Four days.
That is how long Inuyasha had been in his personal hell.
Well, maybe hell was too strong of a word. Being at the animal rescue wasn't that bad. Rin and Shippo were friendly enough around him, and even went out of their way to make him feel welcome, in their own weird sort of way.
Every morning for the last two days, when Inuyasha would be dropped off at the front by Miroku, right on time, Rin would greet him from the front desk.
This was apparently her domain. The desk was lined with photos of past success stories, pamphlets on the rescue, and a vase with fake flowers. It made sense in a way; Rin was the perfect person to interact with possible customers as soon as they walked through the door.
Rin would smile and wave as he came through the door, and he would nod his head in greeting back. He had completely intended to keep moving on from there, ready to start his daily walks with the dogs.
But then there was the muffin.
He was first offered the muffin on the second morning of his community service. It was perched conspicuously on the ledge of Rin's large desk, and as he approached, the small woman's face broke out into the biggest grin.
"Goodmorning! I thought you would enjoy a nice homemade muffin. They're blueberry, I hope you don't mind!" She quickly scooted the muffin, wrapped in cellophane, towards him.
Inuyasha eyed the baked good warily. Rin seemed nice enough, too nice to play some sick prank on the new guy, so he took it in his hand, and give her a nod of thanks. It appeared that was all the gratitude she needed, because now it seemed to be a reoccurring thing: every morning, there was a muffin just waiting for him.
And every morning, he took it and had it at lunch.
Shippo took a different approach, using much more guy-oriented gestures to include Inuyasha. He would join the hanyou in the break room for lunch, where they made normal small talk with each other, which Inuyasha was grateful for. He didn't like long, drawn out conversations. He was more of a listener.
Usually during lunch, Rin would join them and carried the majority of the talking. She always had a crazy story to tell about any new dates she had been on or weird things happening at her home. Rin was convinced that her house was haunted, and usually had a good story to share about any "experience" she had recently with the supernatural.
Inuyasha had yet to really meet the other worker at the rescue: Sango. The woman stayed mostly out in the pastures, working in the barn with the farm animals that grazed lazily in the sun. He had asked Shippo and Rin about the mysterious girl, who were able to shed a little light on her.
"Sango and Kagome have been best friends since they were little. Close family friends or something like that." Shippo paused to take a bite out of his sandwich, not even swallowing to continue. "A couple years ago, Sango's family all died in a house fire. It was pretty bad, man."
Rin nodded, the corners of her mouth twisting down in a frown. "Sango and her cat were the only ones to survive. Kagome immediately took her in, and they've been living together ever since." Letting out a sigh, Rin sipped her daily cup of hot tea. "Kagome offered her a job here, and Sango has dedicated her all of her time to the rescue. She's the organization's photographer too. She takes all the pictures you've probably seen hanging around."
Inuyasha stayed silent, mulling this over in his head. He felt pity for this Sango woman, and understood why she would stay to herself. Losing your entire family, and being left the only one alive, he was sure came with mounds of guilt.
He could understand why Sango didn't come to lunch in the break room, but what about Kagome? He hadn't seen her eat her lunch in the breakroom, or really anywhere.
Shrugging the thought away, Inuyasha quickly munched down on his daily muffin (chocolate this morning) before heading to the back of the rescue to help the delivery guy unload this week's boxes.
"Oh, Inuyasha! I'm so glad you're here!"
Inuyasha stopped at the door, his breath caught momentarily in his chest. He had just walked out the back door where he knew the delivery would be dropped off, only to run into Kagome Higurashi herself.
She had on khaki pants together, the same Tokyo Animal Rescue logo on the breast pocket of a now red t-shirt. In her hand was the standard clipboard that it seemed she toted around everywhere she went, as well as the biggest, brightest smile on her face.
Red really complimented her complexion.
Inuyasha quickly dropped the door behind him, letting it shut with a bang. It was only then that he noticed the new guest standing beside Kagome, and closer than really necessary.
The man was tall, around Inuyasha's own height, with sandy brown hair and normal brown eyes. He was obviously human, and had the strangest expression on his face as he looked between Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Hojo." The man spoke, reaching his hand out for Inuyasha to take. Inuyasha gave a smirk and he firmly gripped the human's hand, before releasing.
"Inuyasha." He replied back, his eyes turning to Kagome as if that was all the introduction really needed. And to Inuyasha, it was.
