it with everyone today." She stopped and there was a silence around the whole room as everyone took in what the girl had just said but it didn't last long for the room suddenly broke into applause.

Kagome blushed again as she took a small bow then turned to the announcer giving a polite thank you. She walked down the stairs of the stage and through the crowd of students who were still applauding and cheering her on.

"Good job Kagome!" someone called out to her.

"You were awesome!" a couple people said patting her on the back.

"I knew you'd be the winner!"

Kagome was all taking it with a smile, but inside she was hopping around and shouting out with glee. She'd never gotten this much attention before. She was just so proud of herself.

Sango appeared in the crowd and led Kagome away to the sidelines. There she gave the girl a hug.

"I'm so happy for you Kagome!" She cried patting her on the back.

"Thanks Sango, if it wasn't for you I'd still be standing like a brick wall when they'd called me onto the stage." Kagome said with a laugh.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." Sango said grabbing a drink from the punch table. The talent show was over and the audience was slowly dwindling out of the room, eager to get back to their day of no school.

"I'm glad Miss Shinto let the school have a day off, because now we can celebrate!" Sango grinned. Kagome grinned back at her friend. Sango and her had met at the starting of the school year and had instantly clicked. Sango had just moved into the area and was new to the school so Kagome made it her job to show Sango around the Furi Daiya girl's high school.

"I know this great little fancy Italian restaurant so let's go there, it'll be my treat!" Sango said grabbing Kagome's hand and leading her to the auditorium doors.

"Hey, wait a second!" Kagome said stopping Sango in her tracks. "I'm the one who won, so it's my treat."

Sango shook her head giving Kagome a wry smile. "And I'm the good friend, so it's my treat. And that's final, okay?"

Kagome gave a defeated sigh and shook her head. The two girls proceeded out of the gym doors and out into the schools halls.

"Hold on a sec," Sango said walking right, down the hallway. "I just have to get my purse from my locker and then we'll go."

"Sure," Kagome said, "I'm right behind you." Both the girls stopped at Sango's locker and Kagome waited as Sango spun the dial for her locker combo.

"Kagome, Higurashi Kagome!" A female voice called out from behind them. Kagome and Sango both turned to look at who it was. A short lady with curly hair was walking towards them her mouth fixed into a big smile, showing off her perfect teeth.

"Uh, how can I help you?" Kagome asked uncertainly as the woman stopped beside them.

"Hi," The woman said grabbing Kagome hand and shaking it warmly. "My name is Yukoto and I was one of the judges in today's show."

Kagome's face broke into surprise. "Really? You were one of the judges today?"

The woman nodded her head making her short curls bob up and down.

"Yes and I just wanted to tell you that you put on one amazing show."

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it." Kagome gushed, her cheeks going red.

"In fact," The woman began again pulling a card out of her pocket. " I liked it so much that I wanted to ask you if you'd like to join our dance school in Kyoto." The woman took out a pen too and scribbled down her number on the back of it.

"I want you to think about it and then give me a call, I'm really hoping you'll give it a try though. Our academy could use someone as talented as you."

"What?" Kagome gasped. She was still hanging on to the fact that she was talking to one of the judges, and now she was being given a once-in-a life time offer! How could she possibly form words at this time?

Luckily for her, Sango dove in for the rescue again.

"Kagome's just a little tired and the dancing's just got to her head, I'm sure she means that she'll take you up on your offer…" Sango said elbowing Kagome slightly in the ribs. "Won't you Kagome?"

Kagome, getting her wits back, took the card from Yukoto, hesitating a little.

"Um, just let me think about it and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Kagome said. "I'll have to talk it out with my mother and-"

"No, No," Yukoto said cutting Kagome off. "I understand completely. You talk with your mother and then we can all sit down to discuss it when you've come to an agreement."

"Thank you so much." Kagome said again, clutching the card tightly in her hands. This was it; her future depended on this.

"It's my pleasure." Yukoto said beaming again. "I'll be going now, see you girls later, oh and Kagome don't forget to call." She turned and walked down the hallway before giving Kagome and Sango a final wave.

When Yukoto was gone and out of their sight, Sango turned on Kagome with an angry look.

