Blood-Stained

A/N: Read the A/N at the bottom of the page. ^_^

Kagura: T_T I'm so sorry for putting you down like that. *sniff* Can you forgive me? I just take a lot of things wrong. *sigh* Sorry! Gomen! Sinh loi! Je desole! (English, Japanese, Vietnamese, and French for all saying sorry.) _ Once again, I'm sorry for subtly accusing you of that. Damn… I wish I erased it now. Anyways, thank you for cleaning up my doubts. I'm now a happy and hungry girl!

In this week's news, I finally FINISHED the SOLS. *sigh* And I hope I pass. I mean, algebra wasn't as hard as I expected. God, the hardest one was civics, and I took that first. _ Oh, the agony…. I hope I did well and passed with advanced proficiency. ^_^ This A/N has been painfully cut in half by the author. I hope this gives you more space to read my story. But at the bottom…. MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

                                                    Chapter 6~ Impressed by His Impression

          "What's your name?"

          "…."

          "What's your family like?"

          "…."

          "Do you have any pets?"

          "…."

          "Are you ever going to answer?"

          "…."

          "Are you tired?"

          "…."

          "Hungry?"

          "Come to…."

          Kagome clamped a hand over Shippo's mouth, indicating that he should stop talking, and scowled slightly at the inviting question. Still, she said nothing. Behind her, the grocery boy was in a similar posture, except he slouched and folded his arms across his chest in a defiant manner. His facial features were also darkened considerably.

          The talkative girl waited a moment for an answer. Actually, the moment lasted for five minutes, and when she turned around from her leading spot, she saw the two still glaring at her. "OK. Alright! I get the point; you don't want to converse civilly with friendly strangers," she mumbled under breath, "How about you?"

          The response was a hard-earned glare.

          "Sheesh, what's your problem?"

          "My problem? MY problem? I have no problem! I'm only pissed that I have to be dragged off with you to watch over her!"

          "Would you rather be spending your time cleaning toilets?"

          "It would've been a hell more entertaining than walking for three hours!"

          "Remind me next time to not bail you out of cleaning duty!"

          "Remind ME next time to not take up mysterious offers by you!"

          "Fine!"

          "Fine!"

          The girl and boy now stood, facing each other; the invisible, terse electricity crackled in the air with Kagome and Shippo in between the fight. Deciding a bloody encounter was about to ensue, Kagome spoke up bravely, "I can see you're busy and all, so I'll just quietly slip out of the way."

          She barely turned around before a hand shout out and grabbed the end of her garment firmly. "Hell no," the boy snorted, "We didn't walk three miles just to get you and set you free. If I had it my way, you'd be serving a few more days."

          "Whatever happened to community service and random acts of kindness?" Kagome grumbled.

          "No acts for people who topple shelves on top of me," came the reply.

          "OK! What do you want? Money? Don't have any. Possessions? Threw them over a bridge due to a period of insanity. Pets? An obese cat that makes scratching posts out of your calves. The only things I have that are worth taking are the parts of my car. Which do you want? Door? Bumper? Window? I'd be honored to rip the desired object out and give it to you as a peace offering and as my ticket to freedom. If you give me a hammer, I'll do it in five days."

          The whole speech wasn't exactly a total lie.

           "Well," the boy began, considering the options, but the girl elbowed him in the ribs and shook her head slightly, refusing to give into the bribe.

           Aw….

           "Actually, we were going to have you clean up the story and damage as repayment…."

           "Kind of like having a personal slave."

           "… Well, if you can look at it that way. But since Kouga already cleaned up the mess, we've decided that another one of our friends, also a competitor in this town, could use help. He's been struggling for the past two years, too."

           "So you're passing me off like a vacuum?"

           "No!" the girl replied, shaking her head," But… even though you can't clean up Kouga's store, you still owe debt for the mess. He spent hours trying to reorganize his store again."

           "More like polishing off half the food," the grocery boy commented with a snicker, "So that's why he had the stomachache…."

           "Shut up," the girl hissed through clenched teeth.

           Kagome, however, didn't hear the girl because too busy sulking. "What if I don't want to help?"

           "Just pretend you do, because you're stuck with us for the next LONG week."

            And with the final statement signaling the end of the case, the girl marched forward again, calling over her shoulders, "Inuyasha, stop staring holes in the back of my head and let's go!"

                                                                         ~*~*~*~

            "…Oh! I just remembered! I can't stay here! I don't have a place to sleep."

           "In your car."

                                                                          ~*~*~*~

            "Oh, rats. I don't have clean clothes. I guess an out-of-town trip is needed."

