Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.
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Drawing Flowers
"Damn you Totosai!" she mumbled under her breath once again.
This was not what she thought that being a Tattoo artist in training would mean. It was the third place Totosai had sent her to practice her drawing. The first had been the zoo, the second had been the park, and now a flower shop.
Kagome thought it was pointless practice. What could she learn there that hadn't been learnt on the other two assignment. Until that very morning she thought her mentor was going to finally let her work on stencils, finally practice tattooing, but no. Now she had to draw flowers.
After learning animal texture, movements, and light in her other assignments, what was she supposed to learn from this? Flowers were not her style.
The sign in front of her read 'Petal Pushers' and she smiled at the name. It was an unique name, and she hoped this also became an unique experience. Why did she sounded sarcastic even in her head?
As soon as she opened the door she was assaulted by the colourful surroundings. She blinked at the beautiful hues she could see.
Her eyes danced around looking for the reason of the kaleidoscopic effect. Soon she found herself staring at the ceiling, that had a few skylight with soft colors, some of them clear, others blue and some others pink or yellow.
A raspy voice sounded behind her. "It's really special, right?" She turned to find an old and really short man talking to her with a soft smile on his face, "When he told me he wanted to do that to the ceiling I wasn't convinced but I let him do it because he was doing it for free." The man gave her a crooked smile with mischievous eyes, that Kagome couldn't help to answer with a smile of her own.
"And what is a cute young woman doing in my shop?" He said affably.
Kagome hurriedly bowed before the elder. "I am Totosai's newest apprentice, Kagome. And he told me I was supposed to come here as part of my training... I guess I'm supposed to draw flowers," she finished not quite sure about what to say, Totosai hadn't been clear about it.
The old demon had said, "Go to this store and tell the owner I sent you, draw as much as you can and show me your improvement when you feel like it." He handed her a piece of paper and went to rest at the back shouting, "After you finish that training you can come back here".
Now, the other elder was eyeing her intently, as if by staring at her long enough he would be able to answer his unspoken question. Meanwhile she was trying not to fidget.
"Alright, you can stay," he said with a comforting smile, "just don't listen to him and try not to fight him too much... He ruins the flowers when he is angry..."
The man turned around waving his hand over his shoulder as he walked to the entrance. "Stay as long as you want today, tomorrow you can sit on the table by the corner. Close the shop when you are done and don't take any orders. The keys are on the counter. See you in a few days."
And that was it, he flipped the sign on the door and disappeared.
By the time Kagome understood everything he said, he was gone.
"What a weird man..." she said under her breath.
He was weird but she supposed that any friend of Totosai must be strange to say the least.
She walked around the shop, stopping in front of each kind of flower enough to smell them and touch them. Paying close attention on their texture and how they captured the light. Smiling at how the colors seemed to change as she moved them around in her hands thanks to the colored glass on the ceiling.
Deciding she was going to start with the chinese bellflower, Kagome took the keys and closed the door. Thinking that maybe this was not such a waste of time.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The sun was bright and the day was comfortably warm as she walked to the Petal Pushers store, ready to start drawing all those beautiful flowers.
She opened the door and a pair of bells chimed; looking around she saw nobody and thought that maybe the weird man had left the place alone again, and she proceeded to settle herself in the table in the corner just like the man had said.
Her sketch pad was out and her favorite pencil in her hand when a loud 'bang' sounded around her. Someone had slapped a hand on th-her-table.
Her eyes darted to the side, finding a man standing beside her. She wondered how he managed to walk that close to her without being noticed, but as soon as she looked at his face, two things were clear. One, he was part demon-that explained his stealthiness- and two, he was angry.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He asked as he kept glaring at her.
Kagome blinked, still taken aback by his inexplicable anger that seemed to be specifically towards her. The shock slowly gave way to anger.
"None of your damned business!" She answered as she pushed the hand on the table with her pad, huffing exasperated when it became clear there was no way she was able to move it, even slightly.
He answered by putting his other hand on the table with another 'bang', this time over her pad.
"The fuck it's not my business, you are in MY shop!" He almost growled on her face.
The woman scoffed as his breath fanned on her face. "This is not your shop, I talked to Myouga. You know, the owner, and he gave me permission to be here." She paused dramatically as he blinked confused, "Go away, you're interrupting me!"
As he processed her explanation, she tried to remove the pad from under his hand, which turned out to be impossible without ruining its sheets.
"Wait..." he started, looking at her with intensity as if it was the first time he was actually seeing her. "The stupid old man told you that you could stay here?" He waited until she nodded, then he spoke again, this time with a calmness that freaked Kagome out a little bit.
"Well, he was wrong, you can not be here. So, go away..." he gave her a smile that was all teeth and fangs, "You're interrupting me."
He straightened his back and crossed his arms on his chest waiting for her to move. His frown came back when she also straightened her back, took her pad and her pencil and turned to the flower closest to her and started to draw something, completely ignoring his presence.
"Woman, go away!" He growled again.
Kagome shrugged without turning in his direction, "He said you would say that, and that I should ignore you, so I'm gonna ignore you."
After hearing a few inarticulate growls in between breaths, she turned around with the most honest expression she could muster, "I won't bother you, I won't event make a sound. I just need to draw these flowers..."
His eyes narrowed.
"The faster I work, the faster I can go back to Totosai's shop."
As soon as the man's name left her lips he made a pained expression. "The old fart sent you here?" She nodded and he cursed under his breath and let out a long sigh, "If that crazy old bat said you can be here, stay. I don't want him here having a tantrum, burning my flowers."
He turned around ready to ignore her for the rest of the evening when something crossed his mind, "I said you can stay but if you interfere in any way with my work, you're out. Got it?"
