THE BULLY AND THE BOSS
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Author's Note: Sorry to update in such a long time...my internet was down for a *very* long time, and I had to wait quite a while before I got it back. Let's see...Mother's Day is coming up and I badly need suggestions on what to get my mom...I think flowers, but they sorta die easily if anyone noticed...
Oh, and yes, WacDonald's *is* real--at least in Inuyasha. If you notice, Kagome's friends Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi always hang out in a little fast-food restaurant called WacDonald's that's very similar to McDonald's ^_^
****
~ Chapter Three ~
We Meet Again
Oh, today was going to be the most interesting day that she ever had during work. Besides having one of her staff, Nanako, complaining about how Kagome had hired Inuyasha without an interview, she was looking forward to this day. This day was Inuyasha's first day of work, and the first time Kagome would see him in *years*.
Kagome had many things planned for Inuyasha as her restaurant's advertiser. To pay him back for all the things he had done to her in elementary school, she had designed a certain costume just for Inuyasha and ordered it. It had come in just in time for Inuyasha's first day of work.
She was working on some paperwork until Kagura came in, looking preppy and chirpy as ever.
"Ma'am, I think it's Inuyasha that's here...he's causing a bit of mayhem for our customers downstairs..." Kagura said, and bit her lip as she looked at Kagome with a serious look through her small glasses that she only had once in a blue moon. When Kagura, the chirpy, obsessive, and pessimistic had a serious frown on her face, then the situation *must've* been serious...
Kagome sighed and stood up from her office chair and followed behind Kagura. This was it...this was going to be the first time she'd see Inuyasha in years...
Kagome raised her head up high and fixed her professional-looking glasses. She brushed off any dust that was on her black suit and skirt, and stepped down the stairway behind Kagura making 'click' noises with her heels.
"There he is," Kagura said in a sharp voice, and pointed at a silver-haired young adult with her pen. Kagome frowned her eyes as her eyes were set on Inuyasha. He didn't look any different, except he was taller. His hair was exactly the same; silver, silky, and up to his neck--and he was fighting with some gangsters outside the restaurant.
Inuyasha was standing in front of three people who were obviously older than him. He pushed one of them, and one of them pushed Inuyasha, and he fell onto the pavement sidewalk. He got up and started shouting. Kagome couldn't hear what he had said, but it had ticked off the three people--they started to swing their fists at him. Kagome put on a look of disgust.
"What the hell is he doing?" She shouted furiously, and some people who were eating raised their heads to look. One woman glared at her and stood up, and took her young daughter's hand and left the restaurant.
"Ma'am, perhaps you shouldn't speak like that in public--" Kagura whispered.
"What's he doing out there, telling off thugs?! That'll encourage people to stay away from our restaurant! I'm going to put a stop to this," Kagome growled. She took off her glasses and put on her angry look, and passed the tables and the anxious stares from other people. She pushed the glass door out of her way and stood in front of the entrance of WacDonald's, with her arms crossed and an icy glare formed on her face.
"What do you people think you're doing? If you must have this fight, take it somewhere else at another time! You, get in there!" Kagome yelled, pointing at her restaurant and looking enraged at Inuyasha. He gave her a revengeful look and pushed his way inside, and the three people snickered at him and walked away.
"Stupid..." Inuyasha muttered as he walked into the restaurant.
Kagura's eyes widened as she held on firmly to her clipboard in her arms. "Ma'am, should I--?"
"No, I will," Kagome added quickly, with a flash of anger in her eyes. She walked past Inuyasha to the back counter, and when he wasn't following, she turned around and shouted violently, "Well, are you coming or not?!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming...geez, who's on PMS today?" Inuyasha growled angrily, and followed Kagome. The two of them disappeared into the back, leaving some adults with their children with strange frowns on their faces. Kagura sighed dejectedly and put her head down, and walked up the stairs.
"Just *what* did you think you were doing outside? You're giving a negative image of our restaurant, with those gangsters in front of it!" Kagome yelled.
"Calm down, you damn woman! You act as if I tried to break in here!" Inuyasha yelled back. He wasn't scared of this girl. Just because she was his boss now, didn't mean she could exactly boss him around like his slave. He was still taller, older, and stronger.