            Go borrow someone's clothes."

                                                                            ~*~*~*~

             "I need a blanket to sleep comfortably."

              "It's going to be 37 degrees Celsius."

                                                                           ~*~*~*~

              "I need…."

               "Shut up and walk."

                                                                            ~*~*~*~

               Shippo and Kagome kept quiet after the last command. They were desperate to escape the situation, but not suicidal. They definitely did not want to see what he could do… after all, if he ran faster than a car on foot, what could he do with sheer strength?

                 "We're here," the girl announced cheerfully, looking at the store. Inuyasha also looked at the place, but with disinterest. The captives, however….

          They gawked.

           The store was painted seafoam green with chipped edges. All around the corners were cobwebs, clinging stubbornly and refusing to blow away with the humid draft. The windows themselves were stained brown, almost impossible to scrub away; the 'Open' sign was bent, twisted, and gnarled in every direction possible, too. But the sight that took their breaths away was the sign on top of the store, advertising proudly 'Mr. Twinkly's Ice Cream'.

         Whoa….

          "Uh-uh. Nope. NO way we're working there," Kagome refused with a foot stomp and hands folded, head shaking.

          "Who said anything about 'we'?" Inuyasha retorted, grabbing Shippo from her protective arms, "This kid here is too young to work. He's staying with Sango."

          "Wha- how… when," the girl replied, confused, "He's staying with me?"

          "See? She agrees with me. Besides, this town also has the kid and working rules. No kids younger than ten allowed to work. Obviously, he's no more than two."

          "Hey! I'm four! Four! Count my little fingers!"

          "Wait… what about my job? I have to watch over those klutzy new members, you know."

          "Pretend it's extra practice if you're ever called to watch over the colonel's son."

          "Hold on a minute! Why can't Shippo stay with me?" Kagome demanded in them middle of the dialogue.

          "Yeah, why?" Sango agreed.

          Inuyasha sighed irritatingly and said in a relatively slow voice, "Because.The.Runt.Will.Steal.The.Money."

          "No, I won't! Have a little faith in me!" Shippo immediately defended himself once he freed his mouth from Inuyasha's fist, "Give me a break here!"

          "Yeah, right. So you can go and cause the store to go bankrupt?"

          Sango interrupted the conversation and nodded, "Oh… OK. I'll do it, but you have to help me. I mean, my schedule is so busy and all, and I just can't afford to watch over the kid 2400 hours a day."

          "For crying out loud, there's 24 hours in day! Not 2400! If there was 2400 hours, we'd only live about one year before we die!"

          She ignored his little outburst and waited expectantly for the response. When she saw Inuyasha's mouth open to protest indignantly, she quickly added in a low whisper, "Or…." The rest of the words were mumbled, but whatever it was, his mouth clamped up and he agreed reluctantly.

          The two began to sort out their schedule, and when it came down to the last day, Inuyasha ultimately ended up having to keep Shippo for the extra day. "Oh, the joy," he muttered darkly, looking down at the child who was trying to chew his hand off.

          "Hey! For the love of- TURN AROUND!"

          "Would you stop shouting?" he yelled back, equally furious about the noise.

          "Well, I wouldn't have been shouting if you guys hadn't ignored me for the last 15 minutes!" Kagome raged.

          "What do you need?" Sango interrupted, pleasant smile plastered on her face.

          "I won't let you confiscate Shippo from me! It's not fair, and you know it!"

          "We're not 'confiscating' him, stupid."

          "I am not stupid!"

          "Relax, OK? We're merely watching over him like a hawk until you finish your sentence."

          "I am not some thing you can tuck under your arms, you guys. Has anyone considered my feelings and what I think? Shouldn't I have a say in this?" Shippo asked out loud exasperatedly.

          All three stopped bickering and looked down at him for a second. Then the time passed by, and they all resumed the fighting, with one not being able to tear herself from his side and the other two not being able to tear their eyes from him.

          "You're trying to split up, aren't you?" Kagome accused, jabbing a finger in their general direction.

          "No kidding. You'd probably steal again if we gave the kid to you. And then you'd probably run off, too."

          "I'm not 'the kid'; I have a name, and it's Shippo to you, mister."

          "What would we want from a measly ice cream store?"

           "Considering the factor that it's probably around late summer and it's freakin' hot outside, I'd have to say that the store would make a lot of money. So in conclusion, the cash register," Sango said automatically.

           "I don't steal money; I steal food, the edible stuff."

            "Kagome, don't you remember…."

            "What?" she suddenly yelled, "I didn't hear your question, Shippo. Sorry, so my answer to that question is nope. I don't remember anything."