Kagome nodded, happy to be allowed to draw in that place. Even if that meant listening to the idiot with the fuzzy ears.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It soon became obvious for Inuyasha that her presence was going to be hard to ignore. It was always something with her. Her loud breathing, the swish of her hair as she moved, the way she clicked her tongue when she liked something, and that was driving him insane. This place was his favorite one because he was able to work alone, to do what he liked without people around.
But that woman, he looked up ready to glare at her for staring at him, again, but this time she was studying the deep red of the chinese bellflower. He didn't know if that made him feel better or not.
He growled low. There it was again. The humming. Everytime she was in the zone, as she had called it a couple of hours ago-when he had been forced to have lunch with her- the woman started humming. Not a buzzing like humming, an almost-singing kind of humming. A melodic, slow, tuned and fucking distracting humming.
"For fucks sake, woman. Shut up!" he shouted.
She turned around and saw his tomato-like face and blushed. She had done it again.
"I'm sorry...?" the apology stretched, raising its pitch until he huffed exasperated and turned away.
Kagome looked at the clock, it was around the same time she walked in yesterday, when the old man had flipped the sign and left her alone inside the shop.
"Hey! Dog boy!" she called to him from the table, knowing she didn't need to shout. He had heard her by the way those cute white ears had swiveled in her direction.
"Are you going to go home soon? Because if you are I can stay here alone like yesterday."
That last sentence made him stop on his tracks and look at her frowning "...alone like yesterday?" he asked as the red came back to his face.
Kagome ignored the anger display and nodded. "Around this time yesterday I was left alone here, he just ordered me to close the shop."
"The lazy fucker..." he said to no one in particular. "That was why he didn't finish the arrangements due today," he said more to himself than to her. 'And that is why the shop smelled like her when I got here,' he finished inside his head.
"So? You goin' home, dog boy?" Her voice hopeful.
"And leaving you here? Not a chance." He lost the sardonic smile and looked at her annoyed. "And I have a name, you know?"
It was Kagome's turn to smile sardonically "I know. But if I'm 'Woman', you're 'Dog Boy'."
Inuyasha nodded and turned around, refusing to admit he had been bested.
-.-.-.-.-.-
It was the fourth day of this torture. He had to admit that he was getting used to her presence around him, that he was not as bothered as he had been that first day, or at least not in the same way, because the woman was still a nuisance.
The humming had stopped, because it had been replaced by something he didn't like either: chatter. The woman liked to talk, a lot. She could go all day about how she wanted to go to the tattoo shop, about how much she wanted to start practicing real tattoos-whatever that meant- and now the other thing that was eating his patience right now were the stares. the woman kept staring at him during the weirdest moments.
Right when he was working on a bouquet, or when he was trying to set a japanese style arrangement, she was there, drilling holes in his head with those huge eyes of her. It was unnerving. And he didn't care that when he called her out for it, she would blush and squeak a "I'm sorry" before going back to sketching.
Inuyasha let out a low growl, one that wasn't loud enough for her to hear. A man florist was a weird thing, that he knew. And Miroku was always ready to tell him how his work didn't fit with his whole 'I'm a rock that doesn't feel' act. But he didn't give a fuck about that. He liked it and he was pretty good at it, so they could go to hell.
Even that woman and her curious eyes.
"So, how long have you been working here?" Her question came from his side, where she was-supposed to be- working on some tropical flower.
Inuyasha huffed. There it was again, the chatter.
"Too long..." He answered trying to make it sound as if his ears were turned to her, hearing the graphite scratch the pad now and then.
In the back of his mind he knew that as long as he kept answering her questions-and asking things too- the chatter was not going to stop. However he couldn't stop himself from replying to the woman. Stupid woman.
"And you like it here..." It wasn't phrased as a question but he was fast to elaborate.
"Yeah, well it's comfortable, quiet." He looked up and she did that little hand gesture that meant sorry but instead of a contrite face, she was smiling. He shook his head and he looked back at the bouquet he was making. "it's soothing and I don't have to hear what people try to say behind my back."
Kagome heard his light disinterested tone change on the last part of his explanation and wondered what could have happened to that man to want to stay alone most of the time.
"And what does your family think about you doing tattoos?" She jumped when his voice surprised her by asking a question. He rarely asked things about her. He was making a point by not looking at her while he spoke and she knew it.
Rolling her eyes she tried to answer the best she could. "My mom is all on board, she told me that as long as it makes me happy, she is happy."
Inuyasha could hear her smile in her voice as she spoke, probably remembering something about her mom. He smiled when she started talking again.
"We were having dinner, the whole family was together. Mom, grandpa and my little brother Souta..."
Inuyasha frowned as he registered she didn't mention a father.
"...I think I was maybe eighteen years old, and grandpa asked me what I wanted to do after I graduated highschool, and what university I was planning to attend. And..." she turned at him and smiled at the same time she shook her head. He distractedly wondered at what time had he started looking at her, but he found it impossible to tear his eyes from her.
"... and I told him 'I'm not going to go to the university, grandpa. I'm going to be a tattoo artist! I think I said it completely confident because my mom only said 'sounds wonderful, honey', my brother yelped and declared 'you have to do something for free for me!' and Grandpa only shook his head and went to his room." She tilted her head and gave him a sad smile. "I did end up going to college, and now I am an accountant."
He must have made a strange face because she chuckled good heartedly.
"I know, I know. I don't look, talk or think as you expect from an accountant." This time she made a face, "I really like it. And it's paying for this little sabbatical I'm taking until I'm allowed to work as a tattooist. So it all worked out pretty good!"
She finished with a bright smile, raising her brows when she noticed he was about to say something.
"What does your grandpa think about it now?" The moment he finished the question his eyes went wide, as if he had overstepped on their unspoken boundaries.
Her small hand waved dismissively, "It's alright. He is not totally happy with this. He thought I would drop the idea at some moment while I was in college. But he says that if this doesn't work out I can go back to being an accountant."
Kagome felt a change on his demeanor, he looked downright pissed. Without being conscious of it, she stood up and walked to him before he even got the time to speak.
