Inuyasha turned the photo over. The back read: "Wednesday 6:30 -- 5648 Kireiyama street: apt # 432."
"Wed-nes-da-y...," he read. He sighed. What was he supposed to do until then? It was only Monday now.
Inuyasha was bored with reading by now, and he prefered not to repeat the embarassing learning experience he'd had thanks to Amy.
"I'm bored," he said aloud.
"I'm bored too."
Inuyasha gasped. He turned around. He saw a little boy standing next to him.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked the kid, letting out a sigh of relief.
"My mother is trying to make me read more, but I'm bored with it."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Inuyasha told him.
"I know! Let's play I-spy!"
"I-spy?"
"I spy with my little eye something that is orange. Now guess what it is."
"Um, that chair?"
"Yes! Okay, you go now!"
"Um, I spy with my little eye something that is... blue."
########...Meanwhile, at the front desk...#################
The telephone rang and Kagome picked it up. "Downtown Library."
"With whom am I speaking?" The caller asked apprehensively.
"Higurashi Kagome, head librarian."
"Is there anyone else that I could speak with?"
"Hold on." Kagome held to receiver to her breast. "AMY!... AMY?" She called in a whispering tone. She was trying to be the least disruptive that she possibly could.
Kagome waited a few seconds, then she set the phone down and walked off in a brief search for Amy.
Without finding Amy, Kagome picked the phone back up. "No, I'm sorry. What did you need?"
"Are you sure that there's nobody else that I could talk to?"
"Um... yes. What do you need?"
"Well, I need to talk to someone."
"Who?"
"No-one in particular,"
"Who is this?" Kagome asked, getting a little irritated.
"Alright, it's mom."
"Mom! Why are you calling?" Kagome whispered intensely.
"Promise you won't get mad."
"I'm not going to promise. Tell me why you're calling."
"Promise or I won't tell you." Mrs. Higurashi insisted.
"Fine, I won't get mad. Now 'fess up!"
"Alright," she sighed. "Inuyasha is down there, and I was going to pick him up at closing time, but my car broke down."
"Why is Inuyasha down here?"
"I wanted you to get accustomed to him again." Mrs. Higurashi told her.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Listen, I'll take him home when I leave tonight. What's wrong with your car? Do you need a jump?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I've already called for a tow truck."
"Okay, I'll see you later. Bye, mom."
"Bye, Kagome."
She hung up the phone, and decided to go looking for Inuyasha. If you were to see her right now, you would be surprised by her countenance. She did not have an angry look on her face.
She was feeling honored in a strange sort of way. She was a little bit surprised that he would go to all of this trouble to be with her, (despite what he had said).
She looked up every aisle. Finally she happened upon him in the juvenille section.
"I spy with my little eye something that is black." The little boy was looking at Kagome's hair.
Inuyasha looked around the room, scanning for the black object and then turned around to face her. He froze. A look of sheer terror overtook his face. His face was as pale as his knuckles were. "K-Kagome!"
"That's right! Your turn now!" The child declared.
Inuyasha's eyes stayed fixed upon her.
"I'm going to be taking you home instead of mother, okay?" She told him in a very calm, informative tone.
"O-kay." He sputtered.
Kagome gave him only a "ta-ta" wave before returning to her desk.
"Oh, my mom's here." The little boy informed the still-frozen Inuyasha.
"Bye." Inuyasha told him, finally turning around.
The little boy had taken his young mother's hand and was walking out. "It was nice to meet you... um?"
"Inuyasha." Inuyasha informed the kid of his name.
"Bye Inuya...!" The kid shouted as his mother pulled him out the door, hiding her embarassment at her kid's public scene.
"What a bitch." Inuyasha thought aloud.
"Inuyasha!" Amy admonished him, "I told you that I don't tolerate that kind of language!"
"Stop sneaking up on me!" He shouted to the world.
Amy 'shh'ed him.