            "But…."

             "I answered your question, so no."

             Shippo scowled and turned back haughtily to his fruitless yet valiant attempt in trying to chew himself to freedom.

             "Ha! So you steal money, too!"

             "Are you deaf? I just denied that accusation a minute ago!"

             "But right after you denied it, Shippo came in with a memory of something. Obviously, it must have had something to do with the current situation, so we can infer it's about stealing, which was the topic. But then you cut it off, denying it. Denying it only makes it worse added to the fact that it makes it seem as if you were bad at lying. So therefore, we can make an educational guess that you DO steal money,"

              Before either could remark at Sango's psychological, theoretical comment, the rusted doors leading into the ice cream shop swung open with ferocity and slammed against the back wall, shaking the store a bit. "WHAT is going on? I told you, NO more mimes in front of the shop! You make too much noise and…. Oh, it's just you."

             Forgetting the dragging, petty fight, Sango huffed, "'Oh'?!?! Is that the best you can come up with to me?!?! I was away for two months! TWO! Even Inuyasha gave me a better 'Welcome Back' grunt, and he was half-asleep at that time!"

             "So you were expecting a party?" the new stranger guessed dryly.

          "Something along the lines of that. I mean, I HAVE been doing combat battles. Note the reason why I look disgruntled."

          And they say kids don't have manners in the new generation… try boys don't have manners. My God, he's just as bad as Mr. I'm-Confiscating-Shippo-Because-You-Can't-Handle-the-Responsibility. Hmmph….

         "Fine. Here's your second set of 'Welcomes'," he said, grabbing Sango and pulling her into a hug while flashing her a grin simultaneously.

         ….

          The thought wasn't even formed in Kagome's head when she pushed away. Angrily, Sango cuffed him by the ear, hard, and began to beat him on the head with her other hand, like what Inuyasha would do to Shippo. "You jerk! I didn't want a hug! What kind of freebie is that?!?! I wanted free ice cream…."

          As the trio continued to observe the unfair match, Shippo stopped gnawing on Inuyasha's hand for just a moment and said, awestruck, "She's not violent like this all the time, is she?"

          "Nah… it's always been like that for Miroku. Sango used to beat him up when she was little for some crayons and all that crap. I guess it's tradition he must have a bruise somewhere at the end of each day. Serves him right, too; he's a cheap guy. We all think he's a masochist, though," he replied, watching the scene with a complete look of boredom on his face.

          Masochist, eh….

          Kagome had to admit that she was slightly impressed with Sango's beating. She had never really witnessed a fight where the girl would end up winning.

          Eventually, Miroku, who lost complete feeling in his skull, produced two coupons from his pocket. "Here…" he mumbled, dizzy.

          Sango grabbed them and promptly dropped the head onto the cement pavement. "Thanks!" she squealed enthusiastically, "You don't know how much this means to me! This is the best 'Return Home' gift ever!"

          Wow… an avid eater.

          "How many times has she done that?"

          "In her whole lifetime, or when Miroku ended up receiving the store?"

          "The store."

          "Not too many… about five or six times. Amazing he didn't need plastic surgery yet."

          Shippo nodded in agreement as Sango helped the boy get up. "Ow… it hurts, you know," he complained, leaning against her heavily, "Why did you beat me up? I was going to give them to you."

          "Your fault for not giving me the gift straight out," she chided, "It would have saved you two or three bruises."

          She led Miroku slowly down to where the other three were standing. "Sorry for the wait," she apologized, "I had to get a few possessions back from him, so I threw a few playful punches."

          Playful?

          "Anyways, I want you to meet your new boss: Miroku. He owns the ice cream store and stuff, so you can start whenever he wants you to."

          Miroku looked up, beginning to protest, but he saw Kagome and immediately shut his mouth, smiling. "Hello, new assistant! Sango has once again found another coworker for me!"

          Immediately, Kagome remembered the original fight before he came in and returned to sulking. "Howdy to you, too. Let's just start the shift so it can end earlier and I can go home into my car."

          He blinked at the positively negative attitude surrounding her as she shuffled past him and into the store before saying, "She took lessons on how to make friends from Inuyasha before coming here, right?"

          Poor boy received another hit on the head with a free hand. "I'm not THAT antisocial," Inuyasha grumbled, stomping towards the direction of the grocery story. "Shitto, or whatever you name is, STOP using my hand as a pacifier and follow Sango. I have to go do 'work', or the stupid ass of a manager is going to make me clean the toilet."

