"I swear to christ, Fox, if you demand 'Puppy Chow' ice cream one more goddamned time, I am gonna put you back on bathroom duty!" Inuyasha barked, watching as the short red-headed demon and the slightly taller black-haired kid giggled at him.
"You said to suggest a new flavor. So I suggested a new flavor," Shippō retorted, then elbowed a giggling Sōta in the ribs. "And you already have me on bathroom duty."
It had been a month since Kagome signed the work permit and he took the kid on. Four weeks of twelve days of thirty-six hours with his new employee. And Inuyasha had to admit, Sōta was a good worker. He charmed the old ladies, and made the little kids giggle. He also knew how to scoop the perfect circular scoop, add just the right amount of toppings to a sundae, and leave the mixer on long enough for a malt to be perfectly blended, but short enough not to melt the ice cream. And Inuyasha was also fucking relieved that Sōta was keeping up his grades and playing video games, like a kid was supposed to.
"Inuyasha, isn't puppy chow just chocolate, peanut butter, and Chex?" Sōta asked, far too innocently (especially paired with Shippō's smirk).
"Just because your favorite flavor is chocolate peanut butter, doesn't mean that adding Chex mix will make it better," Inuyasha growled. "Especially since the fox will be so insufferable I'll be forced to fire him."
Unfortunately, everyone in that shop knew not to take Inuyasha's threat seriously, including Inuyasha. Dog Days Ice Cream Shoppe had employed Shippō for so long that Inuyasha couldn't really remember how the shop was before the fox was there. Shippō was young (for a kitsune), and had lost his parents. Inuyasha's mother had taken him in, and set him up to learn how to use the machines and run the front. And while Shippō was shit at guessing favorite flavors, he did his job well, and was now as much a fixture in their shop as Inuyasha was.
"Why don't we do a customer vote?" Sōta suggested. "You put up four ice creams, and customers drop in a coin for the one they want? You could donate it to Big Brothers Big Sisters…"
Fuck, that was actually a really good idea.
"I nominate puppy chow ice cream to be on that list!" Shippō declared.
"Go clean the bathroom fox," Inuyasha growled; Shippō rolled his eyes, but did what he was told. Inuyasha then turned his complete attention to Sōta. "Kid, aren't you in that design class at school?"
Sōta nodded.
"Good. Then I am gonna hire you for your time to make a nice lookin' banner for the contest," Inuyasha offered. "But I get to be an asshole about it until you make one I like."
"You gonna tell Kagome why my paycheck is about to get bigger?" Sōta challenged.
Inuyasha felt his ears reflexively pin back at the idea of confronting Sōta's fireball of a sister. The woman who smelled like chocolate and raspberries, who Inuyasha spent far too much time thinking about.
"Fine. I'll hire a designer then." Inuyasha folded his arms; he was not going to provoke Kagome unnecessarily. Not when all he wanted to do was see that genuine, relaxed smile come across her face.
"No! I want to do it!" Sōta backtracked quickly, the same brown eyes as Kagome's filled with worry. "I'll talk to her. And my teacher. Tell them both that I want to do the banners for extra credit or something."
This was why Inuyasha liked the kid, because when push came to shove, Sōta was serious. And resourceful.
"Fine. But I am gonna need permission from both your teacher and Kagome to let you do this," Inuyasha lectured.
"I'm on it," Sōta declared, then he pulled out his phone and began typing. "And I want to add strawberry cheesecake to the ice cream suggestions."
"You've been holdin' out on me kid," Inuyasha laughed. "First a donation competition for our next ice cream flavor, and then you suggest strawberry cheesecake?"
"Maybe ice cream was my calling in life." Sōta waggled his eyebrows.
"Well, if ice cream is your callin,' then do me a favor and get your MBA so you can run an ice cream shop like this," Inuyasha said, a smirk across his face.
"Ugh, why?" Sōta huffed.
"Because that's what I did," Inuyasha said. "Trust me, you don't want my job. Not until you have the education to deal with suppliers, accountants, hostile takeovers, and insurance companies."
"Did you know that Kagome was only like a semester away from finishing her degree?" Sōta changed the subject.
"No shit?" Inuyasha knew Sōta had just handled him, but information about Kagome was not information that Inuyasha was capable of turning down.
"Yeah. She told me she thinks Maryland will take her back, and has even thought about trying to take one class a semester again," Sōta declared. "I was gonna try to get her to do that… but I think she's waiting to see how this turns out."
Sōta gesticulated around the little shop, leaving it crystal clear what he meant. If Sōta was successful in working for Inuyasha, then Kagome could go back to school. It was a little bit of blackmail, but only a little bit, because having been around the kid for only a month, Inuyasha wasn't worried.