"If you do *anything* like that, you're fired. This is your first and your last warning." Kagome threatened through gritted teeth, pointing her index finger at him.
Inuyasha was taken aback. Kagome had *never* talked back to him like this before. She sure did change in seven years...
"Oooh, fiesty." He shot back, rolling his eyes.
Kagome sighed in frustration. She turned her back on him and walked towards a large cabinet, and took out a *very* weird costume.
"Oh, shit--don't tell me that I--"
"Yes, you do. As an advertiser, you have to wear this, and also sing a little jingle to it. Won't it be fun? Some of my friends would kill to have this job," Kagome explained with a smile, holding up the ridiculously lame hamburger costume.
"What?! Why do I have to wear it--and sing?" Inuyasha shouted angrily. He wasn't ready to embarrass himself on his first day.
"Because you applied for a 'visual' part of the job. There was a multiple choice question on the application if you wanted a visual, service, or a janitor job. You chose visual. Quite surprising, really, seeing that almost every application I get, it's always service...of course, they'd rather be cashiers and making burgers rather than singing a stupid song with this costume or walking around with a mop cleaning the place..." Kagome explained, and started to pick on loose strings of the costume.
"I changed my mind, I want service."
"Too late now. Also, here are the lyrics to your song." Kagome said, and dug into her skirt pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Inuyasha, who swiped it from her with a glare. He opened it, and read the lyrics out loud:
"'Put a smile on, put a smile on, everybody come on...WacDonald's is here to serve only you, come with children and grandparents too...put a smile on, put a smile on, everybody come on...' This is so retarded." Inuyasha said, looking up at Kagome's smug face from the paper.
"I know. But rules are rules. You're going to walk up the street in this costume singing that, and get people's attentions." Kagome said. Inuyasha hated that devious smile on her face. He just wanted to shake it out of her, but he had to be careful, she was his boss...
"You know what? Forget it. This is so retarded, I'm not going to do this, I quit." Inuyasha said, and threw the paper in the air and walked away.
"How will you pay your rent? Did you have any luck getting accepted at any other jobs you applied for?" Kagome asked in a false sweet voice, with her arms draped over her shoulder.
Inuyasha stopped, and turned around. "And how the hell would you know?" He asked, trying to hide it as if it was something to be shameful for.
"Usually, people who are 20 or over who apply to crappy jobs such as working for WacDonald's are usually living in an apartment or somewhere where you have to pay rent, and always have trouble getting accepted into different jobs because they were a drop-out in high school and doesn't have the educational standards to apply to better jobs, such as a computer specialist for a bank or something." Kagome said.
Inuyasha blinked in confusion.
"It means you're not smart enough to get into better jobs, so you're stuck with stupid jobs like these low-class ones. It's good for me, though, a manager of a successful fast food restaurant usually gets a good deal of money. Plus, I get free fries sometimes." Kagome added a smile, but a pitiful smile.
"I'm only doing this for today," Inuyasha growled furiously as he swiped the costume from Kagome's hands.
"Nope. Forever, until you quit or get dismissed from this job." Kagome answered, shaking her head.
"A year."
"5 months."
"2 months.
"4 months."
"A week!"
"3 days."
Inuyasha contemplated this deal, and grinned. "Fine, deal. 3 days."
Kagome shrugged, with the smile still on her face. "Fine, after 3 days, you can do service work." She said. 'It's still worth seeing you embarrass yourself for three days than nothing.' She thought evilly.
~~~~
"Mommy...I'm scared!"
"It's okay, honey, it's just a singing burger..."
"PUT A SMILE ON, PUT A SMILE ON, EVERYBODY COME ON!" Inuyasha was yelling more than singing, and he and Kagome had reached a decision that he can wear dark sunglasses to hide his face. In Kagome's opinion, she didn't care if Inuyasha felt embarrassed and no one knew it was him--she just wanted him to feel embarrassed.
"With more enthusiasm!" Kagome yelled from her office window, as she looked down at Inuyasha who was walking up and down the street. Many people seemed to be avoiding him with weird glances at him, and she knew he wanted to die right now, which just amused her even more.
"Hey, screw you! You can't tell me how to sing!" Inuyasha shouted across the street, waving his fist at Kagome.
"Watch your language; I can fire you for that!"
"Now you're just blackmailing me! You can't fire me for not singing right!"