          Shippo was flung into the air and landed in front of the girl's shoes. Standing up and brushing away stray dirt on his clothes, he shouted at the retreating back, "I don't need a pacific anymore! I'm four, turning five! FIVE! And it's SHIPPO, not-"

                                                                      ~*~*~*~

          "OK. Now, to turn on the milkshake machine, you press this button. To turn it off, press that button- you got that?" Miroku asked after a brief demonstration.

          "Uh… yeah," Kagome replied with a hint of know-it-all in her voice. How hard was it to work two buttons? Apparently, anyone could press one or the other.

          He shrugged nonchalantly at her response. The assistant was going to find out how to use the machine kinetically, anyways. "And the ice cream thing… well, that's self-explanatory."

          "Uh-huh."

          Was she even paying attention? Maybe she had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)….

          "If there are any questions…?"

          "Yeah… do you get customers?" Kagome asked, staring critically at the massive amount of dust collected in the air, especially on the tables.

          "How else do you think I get the financial capital?"

          Nodding, Kagome had looked away, deep in thought. There were really two choices of customers in mind: 1) really rare customers who love ice cream, or 2) a lot of kids who REALLY don't mind the ice cream's store appearance. She would've accepted it when he said he had a lot of customers, but that was only if the place was spotless shiny. Sadly, the store was nowhere near decent clean, and the air was invaded with unknown horrors of particles and dust bunnies.

          What was Kagome's job? Her job was to tend to the customers, but the biggest one for her was to tidy up the place.

          The week would prove to be long.

                                                                    ~*~*~*~

          Mr. Twinkly's Ice Cream wasn't doing very hot on her first impression list. It took her a total of 15 minutes to unload the overfilled dishes… that is, after she sprayed disinfectant over the rubber gloves. (Now, since she didn't want to touch the green, elastic gloves, it took her another ten minutes to successfully erase the 'visible' germs.) After that, Kagome went on to wash, later, and rinse the dishes.

          One hour later, she had gone through 1/3 of the dirty pile, four sponges, and seven or eight soap bottles. "How many dishes does he have?" she grumbled, scrubbing furiously.

          God… I think he collects the dishes from elsewhere and brings them here. No wonder there are all sorts of miscellaneous plates….

          Giving up on a particular nasty ketchup stain, she threw the sponge into the soap-filled sink and dropped the plate along, too. "OK, on tomorrow's list, I will have to go and finish the rest of the pile," she said firmly but grimly.

          The next task to do was to clean the window. There was only one, and she thanked God for that. But the window was about nine feet high and wide and was impeccably dirtier than a pig with three-week's worth of mud crusted onto its skin. This job, which should've taken about 30 minutes for her to do in a normal store, proved to be a little more challenging than that.

          Kagome rummaged through the cabinet under the sink and came up with a pail. With no time wasting, she dunked it under the soapy water and fished for the fallen sponge.

          Get ready to wrestle with this….

          And so began the fight for a clear, see-through window. She scrubbed everywhere with a relatively fast speed and high determination, but the window seemed to be permanently etched with the brown… thing. So she tried another tactic; Kagome scoured in one spot for what seemed like decades before stopping and leaning back to see her progress.

          In the center for all her scrubbing's worth, a miniscule hole, the size of a radius of a golf ball, filtered through light. "Has the store even been visited by a health inspector?" she gritted through her teeth. But still, she was proud. The little, clean hole meant that she just had to scrub like that for the rest of the window. She started for the spot next to the hole.

          "How's the progress coming along?"

          "Oh, just great. I'm attempting to go where no human would even consider going: washing the window."

          Miroku smiled a little and said in a knowledgeable tone, "Yeah… she's a bit dirty, huh?"

          "Lower than the lowest of understatements. And are you sure you get customers?" Kagome demanded, hurling the sponge into the pail of water next to her. She was becoming tired of the job already.

          He nodded very confidently. "You just missed the rush hour of the store."

          Yeah, right.

          "Do you need anything?"

          "Yeah. Can I leave?"

          "I'm sorry, but nope."

          "Well, what's stopping me from exiting that door right next to my body?"

          "Because you have a debt to pay, if I recall from my conversation with Sango on the phone correctly."

          "So…."

          "And if you finish your debt for the next three weeks, your tainted criminal record will be erased."

          Kagome never thought of that; she had a criminal record now. Internally groaning, she felt sick at the thought of her fingerprints and picture neatly tucked away in a folder that was probably amongst other criminal records with REAL crimes, like murder and rape. "Wait… I thought I only had to stay here for one week!"

          "One week for the debt, and another two for the clean record."

          "…."

          "I'll take it you understand?"

