"I don't believe in magic", the young boy said rolling his eyes.
The weathered old man smiled serenely at the petulant boy. He remembered a time when he too had such confidence of youth in him.
"Why are you lookin' at me like that – you got a problem mister?" the boy snarled out.
Once again the old man smiled, winked, and said "Oh, but you believe in magic, you will when you see her".
He got up then, his knees creaking as they rubbed bone against bone. "Look for the magic young man. You'll find it when you least expect it".
The stood by his belief for a number of years. Magic was stuff of stories to tell to children, only to be found in books and movies. There were no unicorns hidden in the forests, escaping those who sought their wish giving horn, no mermaids lurking in the depths of the ocean, no faerie rings that unsuspecting humans would step into, only to be whisked away to their ethereal realm. No, magic, simply put, was not real.
But when he walked into the café near his office building all those summers ago, he realized that maybe there was some magic in this world.
He had just started his new job that day, and was finding himself settling into the work environment quite nicely. He was utilizing his knowledge and had to be quick on his feet, but he knew he was more than capable of figuring out the intricacies of his new position. His coworkers were kind, and he felt like he may even make some new friends. All in all, by lunch he was starting to shake off those first day nerves, and was settling into the routine of the office.
A few coworkers had suggested that for lunch he go down to the café across the street and grab a sandwich for lunch, as he hadn't packed a lunch that day, not knowing the politics of the office lunchroom quite yet.
Setting out across the street, he headed towards the café, a tiny place tucked into the corner of a larger office building, with cheery signage across the windows. Even across the street he could smell the sharp tang of brewed coffee and the warm scent of toasted bread.
The door, though glass, stuck a little when he opened it, causing him to trip the little bell above the door more than once, and as he looked up, he was greeted by a girl with a smile that could light a few dozen rooms with it's warmth.
"Hi! Welcome in – what can I get started for you today?" the girl asked from across the counter, the smile still stretched wide across her face without a hint of force.
He was spellbound. The girl and her smile seemed to root him into his place near the door, and he couldn't understand why. She was beautiful, yes, but he had never been the type of man to freeze up just because a pretty girl asked him a simple question. He could become a little bashful, in his youth he was even downright rude, but he was never stuck to his place and forced mute due to a girl and a smile.
Though he had to admit that the woman across the counter was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Forcing himself to break from his reverie, he walked up to the counter.
"Uh, hi" he said weakly, realizing he didn't even know what his options were to order.
The girl gazed at him, the wattage of her smile never dimming.
"Here for lunch? We have lots of different choices, noodles, soups, sandwiches, but customers usually get a sandwich. We've got a variety to choose from, but if you tell me what you usually like I can create your own. Most customers here have their own "special" – if they're especially good I'll end up adding it to the menu so if people aren't big on the risk they can try other's creations out" she offered animatedly.
Not sure of what to make of this, he blinked a few times before nodding his head.
"Um… yeah. Okay. You can just…. Surprise me. I eat anything really" he admitted, cheeks burning hot with the admittance that he wasn't quite a discerning with food as maybe the regular clientele of the café were.
But her laugh tinkled across the counter, dancing in his ears as she smiled again at him.
"Well, I'll do my best to surprise you then – I'm Kagome by the way"
"Um, Inuyasha. I work across the street" he added awkwardly at the end, unsure why he thought it was important she know that.
"Okay Inuyasha from across the street" she winked at him, "go have a seat over there, and I'll have your lunch out in just a few minutes" she said, gesturing at a table nestled in the corner by one of the many windows.
"But don't I need to pay?" he interjected, confusion blossoming across his face.
She waved him off, shaking her head and smiling.
"Eat what I bring you first, and you can pay me if it's good. No point in paying if you don't like it."
"But –" he managed out before she cut him off again, her smile yet again bewitching him mute.
"Don't worry – you're going to like it" she winked, before shooing him back towards the table, and heading back into the recesses of her kitchen, while another girl quickly took up the front.
"She's not wrong – whenever she surprises people like this their sandwich usually ends up on the board. We haven't had a new customer willing to take the risk in a few months so she's itching to create something new" said the girl whose nametag indicated her name was Rin.
"But how does she know what to make?" he asked, knowing that he was probably going to be even more confused with whatever answer this girl gave him.
Smiling at him, she just said "Magic I guess."
And that sandwich was magic, he wasn't quite sure how she had done it, but Kagome had made the most perfect sandwich he had ever had, and even brought him a side of ramen, simply saying that he seemed like the type of guy who'd need more than just a sandwich to eat at lunch.
Inuyasha went back every day to get his lunch at her café, and got to know the staff their pretty well. While the mesmerizing owner and cook was there daily, she had a rotating staff of baristas and cashiers, all friendly and helpful, and all to quick to rib Inuyasha about how he was their new best customer.
But he couldn't help himself. Every bit of her drew him to her. Her smile captivated him and he lived to make her laugh. She had started to join him during his lunch on lazy Saturday's when only she and a high school kid named Shippo were running the café, and he found himself in a comfortable rhythm, joking and playing pranks with the kid, and able to have conversations with Kagome about interesting cases he encountered over the week and the developments of office drama, while she shared stories of her customers and what new creations she was able to make.
He learned she had grown up in a shrine family, and had learned to cook from her mother. She had planned to go to culinary school, but wasn't able to finish after her grandfather died, leaving the shrine duties fully to her mother and much younger brother. She had gone back home to help out, and a few years later had saved up enough money to start a small café within the shrine itself. It had done so well that she was able to rent the spot for the café across from her work, as well as pay for extra help around the shrine.
She had her unusual business practice of making new sandwiches without expecting payment unless the food was good, but she also had a host of dedicated customers, who enabled her to keep this practice up, as well as employ a give it forward policy where anyone who couldn't afford a sandwich that day could take one of the post-it notes arranged on the side wall and get a free sandwich that day.
With her, the world seemed lighter and more full of hope. She gave openly, and without expectation of it being returned, but Inuyasha saw that with all the love she gave out, it was returned to her by her community tenfold.
He in turn was able to open up to her, tell her about his father and his affair with his mother, and how he had died early in his life, leaving him with his mother and a half brother who hated his guts. He told her how he never felt like he had belonged anywhere, and about his mother had been thrown out of her family, and had had to work multiple jobs to keep a roof over their heads. He told her more than he had ever told anyone else, and she took it all in, eyes full of empathy and warmth.
It was only a matter of time to realize he was head over heels for the girl who made bizarre sandwiches and soups, and who accepted any and all who walked into her café.
A few months in to their friendship, he finally got the nerve to ask her out on a real date, not without several hints from Shippo and Rin that he really should have asked her sooner, but he didn't want to ruin what they had. She had, of course, accepted without hesitation, and now Inuyasha could not imagine his life without Kagome.
She was magic – right there in the tiny café across the street from his office he had found magic, something that doesn't exist. Or maybe just not in the way we imagine it. She was magic in her smiles, her laughs, her cooking. And maybe that magic existed in other people too.
Maybe that old man was right – there is magic in the world. Magic could be found in people in the most mundane ways. One of his coworkers had magic when she baked. Shippo's pranks were so well contrived they were almost magical in nature. Rin had a talent of playing the piano, and did so every Thursday night in the café, usually bringing audience members to tears.
Inuyasha knew now what he would say to that man if he ever saw him again. That he did believe in magic – that magic flowed through the veins of ordinary people. And all it took was Kagome to show him that.