Sakura's Note: A quick break from Sango's side this chapter. Next update, which will be next week (posting hiatus due to writing four simultaneous WIWU chapters at the same time) So, this chapter is Inuyasha and Kagome's chance to…talk somewhat. Next chapter, however, is probably what most of you are looking for.
October's been busy with my birthday, friend's birthdays, Homecoming, and Halloween. But, with October came great inspiration!
This chapter is dedicated to my friend Joey (JasonLovesChaos) for being so supportive of this story.
And, as a gift for my absence, I have added a Wish I Were You picture to my deviantart account. It's of Inuyasha and Kagome, and there will be a Miroku/Sango and EXTRAS piece later on to follow up with it. glitterbug10us. the chapter, and please R&R!
.-..-.
Chapter 14: Misery Loves Company
.-..-.
There was about a 100 chance of seeing Inuyasha.
Now in the incredibly long line, Kagome's stomach filled with butterflies. They'd decided on a movie, and had carried on conversation without once mentioning Inuyasha Dawson. Yet, right now, he was the only thing on her mind.
A flash of white, and Kagome's heart was pounding.
"Aren't you Kagome Higurashi?"
Kouga eyed the curious group of adolescent boys with a sigh. "How can you mistake her for anyone else, you dimwit?"
The boy paused, "Well, her and Kikyo-"
Calming Kouga down, Kagome smiled welcomingly and politely interrupted. "I'm Kagome."
"Dude! Kagome Higurashi's going to see a movie…like normal people! Hey, can we have your autograph?" He acted as though she'd never done it before.
"Um…sure. Do you have a pen?"
The boys just about fell over each other trying to find something for her to write with.
The line was moving, and the group of boys seemed to be growing…
"Where do you want me to sign?"
Kouga spotted a few devious grins and growled, "Watch it, you little perverts."
By the time Kagome finished signing movie ticket stubs and random articles of clothing, the line was considerably shorter. They were almost at the front.
And thankfully, Inuyasha was helping a newbie through what looked like a traumatic experience with a group of preteen girls trying to buy all their tickets at once.
There was a ray of hope that the girls would still be there when it came their time and Inuyasha would be too occupied to notice them.
"I should have known my day would get worse." Inuyasha dully noted the couple in front of him.
Kagome slumped her shoulders but pulled out a bright smile. In a really odd way, actually seeing Inuyasha made the smile genuine. "Wow. This is a coincidence, isn't it?"
Inuyasha panned his gaze from the heiress to Kouga. "Must be." His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I wouldn't flatter you by coming just to get you riled, Dawson." Kouga leaned right up to the speaker and hissed, "Although it is a plus."
"Look. I'm not here to socialize with you. I'm here working. So tell me what movie you want to stare at for two hours before I lose my job and you lose your life."
"We're here to see Into the Blue, Inuyasha." Kagome eased Kouga away from the glass partition.
"That's thirteen-fifty, Wolfe."
"I'm surprised you didn't try to cheat me." Kouga spat.
"Yeah, well I figured it'd be an easy shot at you…even though the prices are above your head I think you still would've fallen for it." Taking the money and slipping the tickets under the glass, Inuyasha waited for them to go up the escalator before he allowed his blood to boil.
It didn't exactly look good when he got into an argument with Kouga every time Kagome was around.
.-..-.
Ayame ground her foot into the carpet, forcing her knee to stop shaking. Things didn't look good… She looked back up at the television just as Hakkaku sauntered back into the living room with sodas. "Are you okay, Ayame? You don't look so good."
"Oh, I'm fine." Ayame accepted the offered cola and popped the top. "Just thinking."
Hakkaku settled back into the sofa, munching on the remaining popcorn. "You're a bad liar."
"Can we please get back to watching the movie?"
"It's no fun if you're going to be miserable all night." Hakkaku argued. He nudged her with the popcorn bowl. When she didn't take some, he sighed. "This is about Kouga, isn't it?" Setting the bowl aside, he slung an arm around her shoulder. "You're upset because Kouga's out with Kagome and wants to ask her to homecoming."
"Is it that obvious?"
Hakkaku paused the movie just when another zombie's head blew off. "Come on, you haven't been into the movie at all. Yeah it's obvious. No offense, but it usually is obvious when a chick has a problem."
