Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of its characters; I think I forgot to mention this on my first chapter. Well, I didn't own it then either.
Chapter Two
Kagome sniffled and blew her nose. She shuffled over to her closet and peered inside. She had been feeling incredibly unattractive since Inuyasha had broken up with her and she neither felt like drawing attention to herself nor spending time on her appearance, not when it didn't matter anyway. So she pulled on a pair of loose jeans, a loose t-shirt, and a large hoodie. She pulled on socks and a pair of running shoes. She wiped at a couple of tears straining to fall from her eyes and walked to the bathroom. She stared at her reflection.
"You're so ugly."
Her face was pale and puffy from lack of sleep and her eyes were red from crying and her nose was an even brighter shade than it had been. She washed her face in cold water and brushed her teeth. She decided to skip breakfast and she grabbed her book bag and head toward school for the first day of her senior year at college. A scary thought. She took one last look in the mirror, tucking a loose strand of her ebony hair behind her ear. She then set out briskly, to walk the twelve blocks to her school. Kagome pulled out her schedule as she walked to double check her room numbers, today was a fairly easy day, only a couple of business classes and then work in the evening. She sighed. She hoped she wouldn't see Inuyasha; he did go to the same school after all. She would either weep on sight or embarrass herself by groveling, or both. Kagome sniffed, willing herself to not start the waterworks again.
Kagome walked into one of her advanced business classes and her stomach dropped to her ankles as the first thing she saw was Inuyasha sitting in the back and in his lap was Kikyo. Kagome felt tears pricking at her eyes and she stifled a sob. She hurried past them, eyes downcast and took a seat on the opposite side of the room in front, as far away as possible. She took her notebook out of her bag and willed herself to calm down.
The class passed without event though Kagome found it extremely difficult to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. Kagome continued to be so wrapped up in her thoughts that she ran right into someone as she was leaving the class
"Watch where you are going wench," spoke a soft voice.
Kagome didn't even hear him as she murmured a "sorry" and continued out.
Sesshomaru looked after her with slight annoyance. Was he invisible?
A now familiar scene was in progress. Kagome was once again curled up on the couch with a tissue in hand. She used it, dropped it on the ground and reached for another only to discover the box was empty. She got off the couch with a sigh and shuffled into the bathroom to get a new box. She froze at the sight of her reflection in the mirror. Then she frowned, almost glaring at the tears still trickling down her cheeks.
'What's the matter with you Higurashi? You may have loved him, but look at what he turned out to be! Even if he hadn't done this to you, you would have been stuck with a loser! And it doesn't matter that it was Kikyo, you don't like her anyway! If you must ruin your life, do over someone worthwhile!' And with that Kagome wiped her tears and gave herself a fierce look of determination. 'Men. Sleazy liars. Who needs them?'
Kagome sat at her dining room table with a stack of books, studying when her stomach gave a loud grumble of protest. She glanced at her clock. 5:12. 'I guess I'll have an early dinner.' She opened up the fridge. A tomato, a diet coke, and some red ginger. Kagome frowned. She opened up her cupboards. A little flour, some coffee, and an onion.
'Grrr,' Kagome thought to herself. 'I guess it's the store for me.'
She went to her bedroom and changed out of her pajamas and into jeans, a pink blouse which cinched at the waist, black flats, and ran a brush through her hair. She gave herself a quick glance in the mirror. 'Good enough' she thought dashing out the door and grabbing her purse and keys
Kagome efficiently bagged produce, checked expiration dates, and tossed them in her basket, carefully looking out for sales and discounted items; she had a budget after all and tuition wasn't cheap. The cashier rang her up and Kagome proudly smiled to herself at the amount of food she had gotten for so little money.
Kagome struggled to hold up both bags as she walked down the bustling sidewalk with people bumping into her left and right. One particularly rough shove caused her to drop one of the bags, scattering half its contents. Kagome flushed with embarrassment and dropped to her knees attempting to gather up the products. Suddenly a hand held out a can under her nose. She looked up and felt a small bit of shock shoot through her. A man stood before her. He wore a white suit with a white shirt, deep blood-red tie, and black shoes. The suit served to emphasis the width of his shoulders, the narrowness of his waist and hips, and the long lines of his legs. He seemed almost unreal with his knee-length silver hair tied in a low ponytail, his amber eyes, and delicate yet masculine features. He was an interesting mixture of regal business appropriateness, with his proper posture and cool look of indifference in his tailored suit, and not so conservativewith his obviously well-toned body, and the tattoos, which marked his face and disappeared beneath the cuffs of his suit jacket.
Kagome felt her breathe hitch in her throat and she gaped for a moment, her mind having gone blank. The man raised a slender eyebrow at her. Finally Kagome managed to squeak out a "thanks", felt herself blushing, and took the can from him. The man gazed at her for another long moment before turning and walking away, not acknowledging her.
Kagome's shock quickly turned to annoyance as she hurriedly picked up her bags.
"Jerk," she muttered under her breath.
He was a member of the male species, enough said, right? Kagome immediately squelched that small, nagging questioning and wrong corner of her mind. She was better off without the lot of them.
Sesshomaru felt slightly ill at ease. What had come over him just then? What had possessed him to pick up that woman's belonging? He, Sesshomaru. Normally it would not even have come to his attention that someone had fallen, save if they blocked his path. Further, what had possessed him to stand their like a dolt? Well, the woman was rather attractive. Attractive!
'I think not. Just another worthless woman.'
Sesshomaru then found his thoughts wandering to the woman's silky black hair, her long legs, and her beautiful blue eyes.
"Damnit," Sesshomaru cursed under his breathe "She's a woman. That's enough."
