(AN: okay well my last chapter wasn't totally centered around Kagome and Inuyasha, but I had to develop the angst a bit before moving onto them, sorry! R&R)
The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Zuki had kept her mind occupied with studying, band practice, and dancing. The only times she thought of Bank was a night after she went to bed. Zuki found herself spending a lot of time with Kagome. Inuyasha was at her house almost all the time, so Kagome spent most of her time out of the house. The last two band practices she had hung out at, giving them welcomed critiques. She even started to hang out at Zuki's dance studio. Monday after school, Zuki was going to take Kagome to the studio and see if she could get her a job in the store. They were sitting in their usual lunch spot, the stairs leading up to the roof, happily chatting while eating lunch with Sango and Ayame. Zuki had made a point to start sitting in the front of the class as far away from Bank as she could, at first he tried to talk to her, but soon he took the hint and shut up.
"Hey, I need to use the bathroom," Zuki said standing up and closing her bento box.
"Oh, I do too, mind if I come along?" Kagome asked closing her box as well. Zuki smiled and shook her head, the two girls walked to the nearest girls restroom smiling. After using the bathroom, they started to head back to their spot but halted when they saw a nerve wracking scene. Kikyou had Inuyasha pressed up against a wall and was kissing him furiously. Inuyasha wasn't as into it as Kikyou, but he wasn't stopping her. Zuki gaped at the two, amazed at how bold they were when she heard a small noise to her right. Zuki looked down at her friend and saw the tears start to pool. Inuyasha also heard Kagome and tore away from Kikyou's lips to look at her. Inuyasha made a small sorry sound and made to go to her but Kagome shook her head before running in the other direction. Inuyasha looked to be truly sorry that Kagome had seen that, Kikyou however had an evil smirk on her face.
"Happy that you're hurting your cousin? Kono joro!" Zuki yelled at Kikyou, effectively turning her smirk into a sneer.
"Say that to my face bitch!" Kikyou yelled back. Inuyasha had grabbed Kikyou's arm to keep her from punching Zuki.
"I just did! Don't bother holding her back Inuyasha, I could break her pretty little ass any day of the week," Zuki spat before turning and running after her friend. Zuki found Kagome sitting in a stairwell crying silently. Zuki sat next to her friend and put an arm around her shoulder.
"Shh, it will be okay," Zuki said soothingly.
"H-how?" Kagome choked out burying her face in her hands.
"Inuyasha will realize what a cold hearted bitch Kikyou is and come running to you," Zuki said saying anything to calm her friend down before they had to go back to class.
"I just don't understand what I did, I can't help that I fell for Inuyasha, why is she treating me this way?" Kagome said her voice a bit steadier.
"I don't know sweetie, she might be jealous, she has been in a coma for almost a year, while you've gone to school and had fun, she had been withering away in a hospital bed," Zuki said looking at the wall in front of them. The warning bell rang but neither girl made a move to go to class, by the time the second bell rang Kagome was calming down.
"Want to go back to class?" Zuki asked softly. Kagome took a deep breath before standing up and nodding. Zuki smiled at her friend and followed her to class, they both knew they would get the third degree from their teacher for being late for class, but they didn't care.
"Higurashi, Tanaka! What is the meaning of this?" Their math teacher demanded. Both girls bowed deeply while muttering their apologies.
"I will inform the principal, take your seats," she muttered before turning back to the board. Zuki and Kagome kept their head bowed as they made their way to their seats. Ayame scribbled a quick note and passed it to Zuki.
Where were you two?
Zuki opened it when the teacher was writing something on the boards before scribbling back her answer.
We ran into Kikyou, I'll explain after school.
Zuki passed the note back to Ayame and started taking notes so she wouldn't fall behind.
Kagome and Zuki were sitting on the benches outside the school waiting for Ayame and Sango. Zuki had noticed that Inuyasha and Kikyou were talking under a tree standing very close. Zuki knew that Kagome had noticed but wasn't going to say anything to her about it.
"Hey you two!" Ayame said happily running over to them, "Ready to go?" Ayame stopped in front of them her skirt rustling around her legs.