"I can, for you yelling across the street and cursing at me in front of little kids and concerned parents!" Kagome said, and couldn't help but snicker under her breath a bit. A woman walked past him, giving him the coldest look that Inuyasha has ever received in his life, holding a little boy's hand.
Inuyasha put his arm in front of him, which to Kagome assumed that he was trying to flip the finger at her but she couldn't see it because he was wearing a fat burger glove. She smiled sweetly and waved at him.
"Yes, I *know* it's a nice day outside, Inuyasha!" She yelled, and closed the window and the curtains.
~~~~
"No way--Inuyasha, that old bully from elementary? He's working for *you*?"
"Yup."
"Inuyasha?! As in, that silver-haired dude always hanging out with Kouga, Naraku, and Miroku?"
"Yup."
"No way..."
"I know."
"No way! Kagome, you can torture him with all the things he did to you...when I found out what he did with that video recorder filming us acting a part in his 'movie'--it pissed me off so much, but I couldn't confront him, he had all these guys backing him up...and also, after you left, there were rumors about you putting a fake image and being preppy..."
"Sango, it's alright now. It's the past. Besides, I'm having fun watching Inuyasha singing a stupid jingle in the lamest costume I have ever seen." Kagome spoke into the phone, and looked out the window. Inuyasha seemed to be getting bored, and more embarrassed than ever. She snickered.
"For real? Kagome, if I were you, I'd give that boy the most difficult time of his life..." Sango said, and trailed off into silence.
Kagome sensed the oddness in Sango's tone, and asked, "Sango...? What's wrong?"
There was silence between them for a while.
"Gizo and I broke up." Sango answered.
"You mean *he* dumped *you*." Kagome corrected, and sighed into the phone.
"Yes, well, I sort of--" There was a blocked silence. "--hold on a sec, someone's on the other line...oh, Kagome, it's Gizo on the other line. Can I call you back?" She asked hesitantly.
"Um, sure," Kagome stammered, before the two of them hung up. She placed the phone down, and heard someone come into her office.
"Don't I get a break or anything?!" Inuyasha demanded, taking off the head part of the costume.
"No," Kagome answered simply. "And next time you come into my office, you *knock* first. And who told you that you could get off your shift?" She glared.
"This is stupid. You wouldn't embarrass yourself wearing a lame costume like this for a small fee, would you?" Inuyasha said.
"No, I don't have to. And you get greater fees as you get promoted, too. So don't think I pay cheap money for people who embarrass themselves. I pay them quite well, mind you."
"You can get promoted in *advertising*?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief.
"Sure, from a burger costume to a milkshake one." Kagome said, as she put away her paper files in the right drawers in her desk.
"I'm only doing this for three days, remember?" He reminded.
"Yeah, I know. But during those three days, you're going to have to work as the advertiser you applied for. Now, go back to work!" Kagome ordered in a snappy voice.
Inuyasha growled.
"If I didn't need the money, I'd quit," he mumbled in a snarling voice.
"Uh huh--what?" Kagome asked, paying more attention to her files than to Inuyasha.
"I said I would quit if I didn't need the money! This is retarded. You and I both know why you're torturing me like this on purpose. People are allowed to switch from 'visual' to 'service' anytime...I checked on it," he lied. Inuyasha took off the burger gloves and whipped them against Kagome's desk. "Fucking costume..."
Kagome, however, remained calm. She had her hands folded on her desk and leaned in close to blink at Inuyasha through her spectacles. "Unlike you, Inuyasha, I don't let what happened in the past get in the way of professional business. I am here to run a restaurant, and you are here to work for me as you applied so. I am also here to pay those who work for me with respect. If you do this again, you'll be fired. You're rude, disrespectful, and noisy in front of my customers. Now leave." She said, and made a motion with her hand for him to get out.
"Hey, you might as well fire me right now because I'm not going to get all polite, sweet, and kind just to keep this job. Don't you *ever* think you're the boss of me, woman. Maybe you should take the time to realize why people hate you so much. You're bossy and rude yourself, not to mention bitchy and act as if you're on PMS all the time. Maybe that's why your friends thought so badly of you," Inuyasha shot back, and threw the head of the costume to the side. He took off the rest of the ridiculous costume, and fixed his shirt and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?!" Kagome shouted, standing up.
