Chapter Two: Lapse

The vibrating text alert almost made Inuyasha jump. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and rolled his eyes at the notification.

"You'd better not forget to pick up Kikyo."

Of course he wouldn't forget. Idiot. His half-brother had almost no confidence in anyone, but where Inuyasha was concerned, his threadbare patience was thinnest.

If he was being honest, Inuyasha had thought of nothing else but today's task for the past week. He'd hardly slept the night before, not that he ever really slept, and he had arrived to the terminal over an hour early. Scanning the heads of passersby every few seconds, Inuyasha felt like his boots were two sizes too small. He tapped his foot, fought the urge to bite his lips.

Where is she? He hadn't dressed up, but maybe he should have; he hadn't brought flowers, but what if Kikyo was expecting them? Though doubt crossed his mind almost as soon as the the thought had.

Kikyo was so hot that Inuyasha almost felt dirty just looking at her — she was also impossible to read, her voice always so soft as she spoke, her fingers like spider legs, which she often combed through her web of sleek, black hair. He'd seen her photos before he'd met her, and she was nothing like he'd expected; she was smart.

Another bus had just pulled into the dark garage. Inuyasha watched from the lobby as people hopped off the steps, herding themselves inside like sheep, and his eyes settled on the figure of a young girl.

Finally...

There were only so many times a phrase could bear repeating before losing its meaning. For Kagome, she often wondered if memories worked the same way.

By 2 p.m. the following day, the encounter she'd had with … Inuyasha? That was what he'd said — had almost dissolved from her thoughts. The fragments that remained were like the beads of cola at the bottom of a can.

She'd tried to dub the "honest mistake, really!" as a fluke and had gone home to a roommate who was reading a textbook at the kitchen counter. When he saw Kagome walk in, he offered to carry her bag.

"Thank you," she said, her head still feeling like it had detached itself from her spinal cord and was floating twenty feet high.

"How was the trip?" She realized this was the second time Miroku had asked the question.

"It was fine… ," she said.

Miroku's chocolate eyes twinkled. When the two had left Kagome's room, he returned to his reading and pulled up a stool, patting the seat twice. "You seem preoccupied. What's on your mind?"

While Kagome recounted the tale, which seemed so fake at this point, she half-expected Miroku to bust out laughing in dismissal, she kept her eyes on her lap, but the young professor listened to her in entirety before offering comment.

"Perhaps you're lucky." At Kagome's quirked brow, Miroku added, "It was only a kiss. Could have been worse."

"I guess." Kagome shrugged. "I just don't get how you can make such a big mistake."

Miroku mimicked her gesture and returned to his reading. He smiled at the book. "Maybe you have a long lost twin."

Laughing, Kagome stood and prepared to unpack. By the end of the evening, the day's events felt no more special than a souvenir on her self, a bit dusty and mostly overlooked.

That night, however, without any other preoccupations, Kagome's mind turned over all that had transpired.

"I'm so fu-frickin' sorry!" the man — Inuyasha — had said for probably the eightieth time, cramming his hands in and out of his pockets. He had an accent, one Kagome would have found comforting in any other situation.

"It's okay," Kagome said, even though it wasn't.

He didn't look convinced either. "Listen, I'll prove I'm not a creep. You just look exactly like my …"

When he trailed off and looked over her shoulder, face going purple, — He looks like a beet now! — Kagome turned, too. A young woman was approaching them, her eyes locked on Kagome.

Taking this pause in conversation as an opportunity to make an escape, Kagome didn't turn back to look at the two strangers, nor did she listen to their arguing. Her whole body was still trembling; she placed the back of her shaking hand over her lips, sensation returning at last.

Notes: 732 words.