"Kagome what is wrong with you?" Kagome turned away from her friend and began walking the opposite way down the hall to the main doors.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked meekly and walked on.

Sango grabbed her purse from her locker, closed it and quickly ran to catch up to Kagome.

"You know what I mean! Why didn't you just say yes on the spot? That was your big chance, Kagome!"

"Because I still have to talk to my mom about this, exactly what I told Yukoto."

Sango grabbed Kagome's hand making Kagome halt to a stop.

"I know that your mother would've wanted you to say yes and you know it too, so what's the big problem? Don't you want to go?" Sango demanded.

Kagome whirled on Sango. Of course she wanted to go, of course she wanted to make dancing her life, of course she wanted to be one of the best! But that wasn't all there was to it…

"Yes I do want to go, Sango! I've been waiting for this kind of thing my whole life. But I can't, even if my mom wanted me to go I know we wouldn't have the money for all of it. The Kyoto Dance Academy is the most expensive dance school in Japan! And in my house, my mom has barely enough to put food on the table."

Kagome sighed putting her head in her hands. "It's just not possible."

Sango feeling sympathetic for her friend put an arm around her comfortingly.

"Hey, we'll think of something. There has to be a way we can solve this. May be you can get a job or something…"

Kagome glance up at Sango, giving her a watery smile.

"Sango, don't you remember? I already have a job, flipping burgers that is."

Sango laughed lightly. "Oh, my bad. But still, don't worry I know we'll work something out. And hey! Weren't we supposed to be on our way to a celebration dinner? And here we are wasting precious time. Come on let's get there quick, those fancy restaurants don't stay open forever you know!"

Kagome couldn't resist but smiling. It was great to have a friend like Sango.

Inuyasha kicked the side of his car again, but to no avail. Well obviously, he thought to himself, what exactly did he expect from a cheap bought car?

Inuyasha muttered a curse to himself, then perched grudgingly on the hood of the car. He had already called for a tow truck half an hour ago and he was still left waiting. His car had gone on fine for all of ten minutes, after that it had dwindled to a stop. The engine was screwed and he didn't know much about cars in the first place to try fixing it on the spot by himself.

A few more minutes passed by and by then Inuyasha was getting annoyed, where the hell was his tow truck? He flicked open his cell, ready to call the tow truck driver and give him a few choice words, when a vehicle pulled up next to his parked one.

Ah, well finally his tow truck had arrived.

A well built man, about in his forties hopped out of the truck and walked over to Inuyasha.

"You're the guy that needed his car picked up, am I right?" the man asked. His voice was a hoarse and gruff, which made it hard to understand him. It was probably from years of smoking, Inuyasha thought.

"Yeah, I am, unless you see any other people hanging around with a busted car, spending their time doing absolutely nothing." Inuyasha said apathetically.

"So, You're a sarcastic one are ya'?" The man asked crossing his arms over his muscled, broad chest.

Inuyasha sighed and smirked although he was in no mood for it, it had just become a habit in his life. "Yeah. And I'm also an impatient one, could you hurry up and tow my car or are we gonna chat and waste more time."

"I'm not here to tow your car kid." The man said glaring at Inuyasha for what he'd said earlier.

"I just came to tell you that I got some other business to take care of at home, so you'll have to call up someone else."

"Excuse me, but I've been waiting here for thirty damn minutes! I have to get home and I'm not going to hitch a ride."

"Fine kid," the man said taking out a cell phone from his oily jeans pocket. "I'll call up one of my pals to do it, but it'll take ya' another thirty minutes."

"Well, then forget about it." Inuyasha said. "I might as well take the subway."

"Okay then kid. The subway station is just up the street. Take a right, past the small convenience store." The man said getting into his truck and backing out of the empty lot.

Inuyasha locked up his car securely. He'd leave it here for now and then get it on his way to work next morning. He just hoped none of those gang kids would spot it, he was in no place to have his insurance increased.

Locking the last door of his car, Inuyasha looked around him. Now there was only the task of getting to the subway. And that meant walking...

"What are you ordering?" Sango asked Kagome from behind her menu. "I'm getting the mozzarella lasagna with the lamb meatballs and spaghetti, I've only tried it once but it's pretty good."