          She hated being cornered!

          But why should I worry about my record?

          As Kagome opened her mouth to shoot down the three-week offer, another thought entered her mind.

          Criminal record.

          She had a criminal record.

          It was located on top security files and folders, almost impossible to obtain.

          Criminal records listed her crime, the time committed, and….

          The place.

          Of course, back to the security folders, it was impossible to get her file… almost.

          Unless….

          The hacker was able to do that without getting caught- highly slim, but an accomplishable feat. If he was able to get into her account, forcing her to cut off her cache and her cell phone, he was probably able to get….

          This did not suit well with Kagome.

          Time was also important to this. How long until he was able to successfully penetrate the codes and security system?

          What are the chances of him finding me tonight?

          "Assistant? Hello?" Miroku waved a hand in front of her face.

          Shaking out of her stupor, Kagome blinked for a few moments. Her eyes unglazed and darted around wildly, foreign to the surrounding for a second. "Huh? What? Oh yeah, and the name's Kagome."

          "You fine? You were half-asleep a minute ago."

          "Yeah… anyways, what were we talking about?"

          "The proposition. If you did three week's work here, your criminal record is erased."

          Kagome didn't want to do it. "You know, just because the debt is weighing on me doesn't mean that I can't go physically."

          Miroku suddenly wore a smug grin. "That's why we had the local police scatter throughout the boundaries of the town. This is your punishment that we, the plaintiff, have come up with."

          Her eyes popped open wide, and she stared at him for a full, speechless minute. "WHAT?!?!" she screeched, suddenly finding her voice, "You're holding me hostage in this stupid town?!?!"

          "… Not exactly. You're staying here until the end of the first week. Then you're free to go and flit around as you please. But personally, I would stay for the three weeks."

          Kagome stared at him and asked, mystified, "Why?"

          "Well… because if I were on parole, I'd try to get out of it as soon as possible."

          "I'm not on parole; I'm free from jail."

          "Ah, that's where you're wrong. You would stay in the jail for up to two weeks for stealing. It's a bit harsh, but that's how it goes. The original intent was to let you stay in there for two weeks until you were able to pay back the damages done or set you on parole. They opted for the second choice instead."

          "So? What's the difference between being freed and being on parole?"

          Miroku fumbled and patted around his pocket apron until he came up with a piece of paper. "This is your folder number here. And here is your ID here. You have to go to the police and present this to them…."

          "Because they're monitoring me," Kagome finished, the whole situation dawning on her.

          "Yep," he said with a nod of a head. Miroku was now next to her, leaning in so she could see. "In other words, you HAVE to come back to this town to meet with the police for three months every week."

          "It's like binding me to this place."

          "Yes, and if you DON'T return, they'll come after you."

          Kagome fell silent, thinking about her choices. If she did the three-month/parole plan thing, she would be stuck visiting the police 15 times. If she did the three-week thing and stayed in one place….

          She didn't want to think about that.

          But… the three-month parole…. Suddenly, it didn't look too appealing as a paranoid thought struck her.

          The guy… he will be able to find me in three months… when I'm in the same town. And it will be guaranteed that he WILL find me….

          He had 15 chances to meet with her in the town….

          Too many chances….

          On the other hand, if Kagome stayed for three weeks, they parole would be gone and she could go as far as she pleased… not to mention her record erased.

          Frankly, one week to go somewhere and travel back to the same town wasn't exactly a bright thing to do.

          "Since we didn't like the parole idea for some reason, we decided to consult with the judge, the one who made the decision, and came up with a plan: you would stay for three weeks and do service for me," Miroku finished saying, oblivious to his daydreaming employee.

          "When I'm staying here, do I visit the police for the three weeks?" she asked distractedly.

          He blinked, a bit surprised the girl drew up such a quick and spontaneous conclusion. Nevertheless, she was right. "Wow, you're pretty sharp. Yep! You were let out on parole, so you still have to visit, even though we made some revisions to the parole."

          "I'll do it," she said with a nod of her head. If she learned anything from the past few months, it was to jump to the shortcut. Of course, staying in one place while running away wasn't a good thing, but running away and coming back to the same town like a collar around her neck wasn't exactly too much of a good plan, either. In fact, it was a very dumb thing to do.

          "Great! I'll inform the police and Sango of your decision!" he replied, ecstatic that he was able to persuade her to change her mind so quickly. He turned around and headed for the phone next to the register.

          As he passed by her along the way, his hand accidentally passed up against the far left of her butt.

