A/N: I changed the rating, as most of you have probably noticed. Thanks
for the reviews, everyone. They really make my day.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Synthetic Emotions
Kagome worked as a waitress in a fashionable cafe downtown. It was the sort of place where large parties show up for brunch, consume prodigious amounts of champagne, and leave huge tips so their servers will forgive them for being loud, obnoxious, and making special orders. Once upon a time Kikyo had been part of such parties. She rarely drank, but she would sit and watch her friends while she sipped her black tea and nibbled at her strawberry blitz. She would smile while she watched them, a very small, almost melancholy smile. Inuyasha tried not to remember that smile as he took up a position where he could easily see all of Kagome's area, and ignored the girl as she tried to smooth his presence over with her boss.
Kagome looked a little like Kikyo, though Kikyo would never have allowed herself to be reduced to waiting tables to make a living. Kikyo would have been appalled by the concept. She had worked as an 'executive assistant' at Inutaiyoukai, and had every intention of becoming a prominent businesswoman. She tended to pour every ounce of energy into that goal, to the exclusion of all else.
Kagome seemed happier with her choice. Inuyasha doubted this girl would ever cry herself to sleep over her choices. Kikyo had. Kikyo had more than once cried herself sick while she was out of the eyes of the world, because she was nothing but a glorified secretary. Inuyasha watched as Kagome smiled a dazzling, honest smile at one of her co-workers and tied a neat white half-apron over her short black skirt. Her co-worker, a young man with bleached hair and painted nails, returned her smile, offering some comment or another about customers, then stuck out his tongue.
Kagome laughed, and Inuyasha's ears swiveled toward the sound. Kikyo had never laughed like that. Kikyo had hardly laughed at all, and when she did it was usually a restrained sound deep in her throat.
For some reason, Inuyasha had been doing this all morning. He couldn't help it. He kept thinking of Kagome, and Kikyo, and he kept comparing the two. He supposed it was natural to compare the two. They were the only two people he had ever belonged to. Of course he would compare the two. . . but he was fairly sure it was more than that.
Maybe it was because they had both rejected him.
That thought made him angry, and something else. He didn't know what that something else was, but it felt as though he were shrinking, even though he was precisely the same size he'd been since the day he was activated. He focused on the anger. Anger was easier, and less uncomfortable.
The cafe opened at eight, and soon men and woman, and occasionally their youkai, been arriving. Inuyasha watched as Kagome moved among them, taking orders for various European coffees topped with whipped cream and grated cinnamon. She smiled at her customers, seeming to enjoy them. This was a little beyond the hanyou. How could someone enjoy waiting on others like that? But Kagome's expression wasn't forced at all as she distributed the cappuccinos and lattes, or balanced trays of omelets and blueberry crepes with side orders of bacon and toast.
She moved gracefully, more so than he would like to admit. She wasn't elegant like Kikyo. She was energetic and natural. Vivacious, even, as she gently rebuffed a male customer's advances. She was just plain alive.
And Kikyo was dead. If she hadn't turned him off, he would have been able to protect her. . . Somehow, Inuyasha could put anger behind that thought. It just made him feel empty. . .
The hanyou shook his head. 'It doesn't matter now,' he told himself firmly. "It's passed.' He turned his attention more firmly to Kagome, and felt a growl begin in his throat as he watched her once again dealing with the same customer, still flirting with her shamelessly. The man wasn't actually trying anything, so he couldn't beat him to a bloody pulp, but something should be done about this.
Inuyasha was considering the best course of action to take with this dense Romeo when he noticed someone else. Another man was sitting in the other waiter's section of the cafe, but he was staring at Kagome with unwavering eyes. He was a lanky young man, maybe twenty or so, with obsidian hair and brown eyes. Inuyasha didn't like the smell of arousal coming off of him, nor the heat in his gaze. The hanyou's growl changed pitch, becoming deep and threatening.
Without taking his attention of the young man, Inuyasha motioned Kagome over with his hand. He felt Kagome's glare, but didn't acknowledge it. After a moment, she hissed at him in passing. "Do you think you can make me come just by wiggling your fingers?"