"Not quite yet, we haven't seen Sango…," Zuki trailed off. At that moment they heard a woman's very angry voice and the sound of a man pleading with her.
"Please my dear you know I only have eyes for you."
"Save it hentai!"
"But Sango dearest."
"I said I don't want to hear it!" A resounding smack filled the air and a seething Sango stomped over to the three girls.
"What did he do this time?" Zuki asked trying to hide her grin.
"I caught him flirting with some lower classman," she growled sending a glare over to her almost boyfriend. Kagome let out a small giggle and the glare was turned on her.
"Oh come on Sango, you know how he is, he really does only have eyes for you," Kagome said standing up. Sango mumbled something incoherent as a blush crept onto her cheeks. Zuki watched as Miroku walked over to where Inuyasha and Kikyou had been, Kikyou kissed Inuyasha before letting him leave with Miroku. Zuki thought it had been a trick of the light but Inuyasha didn't look happy when Kikyou had kissed him.
"Well now we are ready to go," Ayame said happily. Kagome smiled at how happy Ayame was. Things between Ayame and Kouga had been going really well, after the festival Kouga had made it official between them. A few of the girls who were part of the judo club at school were highly upset, but Kouga just ignored them. The four girls started to the subway station talking about their day, Sango had been put in a different homeroom class for their last year so they had to hear about being in class with Inuyasha, Kouga, and now Kikyou. Miroku had graduated two years previously and was attending university in Tokyo, he did however always come after school to pick Sango up. Nothing remarkable had happened in class, Sango had a few choice words for Kikyou that made Kagome blush and laugh a little. Kagome and Zuki said their goodbyes to their two friends. Usually Ayame rode home with Zuki but today Ayame was going to her grandfathers place. Miroku would pick Sango up a lot, unless Miroku hadn't done something to piss Sango off, then she would take the train. Miroku's parents had died when he was little, but he was adopted by a very wealthy, somewhat alcoholic, business man. Miroku's adoptive father was the co president of the company that Yasu worked for. Mushin, the man who raised Miroku, had started to company with Taisho, Inuyasha's father. After Taisho divorced his first wife, he met Inuyasha's mother and married her, sadly soon after Inuyasha was born, Izayoi had died of some unknown disease, Taisho hadn't been himself since and died a few years after. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had inherited their fathers wealth, Sesshomaru was still young but made sure that his little brother was taken care of. While Inuyasha was just as wealthy if not more then Miroku, he didn't flaunt it by buying a car, he stuck with a nice motorcycle, only borrowing Sesshomaru's car when he needed it. Zuki had always thought it was interesting that Inuyasha seemed to deny his heritage and tried his best to fit in, Zuki figured it was because he was a hanyou. Nowadays most people didn't care about it, Zuki's uncle had married a panther demon and they had two children. Zuki was pulled out of her musings when the train arrived at their station. Kagome had never been to the studio Zuki worked and danced at, but she was excited to see it.
"My mother tried to get me to do ballet when I was little, I was horrible at it, just too clumsy," Kagome laughed as they walked up to the front desk. Zuki smiled but caught a glimpse of Bank in the store, which stopped her smile.
"Ah Suzuki-chan, what a pleasant surprise, and who is this?" The woman who owned the studio asked.
"This is Higurashi, Kagome Ikeda-san," Zuki said presenting her friend.
"It is an honor to meet you Dazai-San," Kagome said bowing.
"And I you Higurashi-chan. Now Zuki-chan, what can I do for you," Ikeda asked her long time pupil.
"Well, Ikeda-san, I was wondering if Kagome would be able to work with me in the store. She spends so much of her time there already, she knows all about the product, and I would really love to work with her," Zuki said trying to keep the begging out of her voice as much as she could. Ikeda touched her chin while looking over Kagome.
"Well, I don't see why not!" Ikeda said with a big smile.
"Oh thank you so much Ikeda-san," Zuki said bowing in thanks. Kagome also thanked her with a bow.
"Now, you are scheduled to work in ten minutes Zuki-chan, how about you get Kagome situated and then train her for your shift," Ikeda said going back to her desk.