                                                                           ~*~*~*~

          The first time it happened, Kagome disregarded it as a small, innocent brush, kind of like when someone swung his/her arms around casually and ended up smacking someone in the face. When he pushed her backwards into the broom closet, demanding she look for the extra bar of soap for the bathroom, she became suspicious. His hands had been directly pressed against her breasts when he 'nudged' her. But still, she ignored it, thinking Miroku liked to align things, like his hands. She couldn't help but feel her shoulders were an alternate choice besides her non-visible cleavage, though.

          The third time, Kagome snapped. She KNEW she wasn't imagining it when he ushered her to the milkshake machine. The thing was, he was pushing her… by the butt.

          Oh God….

          "Alright! Stop it!"

          "What?" he asked, halting to a stop. He played a very confused boy very convincingly.

          "Stop molesting me. Do NOT touch me, and if you EVER get within my Private Bubble…" Kagome warned.

          "What Private Bubble? What are you talking about?"

          "THIS is how far my Private Bubble extends," she announced, sticking out her arm, "If you go within the bubble…."

          "Huh?" Miroku was confused by now.

          "Don't.Touch.Me," Kagome gritted through the simplified version of her warning, "If you do… don't even go there."

          "But I was guiding you into the direction…."

          "The store is a square, and it's two feet away from me. I can also see clearly that it's behind the counter. I'm not blind, OK?"

          "You don't have to bite my head off. I'm just trying to help, but I can see you're holding a fear of being touched."

          "Try harassed."

          "What?"

          "That's right! You heard me," Kagome accused out loud.

          Miroku huffed indignantly. "I don't 'harass'! Are you calling me some sort of… of pervert?"

          Kagome stopped breathing fire for a minute and thought about what he just said. "… Actually, I was going to say sexual harasser, but that works, too."

          "Now wait a…."

          "What was so important here that you dragged me to the machine?" she interrupted, not wanting to hear his next words.

          He stopped talking about 'it', much to her delight, and brightened at the question. "Oh yeah! The reason why I ushered you here was because I want to try a little role-playing."

          What?

          "This is an ice cream shop, not theater class or an institution that helps the emotionally scarred."

          "Yes, but this is supposed to be a test to see if you were paying attention to my tour. It's really easy, and I can assure you that you'll pass without a blink of an eye."

          "…."

          "So, are you ready? I'll be the customer, and you be… well, your profession."

          "Remember, no…."

          "Yeah, yeah, the bubble thing. Don't worry, I won't pop it," he said rather dully while exiting the store.

          A moment later, Miroku entered the room, fake smile plastered on his face. "Hello! Wel…."

          "No, no, no, no! You're doing it all wrong! You have to wait for the customer to come up to the counter."

          "OK…."

          "Let's try this again."

          Kagome KNEW the shift was going to take forever now.

                                                                            ~*~*~*~

          "No! Were you paying attention? You…."

          "We've been at this for three hours, and it's 8:30 P.M. My shift is over," Kagome interrupted, "I'm tired, cranky, and sore from standing all day. If you want something, just ORDER!"

          Miroku was taken aback at the erupted comment before shaking his head. "No," he said, "You got the 'self-confident in my work' vibe going, but your courtesy needs to drastically improve if you want to make it in the ice cream world."

          "I don't think I intend to scoop ice cream and wear cone hats for a living."

          "If you want to make it through the three weeks, then."

          She didn't know which would satisfy her craving right now: clobbering Miroku on the head with her bare fists, or clobbering him on the head with an ice cream scooper, which, by the way, is currently being used as a grip device in her left hand.

          All it takes is five inches from his head….

          "Anyways, since you're so 'eager' to get home and it's your first day, I'll just order a milkshake."

          Kagome nodded and started for the process.

          Ice cream….

          As she prepared everything, she noticed how the fine hairs on her back stood up… just like they do when someone or something was staring at her.

          "What?" she cried, turning away from the milkshake machine once she pressed 'on' and facing Miroku with her hands on her hips.

          "Nothing," he replied defensively, "I didn't touch you at all!"

          "Why are you staring at me?"

          "Is it wrong for a manager to watch over his employee's action?"

          Not able to find a comment to shoot back, Kagome fumed, shooting a dark glare in his face. His stare was very uncomfortable, and she was beginning to fidget a little.

          Just turn around….

          And she did just that.

          When the cup was filled, Kagome pressed the 'off' button.

          The thing was, it didn't stop.

          In that sense, it meant the machine was broken and kept spitting out vanilla-flavored milkshake. Soon, the cup overflowed and began to weaken under the sticky pressure, since it WAS a paper cup after all.