"I know I could, but you said no," Inuyasha retorted without thinking. It took him a moment to realize what he'd said, and when it sunk in he finally tore his eyes off Kagome's (other) watcher and met the girl's shocked and irate expression. That was as close as they'd come to talking about the events of the previous night.
"Just get your ass over here," the Companion youkai said uncomfortably.
Kagome shook off her shock and she fixed Inuyasha with a look that would have frozen mercury, but she still walked over to where he was leaning.
"What do you want?" she asked sharply, wiping her hands on her apron. "I don't have time to play with you." "Do you know that bastard?" he asked her, pointing with a jerk of his chin.
Kagome followed his motion, and her furious expression faltered. "Not again," she muttered, then louder, "Don't worry about him Inuyasha. He's just an ex. I'll deal with him."
"Don't. He's been watching you," the hanyou warned. He really didn't like the guy now. His scent coming from him had shifted dangerously when he saw Kagome and Inuyasha talking. The new sharp anger smell had not diminished his arousal. If anything, it had amplified it.
"You've been watching me, too," Kagome shot back. Of course, she couldn't smell what Inuyasha did.
"Believe me, I don't want the same thing he does."
"I said, I'll deal with Eiji," the girl said coldly, once again drawing all Inuyasha's attention to her.
'Did I say something wrong?' he wondered, seeing her stern face, but smelling a pang of sadness. This girl made no sense whatsoever.
"Excuse me, but I have to get back to work," she finished, then hurried away to apologize to an elderly couple for the wait. Within seconds her smile was back, though it was not as honest, and every so often her eyes would dart nervously to look at Eiji. The young man, for his part, never looked away from her. What the hell did he want?
*~*~*
Kagome was suddenly finding it harder to be cheerful for the customers. Inuyasha was bad enough, with his impassive, molten gold eyes that blinked somewhat less than would have been normal in a human, but Eiji's feverish gaze was quickly fraying her nerves. What the did he want? Didn't the guy take a hint?
Shortly after their break up he'd done this, just shown up at her work or at her home from time to time. Usually he didn't even talk to her, he'd just stare at her for while, then leave. Occasionally he'd ask her to come back to him. Her answer was always a resounding no. They were finished. He would just have to accept it.
It had been a month and a half since she'd last seen him. She had hoped he had finally figured it out.
Eiji caught her glancing at him and grinned. Kagome shivered, and made her decision to tell him to leave.
But he beat her to it. Before she could finish delivering her order, she threw a couple of wadded bills on the table and left. The girl covertly watched him depart, and prayed that this was the end of it. Inuyasha saw Eiji's departure as well, and made no attempt to hide it. When the boy was out of sight, he looked at Kagome.
'Oh, blast him,' Kagome thought, recalling what he'd said. He was such an asshole. How could he make a comment like that? Was he making fun of her, because she'd been thinking of him like that? 'I can think whatever I like. Not that I see any reason to think of an insensitive ass like him. . . even if he would be beautiful in the shower.'
"Ah, miss?"
Kagome snapped out of her introspection, seeing that the flirty-man was waving her back over to his table. Pushing aside her thoughts, she went back to work.
*~*~*
That afternoon, Kagome's feet hurt. It was the curse of waitressing, and she still had to walk most of the way home. At least work was done for the day, and she had eighteen glorious hours until she had to go back. Too bad half of them would be spent sleeping, and most of the rest would be devoted to unpacking.
"Hey," Inuyasha called after her as she left.
"What?" the girl snapped when he caught up.
"Feh," was his reply. He didn't say anything else, just walked beside her.
After a two and a half blocks of silence, Kagome declared, "You are not coming to work with me tomorrow."
"And how are you going to stop me?" he asked. "There's no way I'm letting you go by yourself with that Eiji pervert showing up."
"Eiji is not a pervert, he's just my ex-boyfriend."
The hanyou gave her a quizzical look. "Is that what you think?"
"What else would he be?" she asked. How would he know if Eiji was a pervert, after all? He was just having some problems getting over the break up. That was it. Eventually, he'd get it through his thick skull that she and him hadn't really had a chance from the beginning, and he'd get on with his life.
Inuyasha offered no explanation, only shook his head disbelieving.