"He wants you to fail and go back to do that shit?" his voice was low, almost growling. Kagome hadn't heard that tone since the first day she met him.
Without thinking about it she placed her hand on his arm and stroked it in a calming manner, "No, no. He is not like that. Grandpa is just old-fashioned. One time he actually told me that he didn't want me to work for the yakuza, that only they got tattoos," she let out a short laugh "but that argument was never brought back after I pointed out that he had one. And after asking the Kami to help me find the righteous path he walked away." She smiled at him warmly "He doesn't want me to fail. He just thinks that I won't like that work for a long time."
Inuyasha turned his head with his brows still knitted together. It was one of those things he didn't know-or admitted- that resembled the actions of a puppy. He was asking what she meant by that, without asking.
She smiled and answered him "He thinks-and worries-" she clarified before he got mad again "that even if I like to draw and to work on tattoos, I won't like the work environment and that I'm gonna feel more comfortable doing something else."
He scoffed, "That's bullshit!"
Inuyasha had said it in such an aggravated voice that she couldn't help to laugh at her friend. Gaining a glare from him.
"I'm not laughing at you!" she said inbetween laughs "but it was the same thing I thought when he said that to me."
Inuyasha smiled at her, turning his face away from her as soon as he caught himself doing it.
"So what are we gonna eat today? Choose, it's on me," She surprised him by asking a question, way too close to him for his peace of mind
When Inuyasha turned to her again, she put her hand on the side of her lips and whispered secretively, "I'll pay with my accountant money".
Inuyasha shook his head before declaring "ramen!" Knowing she was going to groan, it was the third time that week they had ramen for lunch.
As he held the door open for her she gave him the evil eye, making him smile again. "Hey! you told me to choose and I did!"
She only showed him her tongue as she passed by.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kagome was frustrated. Beyond the reasonable way. She wanted to yell at her mentor and tell him there was nothing else she could learn there. She had sketched every single flower of that shop and nothing-not one thing-he liked.
Totosai only looked at the page, gave some kind of grunt and turned the page to analyze the next sketch. Sometimes he did give her some pointers, but it had been three days since he gave any kind of verbal feedback.
For the last three days he had looked at her sketches one by one and then handed her back her pad with an expression on his face as if she had failed him in some way, as if she wasn't trying her hardest.
That was what made her mad, because she was trying her damn best!
As she entered the shop and the scent of the flowers invaded her nose and the sight of a certain hanyou appeared before her, part of her anger disappeared. It was weird how this place was both the best place she could think of and the place she wanted to escape from, at the same time.
Kagome walked to her table without saying hello to the man working on the counter and threw herself on the cool glass of the table she usually occupied, its metal legs scratching softly on the ground, gaining the interest of the the man working on the counter.
He pointed at her with his chin, "Why the dramatic entrance?" he asked, not waiting for her answer before going back to work.
She groaned a little bit melodramatically and he huffed in response, "Totosai..." was all she needed to say for the other to understand her frustration.
"That old fart has a few screws missing...don't mope about it," he said in that simple way that some men use when they try to solve a problem with a simple fix.
Kagome scoffed at him, "I've drawn every single flower here... twice! And he keeps giving me that look. But doesn't say a thing!"
Inuyasha shrugged "Just go with it... maybe he just wants you to wait and your drawings are just great".
As soon as the words left his lips he frowned. Where did that come from?
Kagome went through her pad, analyzing her drawings. "The thing is..." she left her pad fall on the table and looked at him with anguished eyes, "I'm not completely happy with what I've done. I know something is missing, something is slightly off..." she pointed at a random picture "...just look!"
Inuyasha didn't know what came over him to actually start walking towards her. He knew the order was purely rhetorical. But this was the perfect excuse to see her drawings. She wasn't exactly keeping them from him, it was just that she had not offered this before and he wasn't the one to stick his nose in other people's business.
He took the pad from under her hand and stared at the drawings, going back and forward among his favorites. They were good drawings, really pretty and realistic. Yet something felt missing. He couldn't pinpoint it, as she had said, but he could feel it.
"The flowers don't pop..." he whispered tracing the lines softly.
Kagome's eyes darted to his face and the attention seemed to take him out of his trance as the contemplative stare shifted to one of annoyance and blush dusted his cheeks and nose. Before Kagome could say something he handed the pad back, almost throwing it on her lap, and walked to his workstation.
Ignoring her moody companion, Kagome thought about what he had said as she studied her work. He was right, the art was not bad, it was kind of good, but there was nothing special about it. It lacked a personal touch, it lacked something unique, it felt generic.
A slow smile came to her lips as she decided that now that she knew why she was not happy with it, she could work on it. Now she had a goal!
In the back of the same store Inuyasha was fuming. What was that mushy stuff? Where did that come from?, he kept asking to himself. It is all her fault! He concluded, it was the clearest answer. She was messing with him, invading his space, his time, and even his mind. She was a nuisance.
He glared accusingly at her, but she was not paying attention. The woman was, as usual, engrossed in her stupid pad. Looking at it lovingly and smiling to it.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to tell her something about how stupid she looked, when she turned to him and smiled brightly.
"Thank you!" she started with a chirpy voice. "I will work on making them pop!" She looked so excited and determined on it that he only managed to nod and mumble a "good" before going back to work.
"Stupid woman" he mumbled as he gave a side glance to Kagome, who had just started to draw again.
For a while everything was calm, only the sound of graphite moving on the sheet and the sound of flowers moving could be heard. And the hanyou was happy for that calm. He knew it was too good to last.
A loud bang on the door and a "Good day, my friend!" was all that he needed to make a sound that was half groan and half growl before a "Go away!" was almost spatted.
The man that had just entered the shop walked directly to the counter sporting a huge smile. "Come on, Inuyasha. I haven't see you in weeks. I miss my best friend!"
