The Club

Christielea54

Chapter Thirteen

Overall, the run in with Sesshomaru hadn't went too bad. He'd even grudgingly let Sango work Saturdays with them. Which was where they were now. Except they weren't having too much fun, because Kagome was in a particularly bad mood. And it goes without saying that that is completely un-Kagome-like.

A customer came over and ordered a bottled water. Kagome threw open the refrigerator, grabbed the water, pushed it across the counter, and slammed the door shut. Ignoring the frightened looks her customer was giving her, she snatched up the money, stuffed it into the cash register, and slammed the drawer shut. Then she pasted on a smile as she handed back the change. "Have a nice day!"

Sango decided to venture into the unknown and try finding out what was bothering her friend. "Kagome, are you alright today?"

"Of course I'm alright!" Slam. "Why do you ask?" Shove.

"Well, you seem a little…" she paused, trying to find the right wording without upsetting her further.

"On edge?" Inuyasha supplied.

Kagome turned to him on the verge of tears. "Shut up!" she yelled, and then ran out the front door.

"Touchy, touchy," Inuyasha muttered while he went back to stocking cups. He looked up to see everyone staring at him. "What?" he asked defensively. "You're looking at me like it's my job to go after her!"

Silence.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and stormed out after her.

She was sitting against the brick on the side of the building, knees drawn up against her chest, head in her hands. What was she doing? It was freezing out here! When she looked up to see who was coming, he could tell that she'd been crying.

He'd never seen her cry before. It really unsettled him. If even sweet, innocent, cheerful Kagome could be reduced to tears like this, than what kind of mess would the rest of us be in? He walked over and, literally, dropped his coat on her head.

"Thanks," she said weakly, emerging from underneath it, and pulling it around herself.

He sat down next to her, Indian-style. "So what's with the water works?" he asked gruffly.

She sniffed. "It's my grandpa." She paused for a minute. "My mom had to buy the cheap furnace and it broke yesterday while everyone was out of the house but him. He's in the hospital right now for smoke inhalation." She looked about ready to dissolve into tears again. "What if- What if he doesn't make it? What if-" and she started to cry again.

With a start Inuyasha realized that he'd never even met his grandparents before. A little awkwardly he draped his arm around her shoulders in a buddy-buddy kind of way. "He'll be fine Kagome. You worry too much. Hey! Stop crying! Look, I'll even drive you over to visit him later."

She turned towards him and hugged him back, which made their position a lot friendlier. Inuyasha looked terrified. "Hey! What are you doing?"

She ignored him and smiled into his shirt. He always made her feel so much better.

Meanwhile Miroku and Sango had been watching from the window.

"Aren't they adorable?" Sango sighed happily.

"Mmm," Miroku agreed. "Their chemistry is quite remarkable. I wonder how much longer until things get really interesting?" he asked suggestively.

Sango pushed him over backwards. "I just can't believe you sometimes," she said while rolling her eyes.

It turned out that Grandpa was going to make a full recovery. Some of Kagome's close friends had even come to visit her.

"Yuka, I'd really love to go to the movies with you, but I've got work!"

"Kagome!" Yuka cried in exasperation. "You're always at work! Can't you come out with us and have some fun?" she pleaded.

They obviously didn't realize how much fun she did have at work. "I can't. Really. Inuyasha won't-" Inuyasha not let her do something? She snorted. She would let that happen the day pigs flew! A smug expression covered her features. "Fine Yuka, I guess I'll go with you."

"Oh, you're not going with me," Yuka said matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" That threw her for a loop. All that convincing and now she didn't want to?

"I'm going with Eri," Yuka clarified. "You're going with Hojo!" Little stars appeared in her eyes as she said it.

"Who's Hojo? What's going on?"

Yuka smiled. Kagome was just a little slow sometimes. "It's a blind date! Isn't it romantic?" she asked, hands clasped under her chin.