"Then I'm right and Kouga's just an idiot." With a puckered brow, Ayame settled back into the sofa and resumed the movie.
Looking over at the redhead, Hakkaku faintly nodded. "Yeah, he is."
.-..-.
"Hungry?" Kouga gestured across the street at the array of restaurants and grinned. "Popcorn doesn't do the job."
Kagome laughed, snuggling deeper into her jacket. "Yeah, actually." It was cold enough that her breath showed in the air.
A few flashes went off around the corner where a flock of tipped off reporters stood snapping away eagerly at Kagome.
Kouga shrugged off his trademark leather jacket and draped it over Kagome's shoulders. Announcing "Chipotle" like he was pledging an oath. Then, grabbing her by the hand whilst shooting a devil's glare at the paparazzi, Kouga drew her into the restaurant.
Kagome welcomed the warm interior and the escape from the reporters. The numbers of hungry media increased everyday with more and more people finally deciding to give out her whereabouts for pocket change…or their name in the paper. Whichever they liked most.
"Pick anything you want." Kouga looked up at the menu for emphasis.
"What's good?" Kagome shrugged, still shaking the effects of the cold. At Kouga's expression, she realized he believed everything on the menu was. "Just double your order."
"Oh, I already am." Kouga winked, "I'll triple it."
"You're more pig than wolf."
"I've learned to accept that." Grinning wolfishly, Kouga placed his order. They headed to a table and Kouga only waited for her to take a bite before he attacked his food. "What do they feed you up in New York?"
New York. Kagome blinked, That's right…I'm from New York. Shocked at the fact she'd forgotten something almost every other American knew, Kagome found herself mentally running through other common facts of her life. "I dunno…I usually ate whatever Miguel and Jacques made. So mostly Italian."
Kouga slowed his eating, his (thankfully, empty) mouth open in confusion. Overall, he looked adorable.
Kagome laughed. Inuyasha would make some kind of crack about Kouga's lack of intelligence right about now… "Miguel is from Madrid and Jacques is from Paris…they're always arguing which country has the best food and since one is always messing with the other's cooking, they end up making neutral dishes. You and Inuyasha remind me of them."
Kouga looked up at the analogy and furrowed his brow. "Dawson and I are different."
This was it. The conversation was open to find out what had happened between Kouga and Inuyasha. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that dog-breath and I are completely different from some French and Spanish dudes arguing over food. It's deeper than that."
"What happened between you two? You couldn't have always hated each other's guts like this." Although…the image of two babies stealing each other's stuffed-animals from one another's cribs did seem like something they'd do…
Kouga shrugged. "Dunno. There are a lot of reasons why I don't like him." He sipped on his soda. "Everyone has that one person they hate.""
Kagome's face fell. "I don't think I hate anyone. Dislike, maybe, but not hate."
"That's because you're a good person, Kagome. You're a rare find."
"Is that why you asked me to your homecoming, because I'm a rare find?"
Kouga narrowed his eyes, "I didn't ask you out 'cuz you're some heiress chick. That's probably the reason I wouldn't have." Kouga rested his cheek on his fist and snorted. "At least that's why Ayame must be hating me right now."
Blinking, Kagome recalled the girl he was talking about, "Ayame…you mean the one who threw that ball at your face in gym class?"
It seemed she'd touched a sore spot when he winced and flashed a glance at his spoon to see his fading black eye. "Yeah, that's her."
"Why is she mad at you?"
Kouga seemed to pounce at the subject. "I don't know! We were at lunch and she went psycho and stormed off to the bathroom!"
There was something obviously missing from this oh-so-pleasant story.
And Kagome Higurashi was going to get to the bottom of it.
.-..-.
"You look like you need a break." Jinenji popped through the door with a smile. "I'll help the new guy while you get some air."
Inuyasha nodded absentmindedly. "Thanks, Jinenji."
It didn't feel like Inuyasha could get out of the theater fast enough.
The city lights flared outside, and the cool night air stung at his cheeks. Pulling his shirt collar up around his neck, Inuyasha sucked in a breath, and leaned against a row of movie posters.
"Skipping out on your duties?"
Inuyasha looked over at Miroku – looking comfortable in his jacket – and scowled. "Kouga knows that I work here. It's the only reason he took Kagome to the movies tonight."