Amy sat down in the plastic orange chair that was standing alone in the section. Upon seeing her, several kids sat down in close proximity to her and watched as she took a book from the shelf next to her.
"Story time, kids!" She announced. At this point, about fifteen more kids, some coming from other sections, gathered around her.
"Story time?" Inuyasha asked.
A little girl tapped him on the knee and he turned to her.
"Shh!" She instructed him. "Just watch."
Inuyasha watched Amy.
"Today's book is: 'Fluffy's Big Adventure!'" She held the book out, and shifted from side to side to make extra sure that everyone got a fair look.
She held away from her face at a one-hundred-and-thirty degree angle and read with her peripheral vision, pausing at the each page to show off the pictures.
"Yoshiro is Fluffy's best friend." Upon seeing the picture, Inuyasha realized that Fluffy was actually an inanimate object; an ambiguiously specified stuffed animal.
"Fluffy cannot sleep at night without Yoshiro there to comfort him in the dark."
"Yoshiro and Fluffy protect each other from the monsters that live in Yoshiro's closet." Amy displayed a picture of an ajar closet door. It was surprisingly daunting.
"Today, however, something has gone terribly wrong: Fluffy has gone missing."
"Where could he have gone? Who could have kidnapped him?" Amy sounded very concerned for Fluffy's well being. This made the story so much more captivating. She showed a picture of Yoshiro searching frantically for Fluffy in his room, with his feet poking out from under a bed. Socks were flying everywhere.
"Yoshiro searched for his best friend desperately all day long. He is growing worried; the sun is setting." This picture showed Yoshiro sitting in front of his bedroom window, through which the setting sun can be seen, with his troubled face resting in his hands.
"'Yoshiro, it's time for bed,' his mother called." The picture showed a woman with her hand next to her open mouth to demonstrate that she was yelling.
"'No!,' he moaned. 'I have to find Fluffy!'" There was a picture of Yoshiro looking like a terrible mess. His hair was bunched up and sticking out in every direction, he was dirty, his expression was pained, and his fists were balled up at his sides.
"'Fluffy?' she asked aloud, 'which one is Fluffy?'" The picture showed her puzzlement through her finger on her chin through the look in her eyes.
"'Fluffy is my best friend, and he's gone!' He informed her." The picture showed Yoshiro shouting with tears falling out of his eyes.
"'Oh! Him, I washed him today, he's not lost.' His mother told him." The picture showed Yoshiro running and smiling with his cheeks still wet from tears.
"Yoshiro searched the laundry room high and low, but Fluffy was still nowhere to be found." Amy read.
"'Where did you put him, mom? I can't find him anywhere!' he asked his mother frantically. 'I put him away, isn't he in your room somewhere?'"
"'No!' Yoshiro wept again. 'He's not in my room! I checked everywhere!' 'Well, I know that I put him some place safe. Just go to bed, I'm sure that he'll turn up in the morning, there's no need to get upset.'"
"'But who will protect him from the closet monster if I can't find him?!' Yoshiro pleaded with his mother." The picture showed a scene from Yoshiro's imagination; it showed you a gruesome cartoon picture of several gangly, warty, multi-colored, clawed hands pulling the poor Fluffy thing in several directions--the Fluffy thing had tears in its eyes.
"'Oh! That's right!' his mother exclaimed, 'You just reminded me of where I put him! He's on a shelf in your closet.'" The book displayed a picture of the closet, faintly visible in the suffocating darkness.
"Fear for his best friend's safety pierced through Yoshiro's heart. His mother flicked the light switch up and down a few times. 'Looks like it burnt out, I'll go get another light bulb.' His mother went off in search of a fresh light bulb."
"Yoshiro stood just outside of the door, knowing that his best friend was in there, not knowing what horrors lay inside. His heart felt like it was going to explode. When he couldn't take another second of the thoughts of what could be happening to Fluffy, he ran into the dark closet." The picture was an absolutely horrible one, it showed Yoshiro running directly into the blackness of the closet, the contents was obscured by darkness. It made you feel that the boy was doomed.