Kagome sighed, deciding not to pay any more attention to the hanyou. "Just don't trust him," Inuyasha said when Kagome thought the conversation was done.
"What makes you say that now?"
"He's coming this way," he told her.
"How do you know that?" the girl demanded, growing tired of his cryptic information.
"And he smells like alcohol," the dog hanyou added, and Kagome remembered one of the first things she had heard him say.
'I know you're there, bitch. I can smell you.'
Before Kagome could pursue that thought, Eiji appeared before them. And Inuyasha was right; he reeked of alcohol. The girl could smell it from more than three yards away.
"So, Kagome, is this the toy you've replaced me with?" the young man yelled at her, his words unclear. He staggered toward her, and Kagome covered her nose. 'God, has he been bathing in rum?'
"Get behind me, Kagome," Inuyasha ordered her.
"Yeah, Kagome," Eiji said, snorting a chuckle. "Hide behind your doll."
Kagome looked from Eiji to Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked as though he thought she was about to be attacked by a horde of Unregistered youkai. His fangs were bared, making him look less human, and his dog-ears were laid flat against his skull. He raised his hands, knuckles cracking as he took a defensive stance. Eiji was wobbling forward, obviously drunk. He did not make a very imposing figure, with his eyes bloodshot and his black hair a mess.
"Inuyasha, don't," Kagome said, stepping in front of her hanyou and putting her back to Eiji. "I will deal with this."
"Kagome. . ." Inuyasha said, uncertain for an instant, then angry. "Kagome- -"
"That's it bitch, deal with your own problems," Eiji slurred, his voice suddenly in her ear, his breath on her cheek. He took a fistful of her hair, and yanked back brutally. There was a 'snick' sound, and from the corner of her eye, Kagome saw metal.
*~*~*
A/N: Sorry people, but that's the end. There'd be more, but I have to be at work in half and hour. I'll write the next chapter as quick as I can, but I have a split shift today, so it probably won't be up until at least Wednesday. Sorry again. Also, please forgive any grammar errors. I spellchecked, but didn't have time to proof read this.
Until next time (which hopefully won't be too far off).
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Synthetic Emotions
Kagome worked as a waitress in a fashionable cafe downtown. It was the sort of place where large parties show up for brunch, consume prodigious amounts of champagne, and leave huge tips so their servers will forgive them for being loud, obnoxious, and making special orders. Once upon a time Kikyo had been part of such parties. She rarely drank, but she would sit and watch her friends while she sipped her black tea and nibbled at her strawberry blitz. She would smile while she watched them, a very small, almost melancholy smile. Inuyasha tried not to remember that smile as he took up a position where he could easily see all of Kagome's area, and ignored the girl as she tried to smooth his presence over with her boss.
Kagome looked a little like Kikyo, though Kikyo would never have allowed herself to be reduced to waiting tables to make a living. Kikyo would have been appalled by the concept. She had worked as an 'executive assistant' at Inutaiyoukai, and had every intention of becoming a prominent businesswoman. She tended to pour every ounce of energy into that goal, to the exclusion of all else.
Kagome seemed happier with her choice. Inuyasha doubted this girl would ever cry herself to sleep over her choices. Kikyo had. Kikyo had more than once cried herself sick while she was out of the eyes of the world, because she was nothing but a glorified secretary. Inuyasha watched as Kagome smiled a dazzling, honest smile at one of her co-workers and tied a neat white half-apron over her short black skirt. Her co-worker, a young man with bleached hair and painted nails, returned her smile, offering some comment or another about customers, then stuck out his tongue.
Kagome laughed, and Inuyasha's ears swiveled toward the sound. Kikyo had never laughed like that. Kikyo had hardly laughed at all, and when she did it was usually a restrained sound deep in her throat.
For some reason, Inuyasha had been doing this all morning. He couldn't help it. He kept thinking of Kagome, and Kikyo, and he kept comparing the two. He supposed it was natural to compare the two. They were the only two people he had ever belonged to. Of course he would compare the two. . . but he was fairly sure it was more than that.
Maybe it was because they had both rejected him.
