The Day Planner

Chapter One

The Day Planner

Miroku Houshi yawned widely, stretching his arms as he rolled to the side of the bed. He opened his eyes slowly, staring at his clock. 10:37, it read. He stared at it for three whole minutes before the radio blasted from it, signaling that it was time to get up. On Wednesdays, he had it easy: only one class at eleven thirty. But it was the most boring class one could imagine – three hours long, with the most boring teacher you could think up.

As an architecture student, Miroku had been asked to take one History of the Arts class. It was the only class he didn't like. He got up slowly, stood on tip-toes to stretch his legs fully, and went right to the bathroom. He slipped into the shower without bothering to get a towel – these things were already prepared beforehand. He hung a clean towel next to the shower curtain after every shower. Call him crazy, but that was something he could never live without. He went insane when his towel had already been used, or if it wasn't hung by the shower in the morning.

Today was one of those days – one of those days that made him cranky for the stupidest reason. "Fuck!" he swore as he tried to tip-toe out of the shower to keep from wetting the bathroom rug. He opened the cupboard next to the sink to reveal a huge pile of white, soft, crispy towels. He snatched one and wrapped himself in it, drying himself before he walked toward his room. He stopped and remembered he hadn't hung another clean towel next to the shower. He snickered at himself as he rectified his mistake. No wonder he couldn't live with anyone. If anyone knew his strange need to have a clean towel every day they'd probably think he was insane. He shrugged and went back to his room to dress.

He sighed as he stared at a shirt: it was brown. He looked at a pair of jeans: the threading was brown. That should be fine, he thought as he put the clothes on. By the time he'd brushed his teeth and found his history binder, his hair was already dry. He smoothed it out with his fingers and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Fuck," he said for the second time already.

He walked towards the door, taking his wallet and his keys off the table in the entrance to his apartment. He opened the door and dropped his binder. He swore as he lowered himself to pick it up, only to hit his head on the handle of the door while standing back up. "Fuck!!" he yelled for the third time that morning, pissed off already. "All this because of the fucking towel!"

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. 11:02. He pressed two, his speed dial for Inuyasha (number one was reserved for his mother), and waited for it to ring once before hanging up, effectively leaving a missed call on his friend's cell phone. A minute later he received the same thing, and was careful not to answer the call. It rang once – another missed call from Inuyasha. This was their signal to say they were leaving the apartment. It was effective – they both understood it – and saved them a minute on their calling plan every morning.

About four minutes later, they were in front of Starbuck's. Both of them lived right off campus, and since they both had a class on Wednesday morning, they would have breakfast together before getting bored out of their minds by their teachers.

"Hey, man," Miroku greeted curtly when he saw his friend.

"What's up?" Inuyasha asked him when he saw that Miroku was in a bad mood. It happened sometimes – he would be in a bad mood for no apparent reason, and when Inuyasha asked him what was wrong, he would mutter under his breath and say nothing. He wasn't crazy enough to tell Inuyasha about the towels. It was too stupid.

"Nothing." Miroku walked towards the cash. "Two tall vanilla lattes," he snapped. It was their usual.

"Um, p-please," Inuyasha somewhat stammered from behind him. It wasn't his type to be – well – nice, but Miroku had been so raw he wondered how the employee hadn't hit him on the head with the cash register. He didn't miss the deathly glare Miroku sent his way. 'Must be one of those days…' Inuyasha thought.

They sat down and sipped their coffees slowly for a minute before Inuyasha told his friend about Kikyo calling him again the previous day. Miroku eyed him warily the whole time, trying to make him understand, with his eyes only, that he hated the woman and he would kick the shit out of his hanyou friend if he thought he should get back together with her.

"And my brother called me last night," Inuyasha added. Sesshomaru was Inuyasha's older brother. He was taking over the family business in a few years, when his father had finished teaching him everything he needed to know. Taisho Co. was a very important shipping business around the world. Inuyasha had been expected to do the same as his brother, and that was why his father had forced him to take business and economy classes when all he'd wanted to do was study engineering. "He's taking a break from work this weekend and wants to spend it with us." The brothers had not been close for a very long time, but things were getting better between them, and Sesshomaru was doing his best to spend time with his younger brother.

"That's great," Miroku said. "He could come out with us Friday – I'm sure it isn't healthy for him to stay in so much. He could have fun for once."

Inuyasha nodded, and glanced at his watch. "It's time to get moving, dude," he said to Miroku. His class was at twelve, so he watched Miroku get up and walk towards the architecture building. The hanyou turned his attention back to his latte, willing the image of Kikyo away from his mind.

Miroku waved at his friend and stared straight ahead. He wondered if Inuyasha was really over Kikyo. All he knew was that the woman was one of the bitchiest he'd ever met, and if he ever saw her again, he'd probably give her a piece of his mind.