          Kagome continuously pressed the 'off' button, but when it didn't seem to work, she began to slam her palm against it. "Um… Miroku," she grunted, "I think your machine's broken."

          If she had looked behind her, she would have noticed his little grin.

          Close….

          "Should have been listening," he said with a shake of his head, "I told you to hold down the red button."

          She did that, and it increased the flow. "Nope, that's wrong!"

          Poor Kagome was becoming sticky, and she just hated the feeling. "Get over here and help me!"

          "It's supposed to work," Miroku grumbled, walking behind the counter. He swatted Kagome's hands away from the nozzle, where the milkshake was spurting from, and earned a swat in the head. "Look at this! You lied to me," she hissed, "Thanks for playing the stupid trick on me!"

          "It's not a joke! Holding down the red button is supposed to stop the flow altogether," he grumbled again, holding the red button down.

          "Don't!" she started to yell, but it was too late. This time, the drink violently burst forth from the hole, splashing the two all over. Miroku waited about 15 seconds before getting the idea to release his hold on the button and putting both hands to cover up the nozzle.

          "Pull the plug," he directed, trying to control the direction of the spraying milkshake away from his face.

          As Kagome leaned behind the machine and grasped the rubber plug, she pulled. A spark of blue-white lit up for a few seconds before disappearing. She pulled back with the plug in her hand, a triumphant smile on her face to show the plug was no longer in the outlet… and nearly fell back.

          The milkshake now sprayed in a jet, and it looked like it hurt, since Miroku winced every time it showered his arm.

          "Did you unplug the thing?" he yelled over the spraying.

          There was no describing the look on his face as she slowly held up the plug.

          "Oh…" he mumbled, eyes bulging at the sight, "That is NOT good."

          "You think?" Kagome commented sarcastically.

          Miroku ignored her words and commanded, "Come help me carry this junk."

          Sighing, she carefully sidled up next to the machine and hooked her fingers on its edges. "Ready," she said, nodding.

          He let go of the nozzle and began to hook his hands on the other edge. Together, they both heaved as they attempted to lift the incredibly big and heavy machine.

          The attempt didn't last long with Miroku's temporarily stinging arm and Kagome's not-too-much strength.

          OK….

          "I knew the machine was a piece of crap…" he muttered under his breath, "What to do… what to do…."

          Kagome was also thinking and closed her eyes for encouragement. She couldn't think when there was a raving machine in front of her. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she snapped her fingers. "Don't worry, Mr. Miroku Manager, I know EXACTLY how to stop the idiotic piece of steel."

          He looked as she ran past him and into the broom closet, which was highly unusual. "No, Kagome, we're not going to hide in the closet until the machine dies down…" he called after her. When she gave no answer, he shrugged, thinking she was already under the toilet rolls, and closed his eyes for some more deep thinking.

          Out of nowhere, a sickening crunch of steel sounded, followed by a light spray of milkshake on his face. Wiping away at his eyes, he found Kagome pummeling the machine with a baseball bat. "Die…" she grunted heavily, "You… old… thing… die!"

          Miroku backed away timidly as he saw her feeble brute strength come into play. A few minutes after, he could barely recognize his own machine, except for the nozzle still drizzling.

          Wow… great stress reliever!

          She stepped back to admire her handiwork while he, on the other hand, stepped back in horror. "So… now that I've stopped it from becoming a walking monster, can I go now?"

          "That cost me a good 10,000 YENS!"

                                                                              ~*~*~*~

*

*

A/N: *sigh* Finished! SOLS are done with me, but school is not. ^_^() I hope you liked the no-gore chapter… again. It will be the last happy/dandy chapter for the story's plot. *evil grin*

Anyways, I just wanted to say that Chapter 7 will DEFINITELY come out around June 20. I have to do Finals and Community Service. -_-* Blech… I'm sorry…. I MUST get A's because the Finals are worth a freakin' 25% of my fourth quarter grade! @_@ But… if I get to 100 reviews for this chapter, it will come out sooner…. *wink wink*

Next Chapter: Patterns~ As time goes on and becomes routine, she will relieve the night's fun.

Just a little hint. =) Now, ANOTHER advertisement! Her penname is Maiden of the Moon, and she wrote A LOT of stories. @_@ But I've read one of her stories so far, and it's another Cinderella story! But don't run away! What if Kagome and Inuyasha met, but she left hurriedly, leaving a glass slipper behind? But… what if Kikyo could fit the shoe? T_T Ugh… her ugly, big, stinky feet…. Poor Kagome. ^_^ I'm waiting for the next chapter, and the good thing is that whenever you're waiting for me to update, you can read her story because she updates daily! It's good, TRUST me. Why advertise if you don't like? ^_^ (Yes, it's romance, and there's nothing scary, except for Kikyo herself. ^_^)


Now, I'm off to go read stories, and I hope everyone likes this chapter!