"Home! My shift is over!" Inuyasha yelled back, and slammed the door closed.
Kagome was left in pieces. She sat motionless, staring at the exact spot where Inuyasha stood without blinking. What he had said to her kept running over her head repeatedly...
~~~~
The next day, Kagome dreaded going to work, knowing that she would have to face Inuyasha. She wished she could just fire him after the vicious argument he started yesterday, but she was too scared to. She was scared because her old fears were coming back; Inuyasha bullying her and making her feel ashamed of herself...
**
"You're bossy and rude yourself, not to mention bitchy and act as if you're on PMS all the time. Maybe that's why your friends thought so badly of you!"
**
Kagome squinted her eyes closed and shook her head. She gasped as she quickly opened her eyes to see that she had almost hit another car. She sighed and kept her hands on the driving wheel and focused on the road. But no matter how hard she tried to concentrate, those words kept echoing in her head.
'No...don't think like that! You have power over *him* now! You're his boss,' Kagome firmly told herself over and over again. But all she thought about Inuyasha was a rude little boy who would follow her home after school with his crew, spitting spitballs in her hair and mocking her.
"Hey, watch out!"
Kagome screamed as she sharply turned her car to the corner and felt something hit against her car, and force it to spin around twice. She felt her hair flying and landing in front of her eyes, and felt slight bruises on her arms. Her hands were still on the driving wheel, but when she opened her eyes and raised her head up, the front glass window of her car was shattered. There were bloody scratches on her arms and her hair was a complete mess.
"Are you alright? You drove past the intersection too fast when it was a red light for you--"
Kagome turned to the side to stare at the light brown-haired man who stood beside her car with a concerned look. She sighed and opened the car door and stepped out of her car, holding tightly onto her purse.
"I'm--I'm fine, just a few scratches and bruises--oh, my God!" Kagome screamed when she came out of her car. Her family's red, shiny car was completely in ruins. The glass windows were broken, the car had dents and scratches, and the backlights were broken.
"Don't worry, miss, the insurance company will take care of your car." The man said, smiling.
Kagome sighed. That wasn't the problem, but her parents were going to *kill* her for this...
"Do you need to go to the hospital?" The man asked, offering a hand.
Kagome looked at him strangely before she answered, "No, I'm alright. I just have to get cleaned up, but my car--"
"--will be taken care of by the insurance company." The man finished.
Kagome frowned at him. He was fairly annoying, but in a nice way. He seemed awfully familiar, though...
"Hojo?" Kagome said, leaning in close to him with narrowed eyes. "Is that you?!" She exclaimed.
The man blinked in confusion. "Yes, why--"
"It's me, Kagome! Kagome Higurashi, remember?" Kagome said excitedly.
"Ka--ah, yes! I remember you, of course. How fateful we met like this!" Hojo said.
"I don't know about 'fateful', but it's really nice to meet you after so long! How have you been doing?" Kagome asked politely. 'Get ready for his life story...' She told herself.
"I've been doing fine, I work in a bank, it's quite nice there. The pay is great, and my boss told me if I keep up the great work, I'll get promoted sooner than she thought. And you?" He asked.
"Same, same...I own a fast food restaurant a few blocks down, but it's only a temporary job. I'm saving up money for another scholarship, and then I want to be a writer...but first, I want to travel and I need lots of money for that." Kagome said, nodding hesitantly.
"That's nice...are you settled down and..." Hojo said, trailing off and turning red.
"Settled...down?" Kagome repeated with a frown. It took a few seconds to understand what he had meant. "Oh! You mean settled *down* with a family and stuff? Oh, no...I haven't even been on a date in years...I'm rather busy and there are unfinished things to do here and there..."
"I see...well, I'll call someone to sort of clean up this mess for you...and maybe you should go to the hospital for a check-up just in case, but after that do you want to grab a bite to eat? I haven't had breakfast--"
"Oh, actually, I'm sort of feeling...um...a bit dizzy and..." Kagome interrupted, thinking fast. "I-I was--just--I was--on my way to work!" She yelled a little too loud. But it was the truth.
"Oh," Hojo answered disappointedly. "Maybe next time?" He asked.
"Uh--sure," Kagome said. 'Don't ever try to see him anywhere else again,' she told herself.