He'd been so deep in thought that he didn't realize at all when he bumped into a woman. "Oh!" he said, as he scrambled to try to catch the bag that probably contained her laptop before it fell. He was caught off-guard when her hand snapped faster than his to catch it. He looked up at her and his breath almost caught. The demoness was beautiful: she had long, straight black hair, her eyes a shade of violet, and flawless and smooth-looking skin. She glared at him. "Sorry," he apologized meekly. "Miroku." He held out his hand for her to shake. She didn't budge. "Um, sorry," he said again, uncomfortable, about to retract his hand.

She cocked her head at him for a second before surprising him by shaking his hand.

"Kagura," she said.

XX

"Kagome, what am I doing Monday at three?" Sango asked her friend, sitting on the sofa across from her. They were both sitting comfortably, cradling a mug of coffee, watching Seinfeld. Kagome frowned, not seeming to remember. "I know it's something important…" Sango mused.

Kagome sighed and got out of her comfortable position to walk into her room. She and Sango shared an apartment a few minutes away from Yale, one they'd both decorated themselves. They'd done all the painting, all the planning, all the picking out… All in all, they loved their place, even if they sometimes wished it was bigger. It was close to everything and had a beautiful view.

Kagome picked up a thick day planner from her desk and started flipping the pages as she walked back to the living room. "Ah – there it is," she said. "S: Dentist appointment. Honestly, how do you forget these things?"

Sango nodded, remembering now that she'd indeed gotten a call from her dentist a week earlier because he'd moved her up in his schedule. "You would forget, too, if you didn't write everything in that sad book of yours."

Kagome frowned, slightly annoyed. "Sad?"

"It's probably so stacked that you can hardly close it anymore," Sango rolled her eyes. "Show me that." Kagome handed her the blue Longchamp day planner, one of the items she couldn't live without. She kept it in her purse whenever she went out, and never, ever forgot to write something in it. It was packed with birthdays, appointments, classes, tests, exams, calls to make, post-it's, homework, chores, laundry days… and most of Sango's appointments – the ones she was most likely to forget. As Sango had suspected, Kagome had stuck so many post-it's, glued so many business cards, and pinned so many notes, that it could hardly snap closed anymore. "You need a new one," she said.

"No!" Kagome protested. "I have everything in that one." And then she started enumerating the phone numbers, birthdays, etc, that she had stacked in that poor book.

"The leather is getting torn up at the edges," Sango went on.

"But I like this one!" Kagome protested. "Leave me alone."

Just as she said that, Sango's cell phone rang. "Kagura!" she answered happily. "Yes, yes, I did call you…"

Kagome tuned out her friend as she opened her beloved day planner. She stared at the first page of the book. The page marked '2'. No, there was no page 1. The first page of the book was the one with all the information such as name and address to fill out. Kagome had ripped out that page angrily after she'd broken up with Kouga. He was the one who'd bought it for her a little less than a year before, knowing that she needed a new one. He'd filled out the information page for her, adding little hearts everywhere.

Kagome sighed as she flipped the pages. It had been silly, but really adorable. The first pages were filled with phone numbers. So many phone numbers that you couldn't even tell which ones were her friends and which ones were just business numbers, and which ones were school related, etc. Of course, Sango's number wasn't there, Kagome thought with a smile. She'd bought her friend her phone line so many years ago, when they were still teenagers. With the permission of Sango's mother, Kagome had chosen her best friend's cell phone and her number, and had known it by heart since the first day.

The next pages were filled with time tables, for her classes. Those were filled with extra notes, even, for her to know which teacher was available when and where for questions.

Kagome heard Sango clear her throat and looked up. "If you're done staring at that book so lovingly," she said pointedly, "I have to talk to you." When Kagome just glared, Sango went on. "We're going to Euphoria with Kagura at eleven on Friday night. We'll be going there with Kohaku's car." Kohaku was Sango's younger brother. To her parents' dismay, Kohaku was a car lover. He worked at a garage, making little money, but he had dreams. When he had free time, he worked on building cars. Since Sango helped pay for some of the parts when he was short on money, he let her borrow it when she went to New York City. "We'll crash at Kagura's place, shop on Saturday, and come back Sunday."

Kagome nodded. "Up," she said to her friend. "You have class in an hour!"

Sango stuck her tongue out at her friend.

XX

Kagura walked by Starbuck's again after calling Sango. She'd just sat through two hours of Mr. Richard's rambling and she needed to relax. She stared at the spot where she'd bumped into Miroku a few hours earlier for a second, before walking into the coffee shop. She ordered a tall espresso and sat down, turning on her laptop. She checked her e-mail quickly, scanning through the important ones, the useless ones, and the school ones.

She then sat there for a couple of minutes, thinking about her next assignment. She was struggling with all the time she lost going out. She had the rest of the day off. Mentally planning four hours to study, and then two hours to start her assignment, she had little left for socializing, especially if, knowing herself, she would stop a little after every hour of studying.