Kagome continued that sunshine-y beam of a smile as she looked between both men, placing a small, delicate hand on Inuyasha's shirt. "Inuyasha here will be helping you unload the truck, Hojo. I'm counting on you to show him where everything goes, including the donations. Shippo will help him unpack the boxes later."
Inuyasha felt his eyes go a little wide as they glanced at the petite hand resting so fucking casually on his arm, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Hojo's eyes followed the movement as well, a small frown gracing his very boyish face.
There was a click in the background that Inuyasha chalked up to a normal building sound.
"Absolutely, Miss Higurashi." Hojo was able to tear his gaze from the contact, a small pinking of his cheek present.
Kagome gave a laugh at the formal address, taking a step back from both men. "Hojo, we've gone over this. For as long as we've known each other, you can call me by my first name!" And there went that smile again, and it was apparently contagious because before long, Hojo was smiling back.
Hojo took a step towards Kagome, small but definitely a step, before lightly placing his hand near her wrist. "Of course, Kagome."
Kagome took a step back again, breaking the contact from Hojo. Inuyasha would have sworn he saw a look, almost as if she was uncomfortable, flash in her eyes but it dissipated nearly as quickly. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth deepening into an almost scowl.
He had heard from Shippo and Rin that the delivery guy, Hojo, was infatuated with Kagome. Based on the look that had crossed the boss' face, it did not appear the feelings were mutual.
Pulling the clipboard up to rest between her crossed arms, Kagome gave one last smile as her turned around to leave, tossing a, "See you later, Inuyasha!" Behind her as she walked around the corner of the building.
After that, the two men stared at each other for a few moments, before Hojo finally broke the silence.
"Alright, just start pulling out boxes and I'll sort them. It'll make it easier to get piles formed now so we can just take them to the right spot." Without looking back, Hojo unlocked the back of the delivery truck and pulled down the ramp. Inuyasha hopped in the back, and then men began unloading in awakard silence.
It wasn't until almost time to leave did Inuyasha spot Kagome again. It seemed she was always somewhere else, busy or with her hands full. Which was fine with Inuyasha, he had a lot to accomplish during his time there, especially with how bad cleaning the cat room was turning out to be.
The only way he would figure it out was that the cats could smell the canine either in him or on him, and they fucking hated it. Every cage he opened to clean, the feline inside would hiss and swipe, which landed Inuyasha with a few decent battle scars.
Kagome had just walked out of her office, keys in hand and a big canvas bag pulled over her should, as well as a few file folders held in her own hand. Her phone was wedged between her ear and shoulder, obviously on the phone with someone.
"That's fantastic! Thank you so much, Yamato-san! I'll be sure to send over an outline of everything we will need to set up. Thank you so much!" She finished her call after that, quickly saying goodbye and clicking the phone shut.
As Inuyasha approached her, just passing in the hallway on his way to clean out a brand new battle wound from the cat room, Kagome gave a squeal and fist pumped into the air, her smile dazzling him to the point he forgot where he was going.
"You seem to be in a good mood." He stated briefly, keeping his face neutral as he came to a stop near her. She also stopped around a foot or two away in the small hallway that lead from the animal rooms to the front desk and her office. The small space made it feel they were closer in proximity than they actually were, causing Inuyasha to take a self-conscience step backwards to make space.
"I am! After all the work we've done, it's finally happening!" Noting the confused eyebrow raised on Inuyasha's face, Kagome let out a laugh that suspiciously reminded him of bells. "Oh, I forget you don't know. We've been in the works of having a fundraising carnival in a few weeks, and we have finally been cleared for the event space."
Inuyasha nodded, keeping his tone neutral, though internally he was making a face. Carnivals had never appealed to him, even as a child. The games were all rigged so you couldn't win, and he had always experienced a decent amount of bullying at carnivals.
"Shouldn't you be in one of those cages?"
"Circus freak!"
Inuyasha pushed those memories to the back of his mind, locked in a box where they should always stay.
Kagome continued to smile, tucking a piece of midnight hair back behind her ear where it had fallen. It was then thathe realized she was wearing opal earrings. It was strange really, as diamonds were the usual choice a woman would wear. A surprise, yes, but also a nice surprise.
He could recall during his time with Kikyo, the thought of her putting a metallic taste in his mouth, when she had begged him for expensive diamonds from a jewelry store they had browsed past.
She had insisted that if he loved her as he said he did, he would buy her the largest diamond her ears could hold, to symbolize his love.
