Her eyes kept jumping ahead of the minute hand. Try as she might, Kagome could not will the clock to move as fast as she needed it to. The wind blew the chimes hanging from the cherry blossom trees to her right. They had been her only conversation for the three hours she had been on her shift thus far. It was a beautiful day out, but by the time her grandfather let her out of work, it would be time for dinner and her day would have been ruined. Kagome let out a deep sigh. Sometimes working at her family's temple was not all that it had been cracked up to be.

It hadn't always been so bad. Early on, the temple had been a hot spot, where people from all over would come to. Her grandfather had been well known and well liked, and her mother would tell her stories of all the celebrities she had met at a young age. i If only it were like that now /i , Kagome wished.

A car pulled up in front of the temple; the first visitors all day. From the distance she was at, Kagome could not make out who it was, but she hastily straightened her kimono and checked her hair in the mirror she had hung above the counter. She looked perfect for any handsome man who would come by to sweep her off of her feet.

"Well don't you look cute today, Kagome!"

Letting her hands fall from her hair, she hid the disappointment she was sure was evident in her expression and turned to the visitors.

"Hey Sango, Miroku. Can I help you guys with anything today?"

Miroku let out a laugh as Sango responded again, "Look a little happier to see us. There's that movie premiere in town tonight, so we figured you'd probably be bored to death up here. I doubt too many people are gonna make their way up here tonight, so we figured that maybe you could convince your grandfather to let you off work a little bit early." Raising her hand up to stop Kagome from the refusal she knew would come, Sango continued, "Besides, we need a third member to our party, and we have a surprise for you tonight."

Kagome sighed again. Sango was right; she did have nothing better to do. Sango and she were closest friends, but she could not stand when Sango and Miroku got together. The three of them had been friends since they were kids, but it was only in the past few years that Miroku had shown a marked interest in Sango. Oblivious to everything, Sango continued to hold true to the idea it was just a closer friendship that led the two to hang out on a daily basis, but Kagome was not naïve. In the eighteen years she had lived, she knew how to distinguish what was attraction and what was not. And then there was the fact that they were absolutely obnoxious around each other.

"I'd love to go wherever." Sango smiled. "But I'm driving my own car."

i Summer was painted on our skin,
And those secrets hidden in our childish lips;
They would die for a kiss. /i