Inuyasha smirked. "You only come here when you need something... I'm not giving you more free bouquets for your ladies". He ended stretching the words with a meaning that was lost to Kagome.
The newcomer placed his hand on his chest and sighed dramatically, "Your doubts hurt me, Inuyasha. I've never taken advantage of your work. That is amazing, I need to add."
"Fuck off, Miroku!" Inuyasha growled, this time loudly.
Miroku only smiled and rested his hip on the counter and crossed his arms on his chest. "I missed you, is it really that difficult to understand?"
Inuyasha grunted something and turned away to put the bouquet he had finished in the refrigerator.
Knowing this was his only chance, the man looked around quickly, trying to grab a flower as his friend was not paying attention to him. His eyes went wide when they met with the amused stare of a woman and his hand, that was already stretched to grab a lily, stopped mid-motion and he smiled.
"Hello there..." he said in a tone that was too honeyed for her liking.
The man started to walk to her nonchalantly and before he reached her table, a loud "Leave her alone lech!" sounded from the back.
The man stopped for less than a second before finishing his way to her- At the same time she eyed him with suspicion.
"Blink twice if he forced you to be here..." the man whispered at the same time he winked conspiratorially.
Kagome blinked confused but as he gasped melodramatically and she heard the stomps of the silver haired man approaching, the whole situation was clear to her.
"He is! Oh, I'm so sorry I-"
Kagome couldn't contain her laughter when after boinking Miroku's head, Inuyasha pulled him away from her and started yelling at him to stop 'fucking around and just go away'. To which Miroku only seemed to be unimpressed and kept telling his hanyou friend he was only trying to help a possible damsel in distress using the funniest-and fake- innocent face she had ever seen.
Her laughter distracted them from their fight as they both looked at her. Inuyasha with a frown on his flushed face, and Miroku with an amused grin.
After her laugh was over she raised her hands in an universal 'wait' gesture as she took a few breaths "Thank you, Miroku. But I'm here because I want to be, and I'm having a great time."
Inuyasha's frown softened slightly after her words, only to come back darker when the human man sat on the free chair beside her with a naturality of a close friend.
"You are here on your own volition... right?" Miroku asked with a small smile that became wider when she nodded. "Why?" His smile became crooked as he waited for her answer.
Narrowing her eyes, Kagome stared at him, feeling slightly annoyed at how he implied her presence was still forced.
She gave him a dry smile and stated with a chirpy tone, "I'm here working on my drawings. I'm practicing flowers..."
Miroku nodded, not losing his smile, "Can I see?" His tone this time was not loaded with a second meaning and Kagome relaxed as she handed him the pad.
A customer entered the shop as Miroku studied the drawings and Inuyasha was forced to walk away from them. He was trying to stay on his best behavior for the customer. A customer that didn't know how to make decisions and changed his mind as soon as the hanyou wrote down his request.
From the corner of his eyes he could see them discuss the drawing, and even from afar he could feel the atmosphere around them shifting. She was becoming more and more comfortable around Miroku, and the pervert had stopped his asshole routine and was actually having a conversation. And that both comforted him and annoyed him.
His attention was fully grasped as the customer looked around and finally chose the flowers he wanted in the bouquet.
Looking to the table in the back he saw Kagome blushing and trying to take a few pieces of paper from Miroku's hands.
"What do we have here? These aren't flowers."
Inuyasha could hear Miroku snickering as Kagome hushedly told him to give her the papers back.
By the time the customer left and he walked to the table Kagome was stuffing her carrier bag as she glared at Miroku with her cheeks red in embarrassment.
"What are those?" Inuyasha asked pointing at her pack.
"Nothing. NO-THING" She repeated still glaring at Miroku.
Inuyasha felt left out as Miroku laughed and nodded, "Ok, Ok. Nothing."
Kagome turned to him and smiled, "What did he order?"
The hanyou turned away with a scowl in place, "NOTHING" he said as he retreated to his counter.
Miroku snickered again and whispered, "Don't worry, he's gonna sulk for a while...I'll go before he tries to throw something at me again."
Before he reached the door he turned to Kagome with a serious face. "I like your nothing better than your flowers," and left.
The rest of the day was spent in a tense silence as Inuyasha's main form of communication became grunting and his longer sentence consisted of four words "You can go home now" said in mid afternoon.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The rational part of his brain was telling him he was exaggerating and being immature. But that doesn't mean he was going to stop, does it?
Kagome was staring at him-again- and he growled low in his chest-again- and she kept staring-also again. It was driving him crazy. It was distracting him again. She was the reason he had snapped the stem of four flowers today. Four. Damned woman.
And it was not enough that she was staring at him all day, it was all the different types of stares.
Sometimes he caught her looking at him as if she was trying to figure something out, as if she wanted to solve some kind of puzzle. Other times she looked at him as if he was some kind of object, analyzing, going back and forth around his face or work. But other times-like she was doing right now- she downright glared at him as she grumbled things so low that even his ears couldn't pick up the words.
When she looked at him like that he didn't dare look back at her because that only made her huff and spit something along the lines of 'stupid dogboy' or something that didn't make sense like 'couldn't be someone else, right? Stupid.'
Telling himself he was not going to give her more importance than what she already thought she had, he walked to the back room thinking about how to stop those heated glances from her. 'Those weren't even the good kind of heated stares' he thought, freezing mid-step as what he just said to himself was registered.
'Where the fuck did that come from? And what kind of heated stares are the good ones?' He huffed. The stupid woman was messing with his brain.
As he looked at the bouquets ready to be picked up by the customers he couldn't stop thinking about the woman sitting outside. He smirked as he stared at some of the ones she had even helped to make, giving her opinions on the color or even suggesting changes on the composition. He liked when she gave her opinion. He liked it better when she spoke to him.
Tilting his head to the right as his arms crossed on his chest, Inuyasha wondered what he could do without being obvious. After all, he was the one mad here!