"So, where's your restaurant?" Hojo asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Um...it's WacDonald's, the one with the kids' indoor playgrounds...the one near Tedville Street [*made up]..." Kagome stammered.
Their conversation soon came to an end when they both heard police sirens. Kagome tried to look unsuspicious as two policewomen came out of their police cars with notepads and pens, with their handguns clinging onto their belt. One of them went around inspecting Kagome's car, while one came towards Kagome and Hojo.
"Are you the victim of this car crash?" The officer asked.
"Um, yes," Kagome stuttered, taking her lock of dark hair behind her ear.
"I'm Officer Wendy. It doesn't look too badly like you're hurt, but do you need to go to the hospital?" Officer Wendy asked, pushing her long blond hair behind her shoulders.
"No, no...I'm fine." She said nervously.
"If you're sure, then. How did you get into this car crash?" The officer asked.
"I was speeding a bit and I had a lot of things on my mind...you know, work stress and all...I sort of sped past a red light, and I crashed against the car of this man, but he wasn't hurt at all..." Kagome said, pointing to Hojo's silver car, which had a few scratches but wasn't as badly damaged as Kagome's car.
"Hmm..." Officer Wendy mumbled, jotting down on her notepad. "You just admitted to speeding past a red light. I'm going to have to charge you for that," she said.
Kagome looked disappointedly and half-angrily at her. "But--I--"
"If you were paying attention to the road and didn't speed, this wouldn't have happened." She said, still looking at her notepad instead of at Kagome.
"No, it wasn't her fault, officer. It was mine. It was a red light for me, actually, and I was the one speeding. This woman's kind of all...stressed out, I don't think she even remembered what happened." Hojo interrupted.
This caught the officer's attention. She raised her head up to look at him and frowned. "Are you sure?" She asked.
Hojo nodded.
"Not many people like you admit to this kind of thing..." She said again.
Hojo shrugged.
Officer Wendy looked down on her notepad again. "Alright...then, I'll have to give you a ticket, mister...sorry for making the mistake, miss." She took out a pad of yellow papers from her back pants pocket and scribbled down on it, and ripped off a sheet and handed it to Hojo. "Your money is due by the date listed on the ticket. If you go to court, the price due will be raised." She explained.
Hojo took the yellow paper and read over it. He nodded.
"Meanwhile, I'm sending you to the hospital whether you feel fine or not. You're going for a check-up just in case," Officer Wendy said.
Kagome sighed. She wondered how Kagura was going to take this back at work...
~~~~
"She's been in a *what*?!" Kagura exclaimed, dropping her clipboard and shouting into the phone. "NO! What?! Is she okay, what's wrong, where is she, when's she coming back--?"
"Don't worry, miss--! She's fine, and she's been checked out of the hospital a few hours ago. The doctor insisted that she rest at home for a bit."
"Um, alright, thank you Nurse..." Kagura said, and hung up. She sighed and picked up her clipboard again.
"What happened?" Inuyasha asked, hesitating to put on his costume.
"Never you mind. Come on, get out and do what you were hired to do! Don't waste any time!" Kagura said enthusiastically, clapping her two hands together.
"If she's not gonna be here, doesn't it mean I don't have to do this? I can take a day off too if she is," Inuyasha complained.
"Kagome is sick right now! She's in pain; she's just been in a car accident! You, on the other hand, is perfectly healthy and eligible to--"
"Ugh, alright. Cut the crappy lecture, I'm going!" Inuyasha put on the huge head of the costume and marched out of Kagura's office.
~~~~
Sango sighed and removed the dried cloth from Kagome's forehead, and dipped it in the small tub of hot water.
"It got cold again..." She mumbled.
Kagome flickered her eyes open and moved her eyes to gaze at Sango. "You don't have to do this," she spoke in a quiet voice.
"I have nothing else to do at home." Sango answered. She twisted the cloth to drain all the water from it into the tub, and folded it neatly and placed it on Kagome's forehead again.
Kagome closed her eyes and tried to relax. She fidgeted on her bed, trying to get comfortable underneath the blankets.
"What did he say?" She asked in the same, quiet voice.
Sango's shoulders dropped and stared into space.
Kagome turned to her side on the bed to look directly at Sango. "Well?" She said. The cloth on her forehead dropped onto the bed.
