The next morning, Kagome woke up to her new surroundings and smiled as she thought of the sweet and kind café owner. Turning over, she gasped as she saw the clothes, shoes, and makeup laid out for her. He was very thoughtful, not just the cute waitress outfit and casual dress, but knowing she would want to cover up the bruise on her face too.
"I have a good feeling about today."
InuYasha finished brewing the coffee and blew on it a little as he waited for Kagome. Said girl walked down the stairs in her new white uniform with pink piping and twirled in front of him, "what do ya think?"
His mouth dropped as he turned to look; she was absolutely gorgeous!
"You uh, it's uh, …. good."
The way he stuttered and the red tinting his cheeks, she knew he liked it and beamed at him, "what's that you got there?"
Glancing down at the food, he grinned, "breakfast, since we have to eat before the customers get here."
She sat down next to him and looked over her shoulder, "who comes to cut the food?"
"Um, no one, we tend to just do that ourselves."
Feeling embarrassed, she grabbed the knife and sawed into her sausage patty before taking a bite, moaning at the flavor, "what is this? It's absolutely mouth-watering!"
InuYasha stopped digging in and halted her movements, "wait a second, you don't know what a sausage is? Do you recognize anything on your plate?"
Looking down, she smiled, "those are eggs."
"Right, and what's this strip of meat called?"
He lifted up a piece of bacon and she studied it, "um, I don't really know."
Dropping it, he looked at her incredulously, "how do you not know basic foods?"
Clasping her hands in her lap, she frowned.
"I've been bred my whole life to be a wife one day, and I was only allowed to eat certain foods so I would be healthy and not get fat, as my father 'lovingly' put it. So, I have a strict diet of fruits, vegetables, chicken and fish; I know other things exist, but I was never introduced to any them. It may be hard to believe, but I've never been exposed to anything else. I'm…I'm sorry."
"Sorry?"
He grabbed her arms, which made her jerk her head up to look at him, "this is great! That means I can introduce you to all the things you've never had before!"
"Really?!"
"Yeah! How about this, you make a list of things you've always wanted to do, eat, read, watch, all of it, and I'll make sure we get it done."
"Will you be there to enjoy those things with me?"
Such an innocent question, but if he was honest, he wouldn't mind enjoying everything with her, "yep, I'm all yours."
His wording caught them both off guard and Kagome smiled shyly, "no jealous girlfriends to worry about then?"
Was she interested in him? Nah, she's just curious, that's all, "nope, and we'll be with each other all day and night unless you have other plans."
Shaking her head furiously, she stared with wide rich blue eyes, "no other plans at all."
InuYasha spent that morning teaching her all kinds of things when his brother and Sister-In-Law came in. Rin waved wildly at the hanyou, "InuYasha!"
Jerking to their direction, he waved them over so they could meet the new addition, "Kagome, this is my half-brother, Sesshomaru and his lovely human wife, Rin. They own half of the café with me."
Curtsying low in respect, she gave her formal greeting, "how do you do."
Rin's mouth opened, only seeing that sort of greeting in the families of very powerful men, "doing great! So, Kagome, where are you from?"
Startled, the raven-haired girl clasped her hands in front of her, "um, all over really, but my birthplace is Tokyo."
Smiling at Kagome, Rin elbowed her husband and he bowed, "nice to meet you, Kagome."
Before things could become awkward, a little kitsune child ran in and hopped onto InuYasha's head, "good morning!"
Seeming annoyed, the hanyou plucked the little boy with a puffy tail, off his head and sat him down in a chair, "did you come here to start something, Shippou?"
The little kitsune crossed his arms and pouted, "why do you always think that when I come over?"
"Because last time you started a food fight with some customer's kids, before that you put some of your crying mushrooms in the soup and it tasted terrible, then you-"
"Okay! I get your point!"
Kagome smiled wide and giggled at them, drawing unknowing attention to herself. Shippou stared with a blush, "who's she?"
"This is Kagome, and she's my new waitress. Kagome, this mischievous runt is Shippou, Rin and Sesshomaru's adopted son."
Lightly poking his nose, she beamed at him, "nice to meet such a cute little thing like you."
He reddened even more, "hey! Don't treat me like a kid! I'm a great fox demon!"
Smiling apologetically, she leaned over with her arms behind her, "I'm so sorry to have offended you, Shippou. Please forgive me, you're just so cute."