'Maybe asking for her opinion on something', that will make her forget she is mad, he thought feeling hopeful.
When he walked outside that little room, he heard the door swing and a "Good afternoon, lady! I'm glad to have found you here!"
Even without seeing her, he could hear the smile in her voice when she answered, "Good afternoon Miroku".
The first thing he saw as he walked out to the front was Miroku whispering into Kagome's ears. Way too close into Kagome's ear.
"Why the fuck are you here, moron?" he shouted from behind his counter.
The fact Kagome jumped back at the sound of his voice, as if she had been caught doing something wrong, rubbed him in a bad way. What could have been their conversation? And the guilty little smile she gave him made it even worse.
"I came to give you and your beautiful captive a cup of the best of my coffee!" Miroku declared showing the cup he was talking about to the hanyou.
Even if the mere presence of that human was upsetting, the hanyou had to admit that his coffee was fucking great.
Miroku smiled when Inuyasha snatched the cup from his hand and started to sniff it. He turned around and winked to Kagome as it was what he had just whispered their hanyou friend would do and she chuckled.
Kagome walked to them with the cup in hand, "It's really good!"
"I know, my coffee shop is known for it."
Inuyasha turned away as the other man tried to woo Kagome with his barista abilities. The conversation was bound to make him stupider if he stayed.
Kagome saw the man walking away and her heart sunk in a way it had been doing for the last couple of days. She really didn't know how to approach him when he was in that mood.
Before the 'secret drawings' incident, as she called it, they had fallen into a great routine; he was sometimes moody, but most of the time he used to include her into his activities everyday. But after she didn't show them to him, that even now she was not willing to show them to him, he had been giving her the cold shoulder.
Ignoring her at times, openly telling her to leave him alone. And even going as far as to tell her to leave the shop for the day.
Miroku kept telling her that it was just an act, that he was sulking. Telling her this was how he threw tantrums, but even if she was trying to believe her new friend, she didn't like it. Not one bit.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Today was the sixth monday she walked her way to the flower shop. The sixth monday she stared at the doors wondering what she was going to do, see, and learn, but for the first time she longed for something that appeared to be slipping away from her.
She could see his figure moving around the shop, cleaning before starting the day. Before she got there. She remember that during one of her first day around he had said 'This is mine and I take care of what is mine', the intensity in his eyes and voice had sent a shiver down her spine, one of the many she would feel the next weeks.
Kagome smirked at the sight. Today he had his hair up in a high ponytail that had already started to fall apart, his white t-shirt and loose jeans underneath his bright red work apron with the store logo in its chest.
She chuckled remembering how huge it felt on her the one time she tried it on and realized that even if it reached his knees, when it was on her it almost touched her shoes and made her look like a 'weird kindergartener' according to him. After he said that, Kagome had said "Kindergarteners don't have boobs' before thinking and he had gone completely red as he stared at her boobs too before turning around and dashing to the back room.
Kagome walked to the door with her shoulders squared and the resolution to make things right.
The door hadn't even shut behind her when her smile started to wither. He was grumpier than usual, if the dark glare he gave her after her 'good morning' was any indication.
Three hours later she had only crossed words with him twice and she had four new sketches of him.
Of his hands working with the utmost care on a flower's petals. Of his focused eyes, with a frown that was far from the one he looked at her with. Of his profile with one of his fangs poking over his lower lip. Several sketches of his ears, showing the special way they moved as he became engrossed in the job he obviously loved.
Staring at her drawings as she tore them from the sketchpad, Kagome thought of them as something she didn't wanted to share, those were the evidence of her secret obsession.
Those drawings were something private, special not only because of what she thought of them, but they were a peek on his secret moments, when he dropped his facade and something precious came to the surface, and deep down she knew the mere existence of those drawings will mean the invasion of his safe space. And that was the last thing she wanted to do.
And after Miroku had seen them, he hadn't stopped mentioning them every time he came by. Adding fire to the conflict that seemed to keep them apart.
"I don't have the whole day, woman?" The grumpy voice of her favorite drawing subject took her out of her musings.
Giving him what could be the stupidest-yet cutest- expression he had ever seen on her face she mumbled a soft "What?"
Not letting his amusement show on his face Inuyasha shook softly the flower he had in each hand. "Which one? For that thing there," he pointed with his chin at the japanese style bouquet on his work table.
Kagome knew the answer even before she looked at his face a second time, "The chinese bellflower," she chirped excited. I was her favorite flower lately
Inuyasha nodded before turning and hiding his smug smile, everything was according to his plan. This was his master plan to get on her good side again. He had started that bouquet, that no one had ordered, with the idea of a chinese bellflower as the center of it, knowing that it was Kagome's favorite and she would choose it, he had given her the choice, showing her how much her opinion counted.
The next step was to have lunch together, with neither of them annoyed at the other.
"So, where do you wanna go eat?" he asked with his rehearsed disinterested voice, and he nailed it.
Kagome tilted her head, trying to reconcile the intense and moody hanyou with the nonchalant tone. "I...don't know... you have something in mind?" She answered slowly, watching his reaction.
Inuyasha pretended to think about it as he scratched behind an ear, "Well the other day you said you wanted to try the new okonomiyaki place, the one around the corner".
Kagome tilted her head again. That tone of his was different, it was almost nonchalant but had something in it that in her ears was cutely vulnerable.
They were already sitting at their table when he-really-talked again.
The intriguing tone was gone, replaced by a dry one-word-sentences like "walk", "sit", "wait", "order". The waiter had gone to the kitchen to place the order when Kagome stared pointedly at him, with a silent demand, that he understood immediately. She wanted something.
"What?" He asked feeling his cheeks go hot.
She only propped her head on her hand, with an expression he couldn't read but made him feel nervous.
"Stop! If you have shit to say, say it!" Inuyasha almost shouted.