"He..." Sango started, and her voice trailed off into silence as it got raspy. She leaned in and picked up the cloth, and dipped it in the tub of water again. When she looked at Kagome, she was blinking at her anxiously and curiously. She cleared her throat and tried again. "He--"
"Did he ask you to take him back? Or was it somewhere along those lines?" Kagome asked, finally lying down on the bed comfortably.
Sango leaned back against the chair. "Sort of...the reason why he broke up with me in the first place was...because he said he met up with an old girlfriend and they decided to get back together. But when she left again, he called me back and said it was a mistake...and stuff."
Kagome looked pitifully at Sango. She really did feel bad for her; Sango was always a poor victim between love triangles. She didn't know one guy whom Sango had dated who didn't leave her for another girl. She knew how her best friend however, Sango was always like a third wheel between her boyfriends.
"I'd stay single if I were you. Just take a break from all this." Kagome said in comfort.
Sango put on a fake smile and shrugged her smile. "Enough about me," she added in a too-cheerful tone. "What about Inuyasha, what's happening with him? How was your day yesterday after meeting him for the first time in...well, years?"
Kagome leaned her head back against her pillow and closed her eyes for a while. She opened them again to stare at her plain, white ceiling. It was then when she realized that she should get her ceiling wallpapered.
"Well? How was it?" Sango asked.
"He didn't change a bit...he's so rude and has no respect for other people. Yesterday, I caught him telling off some other gangsters in front of my restaurant! He was picking a fight with them. Then, after, he was yelling at me in my office from across the street, and he flipped the finger at me. After I got off the phone with you yesterday, he barged into my office without knocking, and started yelling at me about how stupid his job is. Then he..." Kagome stopped, suddenly remembering why she had dreaded going to work this morning.
"Then he...?" Sango said, making a motion with her hand for her to go on.
"Then...he said I'm bossy and bitchy...and maybe if I took the time to realize why my friends hated me so much..." Kagome's eyes trembled and she pulled the blanket over her face.
"Kagome, don't take what he said so seriously," Sango said, pulling the blanket down again. "It's Inuyasha, remember? You're his boss now! Why are you letting him have control over you? You should have control over him!"
"Yeah, but--"
"Get revenge on him for what he did to you long time ago. Blackmail him into doing all these stupid stuff." Sango goaded, with a grin on her face.
"Yeah, but I already--"
"Or," Sango said, putting a finger in front of her face for Kagome to be quiet. "Make him fall in love with you."
"WHAT?!" Kagome screamed, suddenly sitting up on her bed. She looked at Sango as if she was a person who escaped from the mental institution, with widened eyes. "Excuse me? What did--you just--in love with me?!"
"Yeah!" Her best friend said, nodding excitedly. "Make him fall in love with you. Then, break his heart! Ruin his life, make him miserable--just the way he made you feel." She said, slapping her fist on her open hand.
"But Sango, that's cruel!" Kagome replied.
"Inuyasha was cruel when he did all those things. Did he stop to take the time and think how all the things he did would make *you* feel? No, he didn't. So why should you?" Sango asked.
Kagome's cheeks turned into a bright, deep color of crimson as she looked down and played around with her blankets with her hands. "A-And...a-and even if I wanted to make him fall in love with me, how would I do it?"
Sango put a finger on her chin and looked at the ceiling to purposely look like she was thinking. "Hmm..." She mumbled. "You can act super-nice around him, even when he's being unbearably mean. Smile a lot at him, and wear sexy clothing...all those business-looking clothes will have to go." Sango said. She stood up and opened the door to Kagome's closet. She started to throw clothes out of the closet onto her bed.
"H-hey, wait! What are you doing, Sango?!" Kagome exclaimed.
"I'm choosing out the clothes you're going to be wearing for this week...hmm, this shirt's a bit too kiddish..." Sango said, digging through her closet.
"Sango, I'm not doing it! It's childish and immature!" Kagome argued.
"Do you honestly think Inuyasha will be hurt that badly when he finds out you don't love him back? He's a player kind of guy. C'mon, Kagome, it's the perfect revenge and it won't hurt him as much as it would to a normal guy. He'll get over it quick, trust me." Sango reassured, throwing a pair of jeans onto the bed.