Miroku raised an eyebrow at the unusual greeting. "Why does he think you care? Could it be he thinks that you like her too?"
"Keh. No. It's because we hate each other's guts and taking out the girl that is staying at my house is just another way of driving me insane."
Miroku sighed, leaning up against the wall next to his best friend. There was no getting through to him. "A movie is a pretty good place for going out, though…and, Kagome is a beautiful girl. I'd ask her out if I didn't already li-"
Inuyasha perked up noticeably, watching Miroku out of the corner of his eye.
"If I didn't already like her as a friend." Miroku mentally patted himself on the back.
"That doesn't sound like something that would keep you back, Miroku." Inuyasha kicked off from the wall, freezing mid-step when he glanced inside the restaurant across the street. "I'm going back inside. You want to replace the ticket tape?"
"Am I getting paid for it?" Miroku noticed the reason for Inuyasha's sudden eagerness to work and sauntered in behind Inuyasha.
"No."
"You still owe me for McDonalds!" Miroku remembered suddenly, "I demand my money!"
"Uh huh." Inuyasha tossed Miroku a box full of blank rolls of tickets and went back to Jinenji.
Miroku grumbled, kneeling down to flip open one of the registers. "I do!"
.-..-.
When Inuyasha stepped off the bus and started up his home's walkway, Kouga's car sped pass with Rin waving good night to him excitedly from the passengers seat. Kagome was at the door, only now having caught sight of Inuyasha.
Smiling and waiting for him to catch up, Kagome folded her arms tight across her chest. "It's getting cold, huh?"
"If you say so." Inuyasha pulled out his keys. "So, he just left," He remarked casually.
"He walked me to the door and picked up Rin." Kagome shrugged. "She and Kohaku got back just a little while ago."
"How was the movie?" Inuyasha yawned, pushing open the door.
His yawn passed onto Kagome as she followed him up the stairs. "It was alright. Kouga was more into it than I was."
Inuyasha paused a moment by his bedroom door before looking over his shoulder. "He didn't try anything?"
"No." Kagome's voice turned hard. "Not that it's any of your business."
"Whatever." He shut the door in her face, leaving the hallway dark. There was a little rustling from behind the door, followed by creaking mattress springs.
.-..-.
It was nearly impossible to grope her way down the staircase without tumbling her way to the first floor. Without knowing where Sango kept a flashlight and not wanting to disturb anyone, Kagome headed down to the kitchen in the dark.
With a thousand and one things on her mind, sleep didn't come easy.
Ice cream did, though.
With the moon facing the kitchen, eerie shadows cast themselves around the room. "Rocky road…or Cookies 'n' cream…"
"Cookies 'n' cream." Inuyasha muttered from the table, "Is taken."
Kagome jumped clear off her feet, "Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha sighed, amber eyes catching the reflection of the moonlight. "I thought I'd be alone down here. Then again…I thought I'd be left to teach the new guy how to work the ticket booth in peace too…"
Her frown didn't reach him through the darkness, neither did her look of concern at his odd expression. Pulling open the freezer door and ducking in, Kagome pulled a face. "The Rocky Road's all gone."
"I know." Inuyasha stared off into space with his spoon stuck into the cold ice cream. "I ate it first."
"It's called diabetes. You're real close to getting it."
Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't think so. Dawson men don't get sick." There was an unreadable look in his eyes before they swiveled over to her and he blinked out of the reverie. "Why couldn't you sleep?"
"Too much on my mind…Actually, there isn't that much but what is there is important." Sitting down beside the fully awake Dawson, Kagome reached in for a scoop of ice cream. Strangely, Inuyasha complied, moving out of the way for her to get a share. "Don't take this as prying. Is there something on your mind?"
"A few things." Inuyasha mumbled around his spoon.
"But you're not going to tell me what." She pointed out wryly. "I already told you that Kouga and I didn't do anything but watch the movie. I might be a celebrity but I'm not eas-"
"I'm not wasting my brain power on something as stupid as Kouga. And you're not easy, just especially annoying to me." Drumming his fingers on the tabletop, Inuyasha continued to talk around his spoon. "I shouldn't have said that. Now you'll just pick at it until it bleeds."
"I'm insulted by that!"
"You are by a lot of things."
Silence.
Both of them had a lot to think about, and it would take them all night, sitting in comfortable silence and eating ice cream.