After a short silence and a sigh from Kagome, she asked "Do you think I have shit to say?" with a small smile on her lips.
"I KNOW you have shit to say, Kagome" He answered with a steadier tone and mirroring her pose unknowingly.
Kagome borrowed one of his expressions and smirked, "Tell me, what is that shit you think I want to tell you?"
He huffed and looked away, "I dunno... Maybe that I'm an ass. Or that you like the flowers this morning..." His eyes fell on her, they were serious, the slight playfulness of his demeanor and tone was not present on his eyes, "Or maybe..."
"I hope you are ready, because this Okonomiyaki is ready to be eaten!" chirped the waiter as he dropped the plate in the middle of the table, startling the couple sitting there. "I'll be right back with the rest!"
Inuyasha cursed internally as he looked away from the table, and Kagome. The stupid waiter had ruined the whatever-they-just-had, and with the several more trips he took to the table, it looked like that thing was not coming back.
Kagome didn't know if she felt relieved or angry at the waiter. She wanted to know what he was going to say. He was not a person to hold back his words and that meant whatever he wanted to say to her was not easy, but the fear of what it could be burned low in her belly. Maybe he was going to tell her his hospitality was running dry, or maybe that she needed to earn her stay there, after all she had been just loitering in the place.
Eyeing her partner and his constantly flipping ears, she decided to break the silence after the third okonomiyaki disappeared from their table, his end of the table.
"I think I'm almost done..."
The smile that accompanied her words distracted him from a moment, and his eloquent reply was, "Huh?"
The corners of Kagome's lips twitched upward and he felt the need to elaborate. "What the hell is almost done?"
"The flower phase. I have the feeling that Totosai is finally going to let me go to his shop, he told me to take all my stuff to his studio on monday. AND he actually said something nice about my drawings this morning."
This time her happy tone as she declared how happy she was to leave him behind upset him more than he had thought it would.
"Ya must be happy, getting what you wanted," Inuyasha said without taking his eyes from the food in front of him.
Kagome's voice came to him, "Yeah..." He could hear the smile on her chirpy voice, "and it's thanks to you that I improved."
Inuyasha kept eating, not knowing exactly how to answer that. On one hand he liked how she was thanking him for the -little to nonexistent- help he had offered, but on the other hand she was thanking him because she was leaving him.
"I hope you are more comfortable on the old fart's shop than you are in mine," he commented in between munches.
She looked at him with her brows low in confusion. "I like to be in your shop... I love the feeling of being there." she smiled warmly at him before looking down at ther plate pensive, "the calmness and peace there is to die for. Doubt I'll find another place like your shop, a place where I feel like I'm supposed to be."
Kagome felt the blush covering her face for the boldness of her statement. She wanted to add something like 'in your shop, with you' but that was too much even for her. Her eyes searched for his reaction. He was looking at the waitress asking for more food. And anger exploded inside her, it was safer to feel angry than hurt.
After he finished asking for food, and was able to hide his disappointed expression he looked at her again. He knew she liked being in the shop, it showed in everything she did. In the way she looked around, full of joy and wonder. It was difficult to accept the fact that it was not because of him. The feeling that burned low in his stomach felt bitter in his mouth, and before he could help himself he was whispering.
"So the problem is not the shop but with me, then..."
The food stopped halfway to her mouth, "What the hell are you talking about?" He was the one ignoring her words and now she was the one with the problem.
His chopsticks slammed on the table as he let out a long annoyed huff. "About the problem you have with me!" He almost growled.
"What problem, besides that stupid attitude of yours?" Kagome asked glaring at him.
"See! You have a problem with me!" Even as mad as he was at her it was impossible not to notice how her blushed cheeks and intense eyes made her look even prettier than usual.
"I didn't have a problem, but now I do!" He was ruining one of their last lunches together. Why? She didn't understand.
"Keh! Don't lie woman..." he raised his hand to point at the both of them with fast movements back and forth "You have a problem with me, you pretend everything is cool and that we are almost- well, something we are not...You even share things with Miroku that you don't share with me..."
The last part was said in such a venomous tone that Kagome leaned back before whispering slowly, "That's why you're angry?"
Inuyasha hoped his face was already red enough and the tingling feeling on his cheeks didn't show. It was stupid enough to be angry about Kagome sharing something with the pervert that she wouldn't show him. But being confronted, and blushing about it was ridiculous. He needed to end this discussion before he ended up confessing something stupidly embarrassing like he liked her or something.
"That is not important, it just shows what kind of relationship we have, doesn't it?"
Kagome felt as if a puch had been physically delivered, "And what kind is it exactly?" She said in the strongest volume she could muster, which was only a breathy whisper.
She wanted and hoped whole heartedly he would say something to defuse the situation. Something that could help her heart beat easier in her chest. Something, anything that made possible to her to keep the smallest hope that she was misunderstanding what he was saying. But then he said IT.
"Keh! Two people forced to spend time together even when we don't want to because of those old-farts' whimps."
Kagome blinked rapidly trying to keep the tears at bay as she stared at his profile. His tone was neutral as if he was talking about the weather, and he hadn't even cared enough to look at her. He was busy asking for more refreshments. She cleared her throat and tried to sound normal.
"I guess I won't force you to put up with my presence anymore".
Her hand reached for her purse, stood up from the table and she walked away from there. The last stupid hope she had was that he would call her and ask her to stay, and it was squished into nothing as the restaurant door closed behind her. As she made her way to the shop to pick up her stuff, her walk became a jog as the tears she had been holding started to fall.
Inuyasha looked at her angry face as she told him she was going away, for good. A cold heavy weight installed in his gut as the realization of how deeply he had fucked up became clear. His plan that consisted in showing how much he appreciated her company had gone to hell as soon as he opened his stupid mouth.