Inuyasha felt, as usual, that should have been a warning sign right there.
Again, hindsight is 20/20.
"…fun, and I'm sure Shippo and Rin would love for you to join us. We do this every Thursday if we can."
Inuyasha blinked, realizing she had been talking to him this whole time and he had spaced on everything she had said.
Damn it.
Refusing to look stupid, Inuyasha just stared at her and then gave a curt nod in agreement. He at least got the part that he would be joining them somewhere.
It didn't sound terrible really, actually socializing with someone other than Miroku. The people he was working with now were nice people, who apparently didn't mind his gruff attitude and silent conversation.
The smile that broke across Kagome was the same beaming one she always gave around him, but maybe even a few volts higher. "Great! I'll go tell them now. You can ride with me, if you want. Shippo and Rin always ride together since they live so close." The offer was casual, but it was enough to catch Inuyasha off guard.
"Keh, don't trouble yourself. I can find my own ride." He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to cover up where she had surprised him. She just so easily and willingly offered a ride to someone she knew was on community service for a crime! Was this girl stupid?! "Besides, you shouldn't just be offering out rides with people you barely know! I'm here on community service remember?" His voice was gruff and irritated, although he only felt a fraction of it.
Kagome stared at him for a moment, her blue eyes flashing at his tone, her voice coming out much harder than he had heard it before. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much. But fine, if you don't want a ride, suit yourself." She pushed past him and started walking away. Before she turned the corner to head out to the front desk/Rin's kingdom, she stopped and looked back at him over her should. "….If you change your mind, I'll be outside in 30 minutes. Blue Toyota."
And then she was gone.
Inuyasha growled lowly, frustrated with himself over snapping at her. She was just trying to be nice, for fucks sake, and as usual he had to be an ass.
Walking back to the break room to collect his backpack, Inuyasha's spirit was lifted when he remembered that he brought an extra shirt to change out of as soon as he left.
He grabbed the bag quickly from his locker and grabbed the bottom of his old shirt, lifting it quickly over his head.
While bent over looking for this other shirt, the door to the break room swung open.
"Rin, are you in her-WHAAA!"
Inuyasha snapped his spine straight, turning with a scowl at whatever had made that awful noise, causing his sensitive ears to fold over on themselves.
In the door way stood none other than Kagome Higurashi, face reddening by the minute and turned sideways so she was staring down the hallway.
"I am SO sorry!" She squeaked, bring her hand up to cup around her eyes, blocking his half naked body from view. "I-I was looking for Rin! If I knew you were in here, like this, I would've never came in!"
Inuyasha let out a huff at that, feeling as if it was a slight to himself. He worked out, he knew he looked decent without a shirt; why was this woman acting as if it was the worst thing she had seen all day?!
"Keh, sorry to disappoint you that I'm not Rin. So sorry you had to scar your mind." He quickly slid the new shirt on, a black fitted t-shirt that complimented his dark washed jeans. "I'm covered, so you don't have to hide your eyes anymore."
Kagome slowly brought her hands down, the blush never leaving her face. If his pride wasn't feeling a little wounded at the moment, he would've almost called the color of her cheeks very flattering to her face and complexion.
"I-I-I'm just going to go find Rin." She stammered out quickly, and before he could reply she dashed out the door and down the hallway.
Well.
Alright then.
With that, Inuyasha pulled out his cellphone and punched in Miroku's number. There was about four rings before the letch finally picked up.
"Waaazzzzzuuppppp Innnuuuuu!" The voice on the other line slurred/sang into the phone, causing Inuyasha to ppull the speaker away, a disgruntled look gracing his features.
"What the fuck, are you drunk, Miroku?" Inuyasha was only greeted with a chuckle on the other line, or was it a giggle?
"Hell yeah I am man!"
Inuyasha sighed, "It's a Thursday afternoon Miroku, why the hell are you drunk?
Miroku's chuckle/giigle sounded again, seeming to be more high pitched. "I met these girls and I couldn't not go get a drink with them! AThen one became two and then twi became eight and…."
"Alright stop. How the fuck am I supposed to get home?" Inuyasha all but growled into the phone.
"Man I don't know but-" And after that, there were distance giggled and words he couldn't make out before the call was disconnected.
Well, shit.
Giving a sigh, Inuyasha knew he only had one choice now: Find the blue Toyota in the parking lot.