"Yes Ikeda-san, thank you again," Zuki said with another bow. Zuki grinned at Kagome before pulling her to the store. Zuki tried to ignore Bank as she started showing Kagome how to work the register. Today was the first time Zuki saw Bank outside of school and she was nervous. Thankfully, he seemed to be taking what she had said to heart and wasn't trying to talk to her more then normal work conversation. It only took about two hours to get Kagome used to all the procedures with the store, Zuki decided that she would give Kagome some practice at the register while she went and organized the back room. Zuki carried the box of tights out to the store floor and began putting them away, she heard the jingle of the door alerting them that they had a customer.
"Hello, welcome to Mura- what are you doing here?!" Zuki hear Kagome gasp. Zuki stood and looked around to see Miroku and Inuyasha walking through the door. Zuki quickly walked over to her friend to give her some much needed support.
"Hello, Zuki-san, Kagome-san, can two friends not visit each other at their places of work?" Miroku said kindly.
"Save it Miroku, who told you we would be here?" Zuki asked trying to prevent Inuyasha from talking to Kagome as much as possible.
"We overheard Sango and Ayame on the train," Inuyasha said not taking his eyes off Kagome. Zuki stepped in front of Kagome so it would be hard for him to look at her.
"That's nice, now what are you doing here?" Zuki asked glaring at Inuyasha. Miroku looked slightly worried looking between his two friends. Zuki was sending a death glare towards him that could rival Sesshomaru's.
"Kagome, I want to talk to you," Inuyasha said trying to look around Zuki. Zuki growled before turning around to face her friend.
"You don't have to talk to him, I'll make them leave if you want, but it's up to you," Zuki said softly. Kagome was chewing her thumbnail looking at the ground before glancing up at her friend.
"I'll talk to him," she said softly. Zuki nodded and smiled before stepping out of the way. Kagome walked around the counter and gestured towards Inuyasha to follow her into the back room. Zuki leaned against the counter and glared at Miroku.
"Why does Inuyasha want to talk to Kagome?" Zuki asked. Miroku glanced at the back room hoping Inuyasha wouldn't hear him.
"Well, she hasn't talked to him much since Kikyou woke up, and I think he misses her," Miroku lowered his voice so Zuki had to learn in to hear him. "I think he isn't in love with Kikyou anymore, I think he fell in love with Kagome. But he feels guilty so he won't break up with Kikyou." Zuki leaned back to let his words sink in. Zuki glanced up to see the vent situated between the back room and the store.
"Hey, Bank, watch the register," Zuki said before grabbing a stool from behind the counter and walking over to the vent.
"What are you doing?" Miroku hissed following her.
"Trying to hear what they are talking about," Zuki whispered back as if it was obvious. Miroku looked nervous but walked over to where Zuki was standing up on the stool.
"Think there's room for me up there?" He asked a mischievous grin on his face.
"As long as you keep your hands where I can see them," Zuki said moving a bit so he could crawl up. It was an awkward picture. Zuki and Miroku were holding onto the vent to keep from falling off the stool, trying to stay quiet so Inuyasha couldn't hear them.
Kagome had pulled out a box to sit on when they came into the back room.
"Well, what did you want to talk about?" She asked trying not to look at him.
"Where have you been?" Inuyasha asked crouching down in front of her.
"Around," Kagome said looking into her lap.
"We used to talk every day, now when I try to talk to you, you always have something to do or someplace to be, why?" Kagome looked up at him with a mix of anger and sadness in his eyes.
"I'm just making your 'orders' from Kikyou easier to follow, I know she told you she didn't want you to talk to me anymore," Kagome said goading him to defend Kikyou.
"I don't care what Kikyou says, you're my friend, you've been a better friend to me then Miroku has, I could talk to you about anything, and now you aren't there anymore," Inuyasha said pleadingly.
"Well, things change," Kagome looked away from him noticing two shadows in front of the vent.
"Kagome," Inuyasha said pleadingly.
"What? So you can ignore Kikyou, I can't, I have to live with her!" Kagome said her voice rising.
"I told her to leave you alone after that fight you had, she promised she would," Inuyasha said as if that settled it.
"You think she listens to you?! Are you delusional, Kikyou doesn't listen to anyone anymore!" Kagome said standing up clenching her fists.