He stood up ready to chase after her when the petite waitress asked him to settle the bill before going away. Before he could pay her, the nosy woman asked a million questions, a million of stupid questions that kept him from catching up with Kagome. He couldn't care less about the okonomiyaki, or the kind of sauces she could pack what was left with. By the time the woman accepted the fucking money Inuyasha knew Kagome had long ago reached the shop.
With the leftovers in his hands-he refused to use the other name even in his head, he was not going to say doggy bag- he ran to the shop. Trying to see her before she left him for good. He knew before opening the door that she was no longer there. He could smell her outside, and even find the start of his track... she wasn't alone. She was with someone she felt more at ease with.
Inuyasha opened the door admitting defeat yet taking a long breath enjoying the marvelous mix of her natural scent with the flowery scent, that soon the flowers were going to cover for good. It was late at night as he cleaned the shop, spending extra time fixing the space that, at least on his head it was hers.
It was difficult to clean the last evidence of her presence around him, arranging the chairs she had left untidy, slowly swiping the corner of the store where her table was placed until something on the corner of his eye called for his attention. He left the broom aside and walked closer, reached to pick up the pieces of paper that looked like they had fallen when Kagome was picking her things up.
As he stood up, before he could see what was on the paper, something hit the back of his head. Hard.
"What the-?"
Another thing hit him. Harder.
"You are as stupid as they get, Inuyasha!" Miroku said as the hanyou turned around to glare at him.
"Don't open that stupid mouth of yours," Miroku continued after throwing another pen at him. Where did he get all those pens?
"Stop throwing things!"
"When you stop being an imbecile!" He threw another pen as he walked closer.
"Why did you throw Kagome out of here? Because she was happy here? Because she likes you?"
"I don't car-She doesn't like me!" Thinking about that possibility made him blush.
"Yeah, and you obviously don't like her either!"
Inuyasha felt his blush cover from the neck up. A part of him, the one that was not mortified by the conversation found Miroku's anger amusing. He was usually the calm, the reasonable one, but now he was throwing things and shouting, that was new.
Without waiting for an answer the human continued, "That is why I don't understand what could possible be the reason why you sent her away when she didn't want to."
The sudden snarl made Miroku back down as Inuyasha was the one approaching him now "She wanted to go away! She told me so... Kagome was only here because she was ordered to be. She was only doing what she was told... She didn't like it in here, not really."
The anger in Inuyasha's voice slowly disappeared as he talked, being replaced by a sad resignation.
Miroku gave him a knowing smile, "Of course she hated in here, she never found something she liked..." his velvety tone was back, "nothing that could interest her enough to draw, right? After all, she said she doesn't draw things that don't fascinate her."
"What are you..."
Miroku rolled his eyes and pointed at the hanyou's clawed hand. "Just look at them, idiot!"
Inuyasha stared at the drawings in his hands. Each of them was about him. His profile as he worked on an arrangement, his hands as he touched a flower, his ears in different positions, many smalls drawings of his ears actually, his face with focused eyes and his tongue playing with one of his fangs, and many colored sketches of his eyes, as if she was trying to find the right color for them.
"I'm an idiot," he whispered.
"That is the general consensus, yeah."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I thought she was strong enough to put up with him."
"I still think she is, but the young master of the flowers is too stubborn to open up... they needed more time," Myouga complained to Totosai.
He had been staying away from his flower shop for more than a month trying to give them space, but now it was the day Kagome was supposed to come back to the tattoo parlor, where they were right now.
"I don't think this is about time, it is more about the dumb pup doing something different for a change. He has to do something to let her know what he feels. Because..." Totosai let out a throaty laugh "He is as smitten as he can get."
Both men jumped at the sound of the door slamming open, turning around to see a very angry and flushed hanyou at the entrance.
"Fuck you two!" Was all he said before stomping his way to the counter where both elders sat.
"What has your panties in a bunch?" Asked Totosai as he stuckhis finger in his ear.
Inuyasha growled at the men, trying not to get worked up. He had a goal in mind and he was not going to let his stupid mouth ruin it.
Through gritting teeth he managed to spit "Is Kagome here?"
Myouga shook his head as Totosai smiled mischievously, "What business do you have with her?" asked the fire demon.
"None of your busines old-fart!" He turned to Myouga ignoring the laughing Totosai.
Inuyasha felt his blush take a new high, he could almost feel esteem come out of his cheeks. "Give this to her!"
Totosai was opening his lips to say something else but Inuyasha was already walking out of the place.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kagome walked to Totosai's shop. It was monday and she was supposed to be ecstatic about it. It was the first day of her practice of actual tattoos, but for some reason she wasn't feeling it.
She didn't lie to herself about the why. She was sure why the joy of this day was lost. It was because of certain stupid half dog demon that was a full jerk.
Three days later she found her anger had run out and only disappointment and sadness remained. His disinterest about what she thought and felt about him still hurt, but the fact he thought of her as an imposition of the elders, as something unwanted invading his space, that was what hurt the most.
Pushing the door open she found the stare of said elders focused on her, with an amused glint in their eyes.
"...Good morning?" She said with an insecure smile.
"Good indeed, Kagome. We were waiting for you." Myouga said in a little-too-happy tone.
"Ohh. I'm sorry. Am I late?"
Totosai shook his head and called her to come closer with his hand. "No, No. We are just being nosy and want to know what is inside on this packager with your name on it."
"A package? for me? here?" Kagome left her stuff on the floor beside her and looked at the box on the counter.
"Looks like someone knew you would be here today..." Myouga said in a cryptic way.
"It has no information on it. How did you know it was for me?"
Totosai answered "The delivery dog told us...I mean boy."
Their knowing smiles were seriously freaking her out. It felt like they knew something she did not and were enjoying her ignorance about whatever it was.
"That is weird. What if there is something bad inside? " She looked at them worried, "What if this is a mean joke?"
Both of them waved their hands dismissing her concerns, "I don't think that's the case... I'm guessing an admirer's gift." This time Myouga spoke as he pointed at the carton box again.