"He ran his fingers over everything in the closet, desperately feeling around for his estranged friend. He felt that at any moment he could touch the wrong thing and he would be eaten, partially or perhaps in whole. At last, he felt the familar texture of Fluffy's ears and he grabbed him."
"Yoshiro and Fluffy ran out of the closet, and slammed the door shut behind them. They hugged each other tightly--they had never been more happy to see each other."
"His mother returned with the light bulb. 'You have Fluffy, does that mean that you got him out all by yourself?' she asked him, beaming with pride."
"Yoshiro nodded, beginning to feel a bit of pride himself. His mother hugged him. 'You have grown into quite the brave young man,' she told him. He and Fluffy went to bed, and they protected each other, but they never felt quite as frightened of the closet monsters again." Amy smiled while showing the last page with a picture of the stuffed animal and his pet boy sleeping in a bed together with the closet door closed.
Amy set the book down in her lap. The crowd of children gladly performed the obligatory clapping and then settled down.
"This book is by Emily Hayes, if you want to read other books by her she's in the H-A-Y's, or, you can get me to find one for you..."
Inuyasha glanced off to the side, this was seriously not enough stimulation to hold his attention. He needed to yell, curse and beat something up. He wondered what time it was. Without even bothering to be inconspicuous, Inuyasha wandered off.
He ended up at Kagome's desk. "Kagome, this is boring. How do you stand it all day?"
Kagome shrugged. "If you're bored why don't you go read a book?"
"Because that's boring too!"
"Then go wander around for a few hours." She stamped the inside cover of a book and set it on a shelf.
"Wander around this building? That would be stupid..."
"No, I mean wander around Tokyo, just be back by seven-thirty." She stamped another.
"Hey, that's a good idea... but, how will I know what time it is?"
"Someone out there will know."
"Bye, Kagome!" He told her as he ran out of the building and into the world beyond.
"Wed-nes-da-y...," he read. He sighed. What was he supposed to do until then? It was only Monday now.
Inuyasha was bored with reading by now, and he prefered not to repeat the embarassing learning experience he'd had thanks to Amy.
"I'm bored," he said aloud.
"I'm bored too."
Inuyasha gasped. He turned around. He saw a little boy standing next to him.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked the kid, letting out a sigh of relief.
"My mother is trying to make me read more, but I'm bored with it."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Inuyasha told him.
"I know! Let's play I-spy!"
"I-spy?"
"I spy with my little eye something that is orange. Now guess what it is."
"Um, that chair?"
"Yes! Okay, you go now!"
"Um, I spy with my little eye something that is... blue."
########...Meanwhile, at the front desk...#################
The telephone rang and Kagome picked it up. "Downtown Library."
"With whom am I speaking?" The caller asked apprehensively.
"Higurashi Kagome, head librarian."
"Is there anyone else that I could speak with?"
"Hold on." Kagome held to receiver to her breast. "AMY!... AMY?" She called in a whispering tone. She was trying to be the least disruptive that she possibly could.
Kagome waited a few seconds, then she set the phone down and walked off in a brief search for Amy.
Without finding Amy, Kagome picked the phone back up. "No, I'm sorry. What did you need?"
"Are you sure that there's nobody else that I could talk to?"
"Um... yes. What do you need?"
"Well, I need to talk to someone."
"Who?"
"No-one in particular,"
"Who is this?" Kagome asked, getting a little irritated.
"Alright, it's mom."
"Mom! Why are you calling?" Kagome whispered intensely.
"Promise you won't get mad."
"I'm not going to promise. Tell me why you're calling."
"Promise or I won't tell you." Mrs. Higurashi insisted.
"Fine, I won't get mad. Now 'fess up!"
"Alright," she sighed. "Inuyasha is down there, and I was going to pick him up at closing time, but my car broke down."