Looking up, she saw her best friend Kanna walking in the coffee shop.

"Kanna!" Kagura called out. Said girl turned to her, her eyes widening a little at her surprise.

"Hey," she said as she sat down in front of Kagura after kissing her cheek. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Have you finished your project?"

Kagura sighed heavily. "No, I haven't even started, but I just sat through Richards and I need a break."

"Ugh," Kanna agreed. "If you need any help with your project, I'm here."

"It's alright," Kagura said with a smile. "I'll manage. But thanks." Kanna and Kagura both had it relatively easy: they didn't have any job, and didn't see their family often, so they both had a lot of time on their hands to study. But with Kagura's going out, Kanna often had to help her.

Kanna gave her a smile of her own and got up to get her own coffee. While she waited for it, she went back to sit down with Kagura.

"I'm going to Euphoria tomorrow," Kagura told her. She didn't even ask Kanna to come along anymore, knowing that Kanna preferred a quiet night at home curled up with a book to a nightclub. "Sango and her friend Kagome are coming with."

When Kanna just nodded, Kagura went on. "I met this guy today, while walking out of here in the morning. He bumped into me. His name is Miroku."

Kanna nodded. "I know Miroku. He's in my Tuesday class with Mr. Thayer."

Kagura's eyes widened. "Oh," she said. "Tell me about him."

Kanna eyed her friend suspiciously. "Well," she said. "I don't really know him that well. I know he spends a lot of time with a guy named Inuyasha, with whom I just had class."

Kagura glanced at her watch. It was two fifteen, Kanna had just been in class. As Kagura watched Kanna get up to pay her coffee, she thought about that. "So Inuyasha just ended class, too," she repeated to Kanna when the girl sat back down.

"Yes. I expect he'll be here any second now, he's a coffee addict." True to Kanna's word, Inuyasha walked in a minute later. "That's him," Kanna said to Kagura, nodding toward the man who'd just entered the coffee shop.

Kagura nodded. "So how have you been?" she asked her friend. We haven't spoken in so long…"

"Yeah," Kanna said. "I'm fine. Just finished that project I had to do for Mr. Prant. I'm four days early, which is great. I have a lot of free time now." Kanna was smiling, but this news made Kagura's stomach turn.

"Oh, god. I haven't reviewed my notes for yesterday's class either!"

Kanna frowned. Why did this have to happen so often? She asked a staff member to get her a piece of paper. Kanna knew Kagura's time table by heart, and more often than not, she helped her organize her time to study.

"Here," she said, writing down 'Thursday' on the paper. Tomorrow morning, you have class from ten to two. After that, you're going to spend the whole evening studying that class. Okay?" When Kagura bit her lip and nodded, Kanna went on. "Friday, since you're going out, you're going to spend your whole morning studying yesterday's class." Kagura nodded again, frowning. "After that, we'll have lunch." She said this with a smile, "And you'll spend the rest of the day working on your project."

Kagura sighed. "I'll be done by Friday then?" she asked, already thinking about what she'd be doing on the weekend.

"No," Kanna laughed. "Saturday, you can relax, but on Sunday, you have to finish that assignment."

Kagura groaned. "But it's due Tuesday!" she said. At Kanna's look, she understood that she wouldn't win this argument. She grudgingly took the schedule Kanna had written for her and placed it in her purse. She sipped her latte silently while Kanna told her about a movie she wanted to watch.

Neither had noticed the time pass, but when Kagura glanced at her watch, it was already almost three. "You have to go study," Kanna reminded her friend. Kagura sighed, placing her laptop in its case, and getting up. She knew Kanna would stay there for a while longer, checking her own e-mail before going back to her apartment to study.

As she was getting out of the coffee shop, she noticed the man named Inuyasha was still sitting close to the door, sipping his coffee and reading a copy of one of the required books for business classes. No wonder he had a class in common with Kanna. He's a hanyou, she realized. So busy looking at him, she hadn't noticed the other man who'd been holding the door open for her.

"Oh," she gasped as she turned to the door. "Oh," she said again, when she looked at the face grinning at her.

"I didn't bump into you this time," Miroku said to her, laughing. He'd been holding the door for her for a couple of seconds, seeing as he'd been about to enter the shop himself. She heard Inuyasha call out Miroku's name. Miroku didn't even glance at him.

"Thanks," Kagura finally said, a tiny smile on her lips. She nodded to him and walked out, a giddy feeling making her smile all the way out of campus.

Miroku looked at her walking away, and then went to sit at the table where Inuyasha was. Said man was staring at him, frowning. "Oi," he said. "Who was that?"

"That," Miroku said, "is my future girlfriend."

"Yeah," Inuyasha laughed. "You're going to go out with one of the most beautiful girl's I've ever seen. Yeah."

Miroku payed zero attention to him.

AN: Also rewritten. Very little changed, though.