Kagome sighed. She had forgotten that all of the craziness in her life was always caused by Sango.
~~~~
"So...why did they have to come again?" Kagome asked, hiding behind her huge, black sunglasses.
"My aunt and her business partner came by my house...and I have to take her son and her business partner's daugher along with us because they don't feel like discussing work over a group of 14-year-old teenagers whose going to be glaring at them every 5 seconds," Sango reminded, stopping in front of a shop and looking at a pair of black jeans.
"Um...so you're Hakudoushi, right? I think I saw you as a little 3-month-old baby when I came over Sango's house once back when I was only...um, 13..." Kagome asked nervously with a smile. She rolled her eyes with her forced smile still on her face when the long, silver-haired boy didn't reply.
"His nickname as a little baby was Akago, isn't that funny?" Sango chuckled to herself, as she moved on to look at a jean skirt.
Hakudoushi didn't budge, but continued to look callous.
"I didn't choose to spend my time with two adults who act like they're still children, giggling over clothes." Hakudoushi said in an emotionless tone.
"Uh--right, then..." Kagome said. She was starting to get freaked out by this boy.
"Oh my God! Kanna, come here, I think those white pants will match you perfectly!" Sango exclaimed, grabbing onto the 14-year-old girl's hand and running into the store. Kagome ran in after her, not wanting to be left behind with Hakudoushi.
"Here, buy these," Sango said, throwing a jean skirt at Kagome. Kagome stopped running when the skirt was thrown into her face. She gasped when she saw it. It was at least four or five inches short.
"I am *not* wearing this! What is this, an underwear made of jean material?" Kagome shouted.
"Just trust me, Kagome," Sango said, and winked. "Now, Kanna..." She said, turning her back on her.
Kagome growled and walked up to the cashier and threw the skirt down onto the counter.
"That'll be $25.80, miss." A young, blonde cashier said, chewing on her bubble gum with her three earrings per ear dangling as she moved to insert the bill that Kagome gave her in the cashier. She bent down, and when she did, Kagome gasped. Behind the cashier, she saw Inuyasha and Miroku snickering and pointing at the cashier.
"Um--I--uh--" Kagome stammered. The cashier stood back up with a bag, and put the jean skirt into it.
"Thank you for shopping at Kaye's, have a nice day." She said in a bored, casual voice. Kagome took the bag and immediately ran towards Sango.
"Sango, Sango! We have to leave *right* now!" Kagome cried urgently.
"Why?" Sango asked, turning around from looking at a rack of white clothes. Kanna was looking through them furiously, but with a calm look on her face.
"Inuyasha is here! In this store!" Kagome said, using finger motions to explain.
"So?" Sango said, unconcerned. She turned back to Kanna, in which Kagome grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
"What?!" She said in irritation.
"We're leaving, Sango, right now!" Kagome said. She took Sango by the hand, who grabbed Kanna's, and the three of them walked quickly out of the store, and Kagome walked fast and hoped not to get spotted--
"Hey, Higurashi!" Inuyasha's voice called.
Kagome froze in motion while Sango took her hand off of Kagome's and whipped around.
"Shouldn't you be at home, resting from that car crash? Or are you just making up excuses to get off work?" Inuyasha sneered, coming up to them with Miroku tagging behind him.
"For your information, I'm just--picking up clothes for my niece!" Kagome lied, holding up the Kaye's bag to prove it.
"What, at Kaye's? That's the store where slutty people buy their clothes, and speaking of sluts..." Inuyasha's eyes moved from head to toe at Sango's outfit; a black blouse with see-through features at the bottom of the shirt, a short skirt, and heavy black platform boots. "What the *hell* are you wearing? That's not even like, hot slutty, that's just like poser-slutty..."
"I don't have to listen to this," Kagome mumbled. "And why aren't *you* at work?" She asked, and looked at her watch on her wrist.
"Today's Sunday. I don't work on Sundays, that information sheet thing said so." Inuyasha answered.
"Whatever. I'd rather not waste my Sunday talking to *you*. C'mon, Sango--"
"Sango?" Inuyasha repeated, with a sly grin on his face. "Right, it's you, the half-Chinese chick who followed Kagome everywhere! Her so-called 'friend', but we know the truth...we sort of *caught* it on tape, if you know what I mean..."