"Why is Inuyasha down here?"
"I wanted you to get accustomed to him again." Mrs. Higurashi told her.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Listen, I'll take him home when I leave tonight. What's wrong with your car? Do you need a jump?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I've already called for a tow truck."
"Okay, I'll see you later. Bye, mom."
"Bye, Kagome."
She hung up the phone, and decided to go looking for Inuyasha. If you were to see her right now, you would be surprised by her countenance. She did not have an angry look on her face.
She was feeling honored in a strange sort of way. She was a little bit surprised that he would go to all of this trouble to be with her, (despite what he had said).
She looked up every aisle. Finally she happened upon him in the juvenille section.
"I spy with my little eye something that is black." The little boy was looking at Kagome's hair.
Inuyasha looked around the room, scanning for the black object and then turned around to face her. He froze. A look of sheer terror overtook his face. His face was as pale as his knuckles were. "K-Kagome!"
"That's right! Your turn now!" The child declared.
Inuyasha's eyes stayed fixed upon her.
"I'm going to be taking you home instead of mother, okay?" She told him in a very calm, informative tone.
"O-kay." He sputtered.
Kagome gave him only a "ta-ta" wave before returning to her desk.
"Oh, my mom's here." The little boy informed the still-frozen Inuyasha.
"Bye." Inuyasha told him, finally turning around.
The little boy had taken his young mother's hand and was walking out. "It was nice to meet you... um?"
"Inuyasha." Inuyasha informed the kid of his name.
"Bye Inuya...!" The kid shouted as his mother pulled him out the door, hiding her embarassment at her kid's public scene.
"What a bitch." Inuyasha thought aloud.
"Inuyasha!" Amy admonished him, "I told you that I don't tolerate that kind of language!"
"Stop sneaking up on me!" He shouted to the world.
Amy 'shh'ed him.
Amy sat down in the plastic orange chair that was standing alone in the section. Upon seeing her, several kids sat down in close proximity to her and watched as she took a book from the shelf next to her.
"Story time, kids!" She announced. At this point, about fifteen more kids, some coming from other sections, gathered around her.
"Story time?" Inuyasha asked.
A little girl tapped him on the knee and he turned to her.
"Shh!" She instructed him. "Just watch."
Inuyasha watched Amy.
"Today's book is: 'Fluffy's Big Adventure!'" She held the book out, and shifted from side to side to make extra sure that everyone got a fair look.
She held away from her face at a one-hundred-and-thirty degree angle and read with her peripheral vision, pausing at the each page to show off the pictures.
"Yoshiro is Fluffy's best friend." Upon seeing the picture, Inuyasha realized that Fluffy was actually an inanimate object; an ambiguiously specified stuffed animal.
"Fluffy cannot sleep at night without Yoshiro there to comfort him in the dark."
"Yoshiro and Fluffy protect each other from the monsters that live in Yoshiro's closet." Amy displayed a picture of an ajar closet door. It was surprisingly daunting.
"Today, however, something has gone terribly wrong: Fluffy has gone missing."
"Where could he have gone? Who could have kidnapped him?" Amy sounded very concerned for Fluffy's well being. This made the story so much more captivating. She showed a picture of Yoshiro searching frantically for Fluffy in his room, with his feet poking out from under a bed. Socks were flying everywhere.
"Yoshiro searched for his best friend desperately all day long. He is growing worried; the sun is setting." This picture showed Yoshiro sitting in front of his bedroom window, through which the setting sun can be seen, with his troubled face resting in his hands.
"'Yoshiro, it's time for bed,' his mother called." The picture showed a woman with her hand next to her open mouth to demonstrate that she was yelling.
"'No!,' he moaned. 'I have to find Fluffy!'" There was a picture of Yoshiro looking like a terrible mess. His hair was bunched up and sticking out in every direction, he was dirty, his expression was pained, and his fists were balled up at his sides.