Without another work kagome opened the lids of the box. She knew who had sent this. Why? She didn't know, but her stupid dogboy had sent her flowers. Not a bouquet but a small plant in a pot.
She almost heard him saying the words he used to explain what was the meaning of an arrangement and why most people didn't ask for a small plant to keep.
Along with a look that Inuyasha used to state she was stupid for not getting it "An arrangement is meant to represent a moment, some moment that they want to make last. But giving a living plant is meant to represent the long term commitment to a relationship."
Kagome had nodded before asking, "But why only one flower? I would like to have many."
And he had given her another of his 'how can you not know this?' look of his before explaining that giving one living flower meant how unique and special that relationship is.
He had explained to her many thing about the meaning behind what he did and sometimes he even refused to do arrangements that he thought were horrendous.
But now she held in her hands a lone living flower pot, with a single red bellflower.
Her heart was beating like crazy inside her chest. He sent her something so special, knowing she understood the meaning. She tried to control her breathing. Maybe she was over analyzing things, maybe it was an apology knowing she liked bellflowers and that she liked living plants.
There was a note on the bottom. Leaving the beautiful green pot beside her she reached for the note and turned her body in a way that the two nosy men couldn't read it.
"Kagome. You know I'm a jerk and that I say things I shouldn't. I'm sorry for being an asshole. I hope you are having a great first day doing what you love.
-IY
P.S. I know you like this flower and know what they mean. I can't promise you one of them, but the other two I can try.
Kagome giggled as the tears ran down her cheeks and her hands were trembling as she put the note and her plant back in the box.
The chinese bellflower meant unchanging love, honesty and obedience. Kagome couldn't stop chuckling thinking about how her doggy boy was not good at following orders.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Inuyasha was pacing back and forth in the back room. The packaged had been delivered hours ago, and he had seen Kagome walk inside Totosai's shop. Hours ago, or at least he felt it like hours.
He stopped dead in his track. What if she was waiting for him to come to her?
He gave one step outside the room when the front door slammed open, before his eye reached it a woman's voice sounded loudly "I have a complaint about this delivery!"
Instantly he was angry, excited, delighted, cautious, and even a little aroused all at once. And the only thing he could do was stare stupidly as she left the box with the living plant on a table and walked towards him.
"I have a problem with this note!" she said as got close to a nose-to-nose as she could from her height.
Kagome blinked a couple of times waiting for him to react, to say something but he kept looking at her with those intense golden eyes.
She patted his shoulder. "Aren't you going to say something?"
Inuyasha shook his head in the doggy way he sometimes did before frowning at her "What's your problem with the note?" Even without the amused look on her face he knew he was blushing, the tingle was back.
She smirked in that mischievous way she could, in that way that made her look like a cat. "I am confused... I demand you explain to me, the last part before I decide if I want to accept the gift."
Inuyasha took the note from the hand waving it in front of his face. The heat on his cheeks intensified for the umpteenth time that day. The woman wanted him to say it out loud!
"It's pretty clear to me..." he said with a smirk of his own.
"Then tell me which of three things are you not going to promise me?"
Inuyasha didn't answer, at least not with words, only started to walk to her, making her take a few steps back. His eyes were not shy anymore, he had a look in his face that she hadn't seen before, a strong and sexy look. Her back crashed against the wall, but he did not stop moving.
She could feel his breath hitting her face as his face moved closer. For a moment she thought and hoped he was going to kiss her, but he moved slightly to the left making their cheeks softly touch. The unshaven jaw giving her shivers that ran down her back and made her legs feel week. Her hands shot to his shoulders for support and his found their place on her hips.
She could feel his breathing just beside her ear, before he whispered, "You know I am the worst at following orders. That should tell you something."
Kagome hummed her agreement, not really knowing to what she was agreeing, just that her body was OK, more than alright to what was happening right now.
His head moved back and another wave of shivers crossed her body.
Inuyasha only needed a second looking at her face, she looked adorable with those glassy eyes and her blushed cheeks...and the way she clinged to her.
"Shit" was all he said before kissing her.
And it was just like he had imagined, and even better. The feel of her body against his, the way she wanted to explore his mouth, the sounds she was making. And those little hands working on his ears, it was close to being too much.
And it ended way too soon when the one that was close to not being his friend anymore shouted from the door "hey idiot, did you fix everything with Kagome?" an awkward pause before he said in between laughs "I see!"
At the sound of Miroku's voice turned on the part of her brain that had stop working at the moment he had started doing whatever-it-was that he did. And she pushed him away, or she tried at least. Turns out she was not touching the floor as much as she was completely held by his hands that were not on her hips anymore.
"Let me down" she whispered to Inuyasha, who looked a little lost still.
"I'm glad to know that you are in good terms again... More than good I'd say"
"Shut up, Miroku" said Kagome as Inuyasha put her down.
"Fuck off, pervert!"
Miroku smiled in a wolfish way, "I'm not the one making out at work..." He started to back away as the very angered hanyou came closer.
It was their first kiss and the idiot had interrupted them. He had to be punished, maimed... he had to feel pain.
Kagome wanted to laugh at the way that Inuyasha had change in a few seconds. He went from being incredibly sexy to a kid throwing a tantrum. It was one of things she loved about him.
She came closer and stood on her tiptoes to give him a peck on his cheek "I have to go back to work. Take care of my plant I'll come back later." She looked at Miroku pensive and narrowed her eyes, "...and don't hurt him too much."
Kagome took her purse and walked out of the door, leaving a slightly frightened Miroku and a smirking hanyou thinking "I love that woman."
The end.
Hello!
Thank you for reading and I hope you like this little (XD) shot.
I started this as a b-day gift for my precious Kuddle-cakes, and I was supposed to finish this last month. I'm sorry it took that long!
Also thank you for taking the time to leave likes and reviews, it's incredible to know what people think about the stories.
Love,
Nanna.