That thought made him angry, and something else. He didn't know what that something else was, but it felt as though he were shrinking, even though he was precisely the same size he'd been since the day he was activated. He focused on the anger. Anger was easier, and less uncomfortable.
The cafe opened at eight, and soon men and woman, and occasionally their youkai, been arriving. Inuyasha watched as Kagome moved among them, taking orders for various European coffees topped with whipped cream and grated cinnamon. She smiled at her customers, seeming to enjoy them. This was a little beyond the hanyou. How could someone enjoy waiting on others like that? But Kagome's expression wasn't forced at all as she distributed the cappuccinos and lattes, or balanced trays of omelets and blueberry crepes with side orders of bacon and toast.
She moved gracefully, more so than he would like to admit. She wasn't elegant like Kikyo. She was energetic and natural. Vivacious, even, as she gently rebuffed a male customer's advances. She was just plain alive.
And Kikyo was dead. If she hadn't turned him off, he would have been able to protect her. . . Somehow, Inuyasha could put anger behind that thought. It just made him feel empty. . .
The hanyou shook his head. 'It doesn't matter now,' he told himself firmly. "It's passed.' He turned his attention more firmly to Kagome, and felt a growl begin in his throat as he watched her once again dealing with the same customer, still flirting with her shamelessly. The man wasn't actually trying anything, so he couldn't beat him to a bloody pulp, but something should be done about this.
Inuyasha was considering the best course of action to take with this dense Romeo when he noticed someone else. Another man was sitting in the other waiter's section of the cafe, but he was staring at Kagome with unwavering eyes. He was a lanky young man, maybe twenty or so, with obsidian hair and brown eyes. Inuyasha didn't like the smell of arousal coming off of him, nor the heat in his gaze. The hanyou's growl changed pitch, becoming deep and threatening.
Without taking his attention of the young man, Inuyasha motioned Kagome over with his hand. He felt Kagome's glare, but didn't acknowledge it. After a moment, she hissed at him in passing. "Do you think you can make me come just by wiggling your fingers?"
"I know I could, but you said no," Inuyasha retorted without thinking. It took him a moment to realize what he'd said, and when it sunk in he finally tore his eyes off Kagome's (other) watcher and met the girl's shocked and irate expression. That was as close as they'd come to talking about the events of the previous night.
"Just get your ass over here," the Companion youkai said uncomfortably.
Kagome shook off her shock and she fixed Inuyasha with a look that would have frozen mercury, but she still walked over to where he was leaning.
"What do you want?" she asked sharply, wiping her hands on her apron. "I don't have time to play with you." "Do you know that bastard?" he asked her, pointing with a jerk of his chin.
Kagome followed his motion, and her furious expression faltered. "Not again," she muttered, then louder, "Don't worry about him Inuyasha. He's just an ex. I'll deal with him."
"Don't. He's been watching you," the hanyou warned. He really didn't like the guy now. His scent coming from him had shifted dangerously when he saw Kagome and Inuyasha talking. The new sharp anger smell had not diminished his arousal. If anything, it had amplified it.
"You've been watching me, too," Kagome shot back. Of course, she couldn't smell what Inuyasha did.
"Believe me, I don't want the same thing he does."
"I said, I'll deal with Eiji," the girl said coldly, once again drawing all Inuyasha's attention to her.
'Did I say something wrong?' he wondered, seeing her stern face, but smelling a pang of sadness. This girl made no sense whatsoever.
"Excuse me, but I have to get back to work," she finished, then hurried away to apologize to an elderly couple for the wait. Within seconds her smile was back, though it was not as honest, and every so often her eyes would dart nervously to look at Eiji. The young man, for his part, never looked away from her. What the hell did he want?
*~*~*
Kagome was suddenly finding it harder to be cheerful for the customers. Inuyasha was bad enough, with his impassive, molten gold eyes that blinked somewhat less than would have been normal in a human, but Eiji's feverish gaze was quickly fraying her nerves. What the did he want? Didn't the guy take a hint?
Shortly after their break up he'd done this, just shown up at her work or at her home from time to time. Usually he didn't even talk to her, he'd just stare at her for while, then leave. Occasionally he'd ask her to come back to him. Her answer was always a resounding no. They were finished. He would just have to accept it.