"Speakin' of this," Inuyasha grinned, then shot back into the back room, grabbing the envelope he'd gone to the bank that morning for, "These are supposed to be printed on the 1st of the month, but… I figured since you're not gonna be working between now and then, I could give this to you early."
Sōta looked down at the envelope in Inuyasha's hands, printed with the name "Sōta Higurashi" on it.
"My first… paycheck?" Sōta asked, thumbing at the corners of the envelope.
"Yup," Inuyasha said. "Believe me. You're gonna be disappointed when you see it."
The tinkle of the bell over the door and the intoxicating scent of chocolate and raspberries alerted Sōta and Inuyasha to Kagome's arrival. Inuyasha loved that Kagome insisted on coming and picking Sōta up from his shifts, especially on weekends.
On Sundays, Sōta worked until early afternoon, so when Kagome arrived, she was often only partly through her day. It meant that there was still a twinkle in her brown eyes, and that she smiled easily and would laugh at Inuyasha's or Shippō's jokes.
"Sis! Look!" Sōta bounded toward Kagome, waving the envelope in his hand proudly. "First paycheck!"
"Awesome Sōta!" Kagome exclaimed, exchanging a high five with her little brother before throwing a furtive glance in Inuyasha's direction.
"He hasn't experienced the disappointment of social security and taxes yet," Inuyasha chuckled. He could almost feel his ears vibrate when Kagome shared his laughter.
"Inuyasha asked me to design a contest poster and stuff for him." Sōta threw a little wink toward Inuyasha; fuck, was Sōta really asking now?
"I already texted you back about that! Get your teacher to say yes and it's fine with me," Kagome sighed, then turned to Inuyasha. "Are you sure you want to pay a 14-year old to design something for you?"
"Hell yes," Inuyasha smirked. "The only reason this place looks as good as it does is because my mother designed it. If I tried to make a contest banner, I'd lose Big Brothers Big Sisters money."
"Big Brothers Big Sisters, huh?" Kagome's smile lit up her entire body. It was the type of smile Inuyasha always tried to get her to smile, and also the type able to imprint itself on his soul.
"Well, gotta make the stakes a bit higher. Ice cream is serious business," Inuyasha said. "And these two buffoons don't need tips given what I'm payin' them, so… just made sense to put it toward a good cause."
"Hey! You never told me that we could get tips!" Shippō's voice called from the back; apparently the fox had finished cleaning the bathroom.
"You can't," Inuyasha barked at the fox. "Because I don't believe in tips; they're stupid. That's why you earn a living wage at my shop!"
"I barely live, Inuyasha!" Shippō moaned theatrically, causing Inuyasha to growl and Kagome and Sōta to laugh.
"You will be barely alive if you keep this up, fox…" Inuyasha threatened, but a threat to maim Shippō was even less believable than the threat to fire Shippō.
"If you keep this all up, soon you're going to have me asking you for a job!" Kagome teased.
Inuyasha could feel the traitorous blush come to his face. The idea of seeing Kagome every day, of watching her churn the ice cream, of teaching her the secret recipes, of… late nights in the back room together, he—well, he wanted it. But, he wanted Kagome to get to follow her dreams more.
"One Higurashi under my employ is enough… for now," Inuyasha dodged. "But… if you have to keep workin' with people who make you miserable, then… I could take you on."
Kagome's sigh rattled through the shop.
"It pays well," Kagome murmured.
"But it kills you inside," Sōta whispered, though he was fully aware that everyone could hear him.
"We'll get through," Kagome deflected.
"I saw the insurance bill you just got," Sōta growled, then ripped open the envelope that contained his paycheck. "This—holy crap. What are all these deductions?"
"Welcome to capitalism, kid," Inuyasha drawled. But the word insurance had sparked something in him. The need to take care of the Higurashis. And he could help, at least a little bit. And, technically, Sōta was an employee. "By the way, Sōta can get onto my insurance plan."
"What?" Kagome turned scrutinizing eyes onto Inuyasha.
"Yeah. A while back I got that fancy plan that let me offer it to anyone who works for me. And… Sōta works for me." Inuyasha was gonna have to see his broker to get things worked out, but he was certain this was technically true. "So… why don't I just add Sōta to our insurance plan. It'll be a lot cheaper for you, and… not that many humans work for me, so it's sort of goin' to waste."
"Are you… offering us health insurance?" Kagome looked a bit astounded.