"Then I'll tell her again," Inuyasha said standing up.
"You don't listen to her, what makes you think she will listen to you? I know my cousin, at least I thought I did. She wasn't always the warmest person, but she was my cousin, my sister! Something changed, she changed, I don't know, but she isn't Kikyou anymore, she isn't herself," Kagome said turning away from Inuyasha.
"I know, I see it too, she isn't the woman I fell in love with," he said softly.
"Then why are you still with her?" Kagome asked turning to look up at him. His eyes filled with guilt and, she thought, longing.
"She just woke up from a coma, I can't just abandon her, I need to protect her," he said begging Kagome to understand.
"No, it's because no matter who she is you will still love her, I can't change that, and neither can you," Kagome said trying to walk away from him. Inuyasha grabbed her arm and spun her to face him.
"Kagome…," the guilt in his eyes was starting to fade, being replaced with tenderness. A light pink blush covered both of their cheeks, Kagome felt her heart flutter as Inuyasha started to lean down. Kagome's eyes slowly started to close, she could feel his breath on her mouth. Kagome was prepared, it was what she always wanted, but before she could breach the distance there was a loud crash followed by many curses. Kagome opened her eyes to see Inuyasha much further away from her then he was before, his eyes filled with guilt and shame. Kagome blushed in anger realized that he was ashamed of what he was about to do and stormed out of the back room fighting the tears. Kagome rounded the corner to see a mass of limbs wriggling on the floor cursing.
"Damnit Miroku that better not be your hand!"
"I swear I don't know what you are talking about."
SMACK!
Kagome choked back a sob before she ran from the shop. Zuki saw her friend run from the store, putting all her efforts into detangling herself. After she had extracted her leg from the tangle she stumbled to her feet running after her friend, not noticing that Inuyasha was looking like he wanted to cry. Zuki didn't even listen to Bank's protests at her leaving him to run the store.
"Kagome!" Zuki shouted after her friend. Kagome stopped but didn't turn around. Zuki was a few feet away when she noticed her friends shoulders shaking.
"Kagome?" Zuki said softly reaching out to touch her friends shoulder. Kagome looked up at her friend tears in her eyes.
"He…he a-almost k-kissed me," Kagome said softly trying to hold back the tears.
"Oh sweetie," Zuki knew they would get weird looks but she just couldn't let her friend stand in the street and cry. Zuki pulled her friend into a hug before she started leading her back to the studio. The woman sitting at the welcome desk for the studio say Kagome and Zuki come through the door. Thankfully, instead of giving them the evil eye, she ran to the office door and let the two girls in for some privacy.
"Okay, Kags, why are you crying?" Zuki asked sitting her friend down in an office chair. Kagome took a few minutes to calm her tears before she responded.
"Well, Inuyasha wanted to talk to me to ask my why I hadn't been around. I told him what Kikyou had said and what she had been doing, he seemed upset that she had been treating me like that, but we got mad at each other like always. This time it was different, he almost kissed me but, I guess you and Miroku fell and he came to his senses. I'm not upset that he almost kissed me, it was the look of regret and shame that was on his face afterwards, like he's ashamed of me," Kagome said quickly and quietly.
"Kami, I'm sorry, it's my fault he didn't kiss you," Zuki said wishing Miroku hadn't tried to grope her for more reasons then one.
"No, it's okay, knowing Miroku he probably tried to grope you, I just wish, I wish he didn't look at me like that."
"Kags, he isn't ashamed of you, he's ashamed of himself I bet, well he should be. He is still with Kikyou, but Miroku told me that he hasn't been happy being with her, I think he's ashamed that he isn't man enough to do what's right," Zuki said trying to convince her friend. Kagome just sighed and shook her head, she wasn't willing to believe it.
"I'm sorry, you should get back to work," Kagome said softly looking at her lap.
"If you need me it will be okay, Bank can manage," Zuki said sitting down on the desk close to Kagome. Kagome gave her a watery smile and shook her head.
"I'm fine, I'm just gonna sit here and compose myself then head back in too." Zuki nodded, she gave Kagome a quick hug then headed back to the store.
AN: yay finally getting the story back to our fav couple :D so yeah R&R!