Miroku smirked.
Sango scowled. Before Kagome knew what happened, Sango had stepped up towards him and swiped him hard across his face with her hand.
"First of all, the half-Chinese girl was not me. And second, you didn't catch anyone on tape who hated Kagome. You lied to them that you were making some 'movie' and they didn't even know about it! They didn't really hate Kagome, you bastard!" Sango shouted angrily.
Some of the people in the mall passed by and stared at them with frowns, while Miroku stood dumbfounded. Sango's hand was burning, although she didn't look like she didn't seem to care. Kanna looked at the situtation in front of her with widened eyes, while Kagome blinked in disbelief. However, Inuyasha looked calm but was glaring at Sango with the most dangerous look he could look at anyone with.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just do that, you bitch," he growled. He nodded to Miroku, and the two of them walked away, as they continued their mutters of, 'How dare she', and 'I'll get her back...'
"Oh my God, Sango! Why did you do that? It's just more the reason why I don't want to go back to work tomorrow and see him!" Kagome exclaimed hysterically.
"I'm not so worried about that right now...the most cruel way to hurt someone is to entirely break their heart...and I hope Inuyasha becomes obsessed with you and you just *crush* him, because I want to run up to that bastard and break his legs off for what he *dares* to say in front of me!" Sango scowled, and walked past her, hand-in-hand with Kanna who still looked shocked. Hakudoushi came up to them, looking unconcerned at what just happened and followed behind Sango and Kanna.
~~~~
Kagome groaned as she slammed her office door open and stepped inside, ignoring Kagura's constant shouts for her name. She felt uncomfortable in these clothes that Sango chose for her, and she didn't even want to go with the plan anyway. This whole revenge thing to get Inuyasha to fall in love with her--Kagome knew it was ridiculous. That boy was callous and his heart was made of ice. There was nothing under that layer of his frozen heart. Deep beneath his heart was nothing but an emotionless core, like an impossible electric barrier. Trying to make him fall in love with anyone was like trying to stop a tornado.
"Ma'am, ma'am, while you were gone, the sales stock--"
"Kagura, *please* leave me alone..." Kagome moaned and slapped her head onto her desk.
"But ma'am, I've never seen such a decrease--"
"Please?"
"But this is important--"
"I'm begging you!" Kagome pleaded, in a babyish voice.
Kagura flinched at the tone of her voice; her boss had never sounded so tired or pleading. Without saying a word, she nodded hesitantly and stepped out of her office, giving her one last look before she left.
"Ohhh..." Kagome groaned again, burying her head in her arms. She was going to lock herself in her office and not come out until it was time to go home. She was going to just do some paperwork, and not see Inuyasha for the whole day...then tomorrow, their deal would be off. Inuyasha was free to be a service worker, and hopefully by then the fire that she saw in him yesterday would have cooled down. She couldn't believe she was actually scared of him, like she always was, like she used to. This ridiculous fear of that silver-haired bully...she clenched her hand into a fist.
"I hate him," Kagome muttered. She felt sure that no one was in her office but her, but when she rose her head up, she saw Hojo standing near the doorway.
"You weren't talking about me, were you?" Hojo joked, and laughed.
"Hojo! I--what are you doing here?" Kagome exclaimed, immediately standing up.
"Well, I just thought I'd visit, you know, because you told me you worked here and--"
"How did you get past my secretary?" Kagome asked curiously. She really wanted to know how. No one got past Kagura at anything.
"Oh, I didn't see anyone, and I just assumed that your office would be upstairs." Hojo answered.
Kagome sighed and sat down on her chair, and threw her head back.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, just a little stressed out..."
Hojo walked towards her around the desk, and stood beside her. "Are you dizzy? Should I call--?"
"No, no, I'm fine..." Kagome shook her head slightly and stood up. "Anyway, what do you need, Hojo?" She asked, facing him.
"Well," he started, and flushed. "I just wondered, if you have a break or anything, if--"
His voice was cut off by an interruption. The door slammed open unexpectedly and Hojo, who was obviously started, jumped in surprise.
"Hey," Inuyasha's voice said loudly. "Who the hell is this guy?"
~~~~
A/n: I will give out free Inuyasha socks to whoever proves to me that they saw that one coming ^_~