"No. I am letting Sōta know that by workin' for me, if there was some reason he needed health insurance, well, that he could get it through Dog Days," Inuyasha retorted.
He was certain that Miroku would groan and scowl when he brought this up the next time they talked, but goddammit, why did he get the schmancy fucking plan if it wasn't for exactly this sort of reason? There was no fucking way that Kagome's cleaning gig came with insurance, so… it was the least he could do.
"Sōta, you should go down the street to the bank and deposit that," Kagome said, then turned her eyes back toward Inuyasha. "Can we talk?"
"I'll cover you, boss!" Shippō called from the cash register. "Go ahead."
Fucking fox. Inuyasha was gonna sic Kaede on Shippō if he kept this up.
"Y—yeah," Inuyasha said, "But… somewhere where the red-headed terror can't hear us."
"I heard that!" Shippō shouted, but they were both already out the door.
"Why are you doing this?" Kagome asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Doing what?" Inuyasha knew that playing dumb wouldn't work, but… he wasn't exactly ready to admit the answer that question to himself.
"Hiring a 14-year old kid. Then offering to put him on your health insurance," Kagome snarled under her breath. "Why? What are you getting out of this?"
"Besides a good-ass employee?" Inuyasha swallowed the full truth, deciding that a half-truth would do. "Because it's what my mom would do."
"So… we are charity to you." Kagome's voice was losing the venom, which was being rapidly replaced with despair.
"No. Never." Inuyasha turned his eyes toward the luminous brown eyes of the woman he never stopped thinking about. "You… well, you and Sōta remind me of what it was like at the beginning. Back when mom started the shop. Back when… being a single mother of a half-demon kid meant that no fucking landlords would rent to her." Inuyasha remembered dyeing his hair with shoe polish once, in an attempt to look more "human" and help his mom. He remembered her crying all night that night. "And shit. If I can do something as easy as hiring a hard-working employee and allowing that employee to use my insurance plan, then why the hell wouldn't I?"
"He told you he's doing this to help me go back to school, didn't he?" Kagome ripped her eyes away from Inuyasha's and looked down. "He told you I was only a semester away."
"So what if he did?" Inuyasha wasn't going to let Kagome have the conversation that Kagome was obviously trying to push. "Your brother is one of those rare teenage boys with a heart. He cares about you a whole hell of a lot. He doesn't want you to give up your dreams for him, just as much as you don't want him giving up his dreams. And if all I need to do to make that a little easier is make a phone call to add someone to Dog Days' insurance policy, well then sign me the fuck up."
"The markets aren't so bad." Kagome's excuse meant she was retreating.
"Mine is better. And cheaper." Inuyasha pressed his advantage. "And if you ever met Miroku, you'd want to make his day a little worse too."
"So that's it, huh? Sōta reminds you of you and I remind you of your mom?" Kagome asked, and Inuyasha didn't miss the little blush that appeared across the bridge of her nose.
"Sōta does remind me of me," Inuyasha said. "But you Kagome, you're… your own thing. At least to me."
"And… you'd offer the insurance to anyone who works for you, not just… for 14-year olds with dead parents?" The way Kagome asked Inuyasha had his heart breaking a little.
"Yeah. Anyone, whether they work for me for an hour or full time, can get in on my health insurance," Inuyasha reassured, making sure Kagome saw the promise in his eyes.
"Well, I guess… if it makes things easier for Sōta, and you really do have a plan like that, I suppose we can add him," Kagome said, the blush getting darker but a smile appearing back on her face. "By the way… you—you didn't try to guess my favorite ice cream today."
Inuyasha laughed. Right. Their little routine. He was so caught up in Sōta's paycheck and design class and the ice cream contest, so fixated on insurance, that he forgot to ask Kagome his favorite question, in part, because he hadn't found the answer yet: the only person ever that he had a hard time with.
"Right… hmmm." Inuyasha crouched down, making himself shorter than Kagome, both to capture her eyes and to see her smile. "You're a mystery wrapped in an enigma, Higurashi… what about…" Inuyasha rubbed his chin to consider her sweet scent, her full lips, her luscious hair. "Strawberry cheesecake."
He wondered if Sōta's suggestion was a clue as to what Kagome liked. Though it still drove him crazy that he could not tell for himself.
"Still a no," Kagome giggled, wearing her enthralling smile, then she put her hands on both of Inuyasha's shoulders, causing little tendrils of electricity to travel down his body. "Better luck next time!"
And she turned to walk toward the bank and catch up to Sōta.
"I'm gonna figure it out one day, you best believe it, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted as she turned and gifted him a wink. "You best believe I'll find your favorite flavor."