"'Fluffy?' she asked aloud, 'which one is Fluffy?'" The picture showed her puzzlement through her finger on her chin through the look in her eyes.
"'Fluffy is my best friend, and he's gone!' He informed her." The picture showed Yoshiro shouting with tears falling out of his eyes.
"'Oh! Him, I washed him today, he's not lost.' His mother told him." The picture showed Yoshiro running and smiling with his cheeks still wet from tears.
"Yoshiro searched the laundry room high and low, but Fluffy was still nowhere to be found." Amy read.
"'Where did you put him, mom? I can't find him anywhere!' he asked his mother frantically. 'I put him away, isn't he in your room somewhere?'"
"'No!' Yoshiro wept again. 'He's not in my room! I checked everywhere!' 'Well, I know that I put him some place safe. Just go to bed, I'm sure that he'll turn up in the morning, there's no need to get upset.'"
"'But who will protect him from the closet monster if I can't find him?!' Yoshiro pleaded with his mother." The picture showed a scene from Yoshiro's imagination; it showed you a gruesome cartoon picture of several gangly, warty, multi-colored, clawed hands pulling the poor Fluffy thing in several directions--the Fluffy thing had tears in its eyes.
"'Oh! That's right!' his mother exclaimed, 'You just reminded me of where I put him! He's on a shelf in your closet.'" The book displayed a picture of the closet, faintly visible in the suffocating darkness.
"Fear for his best friend's safety pierced through Yoshiro's heart. His mother flicked the light switch up and down a few times. 'Looks like it burnt out, I'll go get another light bulb.' His mother went off in search of a fresh light bulb."
"Yoshiro stood just outside of the door, knowing that his best friend was in there, not knowing what horrors lay inside. His heart felt like it was going to explode. When he couldn't take another second of the thoughts of what could be happening to Fluffy, he ran into the dark closet." The picture was an absolutely horrible one, it showed Yoshiro running directly into the blackness of the closet, the contents was obscured by darkness. It made you feel that the boy was doomed.
"He ran his fingers over everything in the closet, desperately feeling around for his estranged friend. He felt that at any moment he could touch the wrong thing and he would be eaten, partially or perhaps in whole. At last, he felt the familar texture of Fluffy's ears and he grabbed him."
"Yoshiro and Fluffy ran out of the closet, and slammed the door shut behind them. They hugged each other tightly--they had never been more happy to see each other."
"His mother returned with the light bulb. 'You have Fluffy, does that mean that you got him out all by yourself?' she asked him, beaming with pride."
"Yoshiro nodded, beginning to feel a bit of pride himself. His mother hugged him. 'You have grown into quite the brave young man,' she told him. He and Fluffy went to bed, and they protected each other, but they never felt quite as frightened of the closet monsters again." Amy smiled while showing the last page with a picture of the stuffed animal and his pet boy sleeping in a bed together with the closet door closed.
Amy set the book down in her lap. The crowd of children gladly performed the obligatory clapping and then settled down.
"This book is by Emily Hayes, if you want to read other books by her she's in the H-A-Y's, or, you can get me to find one for you..."
Inuyasha glanced off to the side, this was seriously not enough stimulation to hold his attention. He needed to yell, curse and beat something up. He wondered what time it was. Without even bothering to be inconspicuous, Inuyasha wandered off.
He ended up at Kagome's desk. "Kagome, this is boring. How do you stand it all day?"
Kagome shrugged. "If you're bored why don't you go read a book?"
"Because that's boring too!"
"Then go wander around for a few hours." She stamped the inside cover of a book and set it on a shelf.
"Wander around this building? That would be stupid..."
"No, I mean wander around Tokyo, just be back by seven-thirty." She stamped another.
"Hey, that's a good idea... but, how will I know what time it is?"
"Someone out there will know."
"Bye, Kagome!" He told her as he ran out of the building and into the world beyond.