Broken
They were known to the whole school as Mug Buddies. Of course the name was given to them by some smart-mouthed student and it was quickly used by both the students and teachers. To Kagome's horror she had once heard a janitor use this name. Most of the people using the silly name were kind, maybe a little excited about nothing, but not meaning anything bad. Still, there were some (namely Kikyou) who seemed to be royally displeased. And there wasn't even anything to be displeased or excited about!
Kagome was more than embarrassed about the nickname - and the indication that they were 'seeing each other' as some of the students hoped. They were just friends, meeting only at school and never speaking for long. She hoped one day Inuyasha would grow fond of her, but being his friend was enough for her, at least for now. Getting to know him, finding about what they disagreed or agreed on, what he liked to do - there was so much she had to learn about him. And, unlike some guys she had dated in the past, he was also interested in her, asking what movies she liked, if she liked animals and other things.
And why she still kept stealing his mug. To this one Kagome didn't have a straight answer yet. At least not one she could tell him.
They established a ritual, a game of sorts. From time to time one would put something in the other's cup, a little gift or a treat. Once Inuyasha gave her a tiny stuffed white dog. When the colder season finally came at the start of December Inuyasha found his mug wrapped carefully in a hand-made scarf and from that day he was wearing it every day - wrapped around his ears. Often Inuyasha could find sweets in his mug, while Kagome could find hair clips or packets of good coffee and tea. The rule was they never addressed the matter of giving little presents to each other
Each gift was met with chuckles and comments from Sango and Miroku, some other teachers sometimes adding their own teasing about the Secret Santa event taking place in the last week before Christmas, not since the second week of November. It never stopped the pair from filling the cups with stuff they thought the other could like.
Until one chilly December day Kagome came to the room to find Rin cleaning up the floor and cursing under her breath.
"What happened?" Kagome asked worriedly and approached the woman sweeping the floor.
"Careful, the shards are everywhere," Rin warned, focused on her task. Kagome looked at the floor and spotted a shard of something green with a letter K on it. There were bits of colorful paper among the shards. Rin looked up.
"I'm sorry, Kagome," she said softly. "Kikyou came in with me and saw something in your mug that made her angry. She tore the paper and broke your mug," she explained. Kagome frowned and squatted down to pick one of the bigger pieces of orange paper.
"Oh," Kagome said sadly and lowered her head. What was it? And why Kikyou broke her cup? It was so stupid, so mean of her. She picked up a piece of paper with 'me' on it. She bit her bottom lip and blinked a few times to prevent tears from gathering in her eyes.
"Oi, what happened here?" she heard a familiar, gruff voice and looked back. Miroku and Inuyasha stood in the doorway, looking at the kneeling Kagome and Rin leaning over her.
"I'll never know what you wanted to tell me," Kagome uttered sadly after looking at Inuyasha for a second. Her gaze drifted down to a piece of the card in her hand. They never spoke about the gifts, so she doubted she'd hear what was on the card.
"Kikyou broke her cup and destroyed the card inside. I'm going to tell Kaede," Rin explained to the men. "We're all adults here and it was plain rude."
Kagome didn't really care about Kikyou and her stupid act of destruction. Nothing could make her mug the same again and the card was lost. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Inuyasha crouching beside her.
"Come with me, we're going outside," he said, his voice serious, but soft. Kagome blinked and opened her mouth to say something.
"Woo-hoo!" exclaimed Miroku. "A date! I need to tell Sango!"
"Shut up! Kagome needs a new mug and we need to reach the shop before it closes!" the blushing Inuyasha growled, but Miroku was already out of the room. "Keh, idiot."
"But... The card..." Kagome whispered when he tugged her to her feet. The historian blushed darker and looked away.
"Erm, that... Well, it said: Will you go with me to see a movie this Friday? It's advertised to be a perfect movie for people who like cute fluffy animals and lots of hugs. Kinda reminds me about a certain English teacher," he said, still looking away. "I mean... It's just an offer... So if you're busy or..."
Kagome's smile was wide and bright, even if her blush was bright too.
"Okay," she said, bravely looking up at him. "First take me to the mug shop, then we can buy the tickets."
He gave her a cocky grin and took two squares of paper out of a pocket.
"I kinda hoped you'd say yes, cuz I already bought them..."
When the pair left the room they heard a very loud, very excited squeal and suddenly realized that Rin was present during their like tomatoes they fled the corridor.