Ah, there's nothing as classic as the 'Attack of the Milkshake Machine, Pt. III'. XD Oh boy, I'm loving this already….

6/07/03~ Fixed….

Hey, everyone. *smiles weakly* I'm back from ballet, and my body hurts. I've just done some minor fixing, but I doubt any of you guys will see the difference.

Anyways, I want to thank everyone who was enthusiastic about the deal and went straight ahead in helping me reach 100. It just puts a smile on my face that you guys are eager to read the next chapter.

Yes, I still remember my deal; if I get to 100, then the next chapter will come out on June 20th. However, I am really sorry for this, but I can't do that.

Apart from finals coming up this week, which is about to stress me beyond belief, I'm doubting about the course of the story. This means that I can't seem to write a sentence of the next chapter without thinking, "Is this going to capture the audience's attention?" or "Is this the way they expected?"

I know that some of you received a review from me and heard me talk a lot about this, and I'm really sorry for clogging up your time. Fortunately, they didn't go and blast my head off for being such a coconut. (My Insult of the Month.)

You are all probably thinking, "What kind of excuse is this? Why would she be doubting the course of the story? I love the story!" OK… maybe not the 'I love the story' (Glad to see I still have my humor in check….), but the first two are probably what you're thinking. Well, you see, I received my first flame for my first story.

….

Yeah, ouch is the word. For the past four days and three nights, I was feeling very put-down that someone could just so bluntly say, "I'm sorry, but your story sucks and you wasted my time." This is, of course, the summarized version of what I see behind those constructed words. There weren't any constructive criticism, and it really hurt me. Many of my live friends and people online have told me constantly to stop worrying over it, and I'm not worried. What brought me down was the flame itself. I read everyone's reviews, and I think a lot of what you say; if you said you liked it, then it brought a smile to my face, knowing that you enjoyed it. But when someone emails me, saying that it was a waste of his/her time, that just makes me want to take off the story. *ducks chairs* I'm not doing it, but I'm just using that as an example.

So this is why I can't have Chapter 7 out by this weekend or the next. =( I feel so obliged to bring out the next chapter that must meet what you guys expect, and not just quality. I mean, from that flame, the reviewer said she felt the story stray a little. In that sense, I feel obliged to write out more gore and horror and stalking for EVERY.SINGLE.CHAPTER. @_@ No offense, who here wants to read intestine splats every chapter? Please answer the question if you review this, which you don't have to.

Please be patient until June 20th; there's only a few more days left. ^_~ I will try to get it out by June 20th, too. Is anyone mad at me for backing out on the deal? Once again, I'm really sorry for having to do this, but I feel that I have to put effort into this chapter, and a weekend might not be enough.

Thanks to the following people who have endured my depression stage:

Kitten Kisses: I'm your friend? Thanks! *does the happy dance*

Maiden of the Moon: Hehe… I'm returning the favor, no? Thanks again for the cookbook… now, how to make garlic cupcakes…. ^_~ You've helped me SO much through this little stage. =) Thanks a lot!

ChristyKay: I think you're the only one who reviews my story for talking… like me. ^_^ Remember, though, we must add SOMETHING to the reviews about your stories… that way, it won't sound like a forum. Hehe… thanks for cheering me up. Man, I'm glad someone here can relate to how I feel. =(

Himiko: I know, I know, she hasn't read my story yet. But if she did, this here is just to thank her for reading my novel-sized reviews talking about flames. She got one, too, so I decided to make her suffer along with everyone else. ^_~ Thanks for reading my novel reviews… if you did.

EmeraldDragon: OK, I know she hasn't read my story, but this is just for her, because I also emailed her, talking about my sadness.

OK… there are more people; I just KNOW it! But I don't remember much, so sorry. If I forgot, you can tell me, and I'll thank you next chapter.

On the bright side, I'm getting better! People with their support have really turned my scorched ego into a mildly burnt one. ^_^ I'm ready to start working SLOWLY again… so yeah, that could be a problem, too. Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ENDURING MY LITTLE DEPRESSION!

P.S. Has anyone seen Kirby? He disappeared a while ago…. o_0 Where in the World is Kirby? (LMAO… haha…. XD)

(Somewhere in England… in the Buckingham Palace….)

(-_0)

Thank you for your help through the nasty flame's effect/harshness, which I 'affectionately' call it FEH.

^_^