Kagome bit her lip in concentration. She could barely read any of the Italian dishes, they all had such weird names. Kagome put her menu back down on the table in frustration.

"Umm, I'll just have a pepperoni pizza." She said in defeat. Sango looked up and laughed out loud at her, drawing attention from some of the other people seated in the restaurant.

"Kagome, I don't think they serve just pepperoni pizza here."

Kagome smiled sheepishly. "Yeah I know, but I haven't tried anything Italian other than pasta, and that makes me sick."

"Okay then, I'll choose for you." Sango said as she picked up her menu again.

"It better me something I can digest," Kagome said making a face. "Some of this stuff looks gross."

"Fine then. You like rice right? So I'll get you the vegetable and shellfish rice dish…oh and you'll really like the grissini. It's these really thin breadsticks and they taste great with some dip. And there's little bite size sausages shaped into squids."

Kagome looked on at Sango, who was still concentrating on the menu.

"Sango?" Kagome said quietly, her hand was playing idly with one of the roses that were set onto the tables. Kagome's mind had gone back to the talk with the talent show judge, and she was still musing over it.

"Hm?" Sango looked up from the menu again, looking expectantly at Kagome.

"What is it Kagome? Do you want something else with your grissini?"

Kagome quickly shook her head. "No, no it's not that. I..I just, well I feel really weird."

"About the grissini?" Sango questioned, raising an eyebrow. Kagome rolled her eyes giving Sango an exasperated look.

"Could we forget about the grissini?"

Sango smiled sheepishly pushing the menu away from her.

"Okay, okay, I'm listening. So, you're uh feeling weird, huh? About what?"

"I don't know, I guess it's about Yukoto and her offer. I mean I know I won't be able to go, no matter how many jobs I try to get, I know it's not going to work. But… there's this little part of me that knows that it's not possible, but it still wants to do anything to get into that school and there's no-"

Sango interrupted Kagome's heartfelt confession by chuckling softly. "Kagome," She began, "That little part of you is called hope. And you know what? You shouldn't give up, this is your one big chance and now way in hell am I going to let a girl with this much talent go to waste."

"Thanks Sango," Kagome said. "But what about my mom? I don't think I should tell her about this though. I know she'll just feel bad that I got such a good offer and she wasn't able to support it. And it's not even her fault, she's a single mother, she has to work full time to provide food and clothing for Souta and me. Plus grandpa is in the hospital and his bills aren't helping at all."

"Come on Kagome, where's that positive thinking girl that I met before huh? You have to tell your mom, she'll be so proud of you. And if there's well, money problems…you know I could always lend you a hand, maybe loan you some money, you know…" Sango trailed off when she saw the angry look her friend was directing at her.

"What?" She asked pretending innocence.

"No way." Kagome said folding her hands over her chest and leaning back in her chair. "Sango I am not taking money from you."

"Why not?" Sango asked upsetly, throwing her hands up in the air. Again, the people around their table shot each other troubled looks. Sango folded her hands in her lap, trying hard to keep them there.

"Why not Kagome?" she repeated herself, keeping her voice just above a whisper this time. "You're my best friend and good friends always loan each other money."

"Yeah friends loan each other money maybe to buy a burger or to go shopping or even to treat them to a dinner, but this is different Sango! We're talking about a lot of money and I don't want to take it from you!"

Sango was taken a bit back from Kagome's angry response. She knew that Kagome wasn't the type of person to take money from anyone, even if it was one of her closest friends, but she had just wanted to help. She knew what Kagome could do if she was just given the chance.

Sango's family had a lot of handy money and Sango didn't mind lending Kagome some just to get her going. After all, she'd already be going into the one of the colleges that her father was paying for. It was no problem.

Kagome herself had realized that what she'd said was a bit more than harsh, just as the words had left her mouth.

"Sango, I'm sorry…" Kagome said softly. "I just don't want you to loan me any money, I mean I would take it, if I could give it all back but I'm not even sure about that."

"It's okay." Sango said. "But are you sure that you don't need anything? You know, I'm always here for you."

"Yes I'm sure Sango. Now let's get back to our food…"

"Sango excitedly picked up her menu again. "Great, so what were you having again?"

Review would be wonderful, but thanks for reading!