It had been a month and a half since she'd last seen him. She had hoped he had finally figured it out.
Eiji caught her glancing at him and grinned. Kagome shivered, and made her decision to tell him to leave.
But he beat her to it. Before she could finish delivering her order, she threw a couple of wadded bills on the table and left. The girl covertly watched him depart, and prayed that this was the end of it. Inuyasha saw Eiji's departure as well, and made no attempt to hide it. When the boy was out of sight, he looked at Kagome.
'Oh, blast him,' Kagome thought, recalling what he'd said. He was such an asshole. How could he make a comment like that? Was he making fun of her, because she'd been thinking of him like that? 'I can think whatever I like. Not that I see any reason to think of an insensitive ass like him. . . even if he would be beautiful in the shower.'
"Ah, miss?"
Kagome snapped out of her introspection, seeing that the flirty-man was waving her back over to his table. Pushing aside her thoughts, she went back to work.
*~*~*
That afternoon, Kagome's feet hurt. It was the curse of waitressing, and she still had to walk most of the way home. At least work was done for the day, and she had eighteen glorious hours until she had to go back. Too bad half of them would be spent sleeping, and most of the rest would be devoted to unpacking.
"Hey," Inuyasha called after her as she left.
"What?" the girl snapped when he caught up.
"Feh," was his reply. He didn't say anything else, just walked beside her.
After a two and a half blocks of silence, Kagome declared, "You are not coming to work with me tomorrow."
"And how are you going to stop me?" he asked. "There's no way I'm letting you go by yourself with that Eiji pervert showing up."
"Eiji is not a pervert, he's just my ex-boyfriend."
The hanyou gave her a quizzical look. "Is that what you think?"
"What else would he be?" she asked. How would he know if Eiji was a pervert, after all? He was just having some problems getting over the break up. That was it. Eventually, he'd get it through his thick skull that she and him hadn't really had a chance from the beginning, and he'd get on with his life.
Inuyasha offered no explanation, only shook his head disbelieving.
Kagome sighed, deciding not to pay any more attention to the hanyou. "Just don't trust him," Inuyasha said when Kagome thought the conversation was done.
"What makes you say that now?"
"He's coming this way," he told her.
"How do you know that?" the girl demanded, growing tired of his cryptic information.
"And he smells like alcohol," the dog hanyou added, and Kagome remembered one of the first things she had heard him say.
'I know you're there, bitch. I can smell you.'
Before Kagome could pursue that thought, Eiji appeared before them. And Inuyasha was right; he reeked of alcohol. The girl could smell it from more than three yards away.
"So, Kagome, is this the toy you've replaced me with?" the young man yelled at her, his words unclear. He staggered toward her, and Kagome covered her nose. 'God, has he been bathing in rum?'
"Get behind me, Kagome," Inuyasha ordered her.
"Yeah, Kagome," Eiji said, snorting a chuckle. "Hide behind your doll."
Kagome looked from Eiji to Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked as though he thought she was about to be attacked by a horde of Unregistered youkai. His fangs were bared, making him look less human, and his dog-ears were laid flat against his skull. He raised his hands, knuckles cracking as he took a defensive stance. Eiji was wobbling forward, obviously drunk. He did not make a very imposing figure, with his eyes bloodshot and his black hair a mess.
"Inuyasha, don't," Kagome said, stepping in front of her hanyou and putting her back to Eiji. "I will deal with this."
"Kagome. . ." Inuyasha said, uncertain for an instant, then angry. "Kagome- -"
"That's it bitch, deal with your own problems," Eiji slurred, his voice suddenly in her ear, his breath on her cheek. He took a fistful of her hair, and yanked back brutally. There was a 'snick' sound, and from the corner of her eye, Kagome saw metal.
*~*~*
A/N: Sorry people, but that's the end. There'd be more, but I have to be at work in half and hour. I'll write the next chapter as quick as I can, but I have a split shift today, so it probably won't be up until at least Wednesday. Sorry again. Also, please forgive any grammar errors. I spellchecked, but didn't have time to proof read this.
Until next time (which hopefully won't be too far off).