A Bread Crumb

Chapter 12: The Fuzzy Skin of Peaches

By: Rachynn

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

He didn't believe it, all that searching, for nothing. He could have laughed. All he had needed to do was drive into some obscure town and walk into a coffee shop. How was he supposed to have known that one half of the pair of people that he sought was right there? He considered approaching the man, but the coffee shop was to public, he couldn't do anything here. It took most of his restraint to pay for the coffee without continuously glancing at the man.

Eventually, he sat down at a booth near the door. He sipped his coffee and read the newspaper that he had found laying on the table. It was a few days old, but no matter, it was still informative. His attention wasn't really on the newspaper though. He was staring over the top of the page at him.

He was sitting with two women and a child. This brought a frown to the newcomers face. The conversation he was having seemed serious, all of the parties involved eventually speaking at least once. Questions spun through his mind. What was Inuyasha doing here in such a small town? He applauded his prey, it was a genius idea. Had it not been for creature comforts, Miroku never would have entertained the notion of coming to this off-the-map town. If someone wanted to disappear, this was the perfect place, if you could make yourself blend in.

Second, where was Kikyo and why was Inuyasha sitting with two other women? Had the two separated and gone their separate ways? Miroku narrowed his eyes. He doubted it; those two had been so absorbed in each other that he was certain that nothing could tear them apart.

These thoughts mulled about in his head for a few long moments. He was so close to him, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything. Not here, not now. His mind shifted into calculating mode, going over the possible courses of action he could take.

Then, they were leaving. They were quiet until they got outside, where he watched them gape at his car. Once they had moved on, he followed them discreetly down the street. From a safe distance he watched them disappear into a clothing store. He had noticed the poor quality of Inuyasha's clothes, if they might be called that. Miroku wrinkled his nose. The Inuyasha he knew wouldn't have been caught dead in a dirty piece of clothing. It occurred to him that Inuyasha and Kikyo may have changed in the months since their disappearance. Although the question remained; how much had they changed?

He tried his best to go unnoticed, but he didn't fit in at all in this small town. He ended up sitting in his car, stewing over events. He sat there, trying his best to ignore the stares of passer byers; the street was gradually becoming more and more crowded. It wasn't until he saw Inuyasha and company come out of the store, a few plastic bags on their person, that he started the car.

He tried to make it seem that he was cruising around looking for a parking lot or something, but that was proving difficult. He was really just trying to follow Inuyasha, to see where he was going, where he was staying. He didn't have a full plan worked out in his mind, not past the moment when he finally met Inuyasha face to face.

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Kagome was talking animatedly about the clothes they had just bought. They had all been on sale of course. It seemed that Kagome was the type that enjoyed shopping over enthusiastically. Kikyo was much the same, except that Kagome was more worried about cost that Kikyo had ever been. Internally Inuyasha cursed himself. He couldn't compare Kagome and Kikyo, it wasn't right. It only made him think about Kikyo more in the long run anyways, something he was sure couldn't be healthy.

They were almost at Kagome house/store when Inuyasha noticed something. That shiny car from outside the coffee shop, it was following them. He frowned. While he had seen plenty of expensive cars in his life, a lot of people around here had not. His curiosity peaked as he contemplated possible reasons for the driver to be here. Most of the reason he came up with were simply products of an under-used imagination and had no real holding on reality.

"…and that green shirt really goes well with your eyes Shippo." Kagome was saying as she unlocked the door. Shippo was grinning, soaking in the attention that had long been denied to him. Inuyasha watched out of the corner of his eye as the car turned into the parking lot a few yards away. There was nothing odd in that, the town only had two parking lots; one at the end of Main Street and the other beside the church.

"Hey Kagome…" he began. "Have you ever seen a car like that before?" Inuyasha was careful not to point, in case the driver noticed the attention that Inuyasha was giving him. Kagome looked at him funny, before turning her head to look at the car. "You mean before we left the coffee shop? No. It sure is nice though."

"A little too nice." Inuyasha stated slyly. "Why don't you and Shippo go inside, I'm going to go ask the driver if he's lost." Kagome nodded and followed Shippo inside, neither thinking much of the appearance of the car nor noticing it's location as something significant. Inuyasha was starting to get a weird feeling, and he tried not to let it show as he walked up to the car.

He was about to knock on the passenger side window but it rolled down before he got the chance. "You lost or something buddy?" Inuyasha asked before looking into the window to get a good look at the drivers face. When he finally did glance into the car, he saw a face that he never expected to see.

"Miroku…" he gasped, quite shocked that his old friend had turned up here. He almost didn't believe it. What were the chances of him ever coming to this place?

"Inuyasha…" Miroku said in response, his voice a little on edge. "It would seem that after much searching I have finally found you. Would you like to come for a ride with me?"

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Author's Note: I felt like writing, thus a really short chapter was born. Not much happens in it though. Oh sigh, please review! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! When I started this ficcy, I never thought to get so many… I'd hug you all, but we are all just little bits of … stuff … on the internet. I'll stop rambling now.