Kagome wasn't sure if her face had gone deathly white, or beet red. "Wh-what? That's not fair!"

"Oh don't worry," she whispered conspiratorially. "I checked him out for you! He's really cute!"

"But I can't!" she stammered.

"Why not?" She gasped suddenly. "Kagome! You don't have a boyfriend you didn't tell me about, do you?" she asked in a hurt voice.

"No, no, of course not…"

"Then why can't you?" She was all business again.

"I-" There was no real reason that she couldn't. Well, except that she didn't want to, but Yuka was obviously not going to find that acceptable. She heaved a long suffering sigh. "Fine," she grumbled.

Yuka did a little victory dance. "Yay!"

"Miroku?" Inuyasha asked dangerously.

"Yes Inuyasha?" Miroku replied calmly.

"Where's Kagome?" he continued in that same low voice.

"Why, she said that she wouldn't be able to make it in today."

Finally he exploded. "Why not?!?!"

"She didn't say."

"She's skipping! I know she is! She can't do that! She should be fired! In fact, I'm going to drag her sorry ass back here!" he shouted.

Miroku stopped counting out bills in favor of having some fun with Inuyasha's head. "You know, you're only going after her because you want her to come back here."

Inuyasha looked a little lost. "That's the point…"

"Yes, but you only want her back here because you like spending time with her."

"That's not true!"

"Do you ever drag 'my sorry ass' back here when I skip?" He smiled mischievously. "Which leads me to believe that you like her." An eerie silence followed his words.

Then all hell broke loose.

Kagome had just met Hojo, and if truth be told, he was very cute, and polite besides. He was tall with brown eyes and sandy brown colored hair, and he was studying to become a physician. He'd taken her to her favorite luncheon restaurant, offered to pay for her meal, and even held out her chair for her to sit on. Yuka was right; this guy was the ideal date.

So why wasn't she enjoying herself?

"I plan on going to the local university. You know, my father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all doctors too. Isn't that coincidental?" He smiled at her.

"Ouch!"

Sango watched from behind the bar with a startled expression on her face. Inuyasha was beating on Miroku. Did this happen a lot?

"Ow! Stop it Inuyasha!"

"Why should I?" he asked flippantly throwing another punch.

Suddenly Inuyasha found himself flipped and in the position Miroku had been in a few seconds ago. "Because I'll do this," and Miroku's fist would have ended up in Inuyasha's face had he not blocked it. "And by the way," he smirked. "You do like her."

"Do not!"

"Do so."

He blocked another hit. "Do not!"

"Do so."

"Do not!" Miroku was so damn annoying! He was always making himself out to be the good guy, even when what he was doing was as far from good as possible. Since when was asking him to put the moves on his best friend a good thing?

Inuyasha stopped dead for a moment and one of Miroku's punched landed. But that didn't affect him as near as much as the jolt of emotion that went through him right then. He wasn't even sure what it was. Fear? Hope? Disappointment? Happiness? All he knew was that he'd just referred to Kagome as his best friend. He'd never ever had a best friend before. He wondered if all best friends were quite so annoying, quite so cheerful, quite so giving, quite as pretty as Kagome was, or if she was just special.

Dammit! He felt like banging his head against the wall. Now he was calling her pretty! What had gotten into him? Well, he supposed she was, but that just wasn't the point!

Miroku had stopped rough housing it when he noticed the dazed look in Inuyasha's eyes. He stood up and dusted off his clothes, and Sango came over to stand next to him. "Are you sure you didn't give him a concussion?" she asked.

"Sure looks like it…" he replied.

Suddenly Inuyasha remember where he was and jumped up. "I have to go," he said distractedly, and left The Club without even grabbing his jacket.

Sango and Miroku shared a look. "What the hell was that about?"

--------------------------------------

This is so much fun to write!

Inuyasha and Miroku getting into a fist fight might be a little weird, I know....

If you have a cute idea I'd be glad to try and incorporate it into the story! Just review!