Having a beauty like her say such things, Shippou puffed his chest out and grinned, "I can forgive you this time, just don't let it happen again."
InuYasha pulled Kagome away by her shoulders and glared at him, "Kagome is my employee and you don't have a right to talk to her like that, runt."
The little Kitsune turned to Rin, "Mom, can I stay here for the day?"
Sesshomaru lifted a brow, "that is what you want? What about staying with Lady Kaede and seeing Sukiyomi?"
Glaring at his hanyou uncle, Shippou leaped into Kagome's arms, "I like it here more."
Suddenly, InuYasha felt a possessiveness rise up and yanked him out of her arms, "what do you think you're doing, cozying up to Kagome like that?"
"Isn't it obvious? When I'm older, I'm going to marry her."
Taken back, everyone stared at him, but Kagome smiled gently at him, "Shippou, I'm very flattered, but you should find someone your age, after all, I'll be old and unfit to be a bride by the time you're of age to marry."
Sighing, he agreed, "I guess you're right."
"Good, now tell me about Sukiyomi."
"What about her?"
InuYasha set him down on the table as Kagome spoke, "what's she like?"
"Well, she's nice, kinda quiet but she always does good deeds without others knowing, and she's really pretty."
"So, do you like her?"
"She's a good friend of mine."
"Then spend time with her while you can. Don't waste a single moment of this life by passing up chances. Who knows…maybe you two will get married one day."
That thought made Shippou feel embarrassed, but he didn't mind the idea, "she'd make a pretty bride."
"I'm sure she would."
Hopping off the table, Shippou jumped onto Rin's shoulder, "let's go see Sukiyomi."
As they walked out, InuYasha found himself smiling knowingly at her, which made Kagome turned around to looked at him, "what?"
"I see what you did there. Smart thinking."
"I read a book once that had a similar situation in it and thought I'd give it a try. It was the only book someone snuck in for me to read without my father's consent, but then…"
"Then what?"
He saw a shadow pass over her eyes, "my servant girl, Yui, was severely punished for it and the book was destroyed."
"Your father hurt her?"
"Yes, because she broke the rules."
He almost hated asking, but felt a need to know.
"How did he punish her?"
Without realizing it, a single tear fell from her eye, "she was beaten and whipped, then sent to another station. The girl that took her place would fill me in on how she was doing, but I knew it was my fault she was hurt."
Leaning against the counter, he furrowed his brow, "how can your father get away with treating people like this, including his own daughter?"
"All I know is that my father is a very important person."
"But, why all the rules on you, and why get so angry for you reading a book?"
She didn't answer because she had no answer to give, and something clicked for the hanyou. This girl was being bred for someone, and her father was going to benefit from the union; perhaps he was in the underground. If so, then Kagome would be in danger if she had stayed there.
"Kagome, I think it's safe to say you're better off here with me than back with that monster."
Jerking her head to him, she couldn't stop the small blush, "I…I feel the same way."
He smiled and moved an unruly strand of hair away from her eye, tucking it behind her ear, "as long as you're with me, I'll protect you and never let him have you back."
The gesture and words touched her heart more than she would ever admit and she smiled, "yes, let me stay by your side."
After their moment, Kagome 'shadowed' him, listening to him make light conversation as he took customers' orders before going to the back and making it. She was mesmerized by all he could do, but was so confused as to why he didn't have more help, until she noticed the small number of customers that came. He didn't need any help.
Once InuYasha closed everything up, she sat down and stretched, "that was a nice day."
Locking the front, he turned to her, "it could have been better."
"How so?"
He walked over to a framed picture on the wall, "this place used to be really busy all the time."
"What happened?"
Glancing over at her sweet face, he smiled in spite of the pain in his chest, "my mother and father passed away about six months ago and this place has been slowly dwindling down ever since."
Kagome stood up and walked over to him, also looking at the picture, "you're all so happy."
"We were."
It was a short comment, but she could hear the sorrow in it and lightly touched his shoulder, "I'm sorry."
Turning from the picture, he gave Kagome a small smile, "it's okay, I have a feeling that things are gonna start looking up."
She blushed and started walking to the back door, "come on, let's go home. I have a whole list of movies that I'm dying to see."
Watching her walk off, he smiled softly, "this girl is something else."
Following at her, they sat on the couch and binged on a few great classics before nodding off in front of the TV.