Chapter 4

~Inuyasha~

She walked a little faster than him, biting her lip self-consciously. He didn't want to make her nervous but he could tell she was. He cleared his throat as he tried to come up with something to talk about, but no words would come out. Mentally slapping himself over and over again until Kagome finally spoke to break the silence.

"So, are you still in high school?" She asked as she peered over her shoulder.

"Nah, I finished a couple years ago. I'm actually police officer in the murder/kidnapping investigation unit." Inuyasha replied, thankful that she could start a conversation. He watched Kagome's eyes go big in shock, and he let out a laugh.

"Don't worry, I know I don't look like a cop. But I worked my ass off to get where I am and it seems like I still have to keep working my ass off to prove to everyone I'm not a failure." Kagome slowed her pace down now, matching his walking speed. He could finally get a better glimpse of the girl, and man, did she take his breath away-not that he'd ever tell her. She was wearing a yellow colored tank top, light wash jean shorts, and a pair of flip flops. Inuyasha could see she was lightly glistening from sweat on her skin, her eyes struck him though. They were big, cerulean blue eyes that were beautifully surrounded by her long dark eyelashes.

"That has to be difficult, I knew the job was tough but I didn't realize it could be that hard. Do you want to talk about it?" Kagome asked, he could tell she was genuinely concerned, but that wasn't something he wanted to go over right now.

"Nah, too depressing of a topic. How about you? Are you still in high school?"

"Yeah, I am, I'm in my graduating year though. I have a bunch of exams coming up before silver week begins. It sucks!" She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Keh, I definitely don't miss the exams, they're always a pain in the ass."

Kagome looked up at him and smiled gently. "They are, aren't they? I can't wait to finish them, I'm so tired of studying."

"What are you going to do after you graduate? You're probably going to university, right?" He asked while he adjusted the bag in his hand.

Kagome nodded; her long dark hair fell off her shoulders with the movement.

"I was planning to study to become a nurse, helping other people is something I enjoy doing, and I think by becoming a nurse I can help a lot of people." His eyes sparkled with wonder, Inuyasha burned her face into his mind, wishing the mental image of her right now would last forever.

"I think that you would make a great nurse, you seem to have your head on straight." He cringed at the compliment, he NEVER complimented anyone, but seeing her face light up with a smile was worth it.

They walked a little further down the street and waited at an intersection together for the light to change color.

"Do you even live this way? I'd feel bad if you didn't and you walked me all the way home." She stared into his amber colored eyes, he had to look away, he couldn't take her blue eyes peering into his soul.

"Yeah, I do. I'm probably a block or two away from you," He lied, it honestly wouldn't have mattered where she lived, he would've walked her home if she lived in Osaka. The more time with this girl the better.

The light changed color and they crossed the street, both keeping the same pace. Eventually after more small talk was made, they stopped at a steep hill and what appeared to have a hundred steps leading up to a Torii gate. Kagome turned to face Inuyasha and he gave her the bag he carried.

"This is where you live? No wonder the name Higurashi struck a bell, I forgot about the shrine. Are you sure you don't want me to help you carry the bags up the stairs?" He offered, she shook her head and gave him a big smile.

"It's okay, I don't need to tire you out more, I may not look like it, but I am a lot stronger than you think I am!" She lifted the bag up to show off her small defined bicep muscle while giving him a wink. Inuyasha laughed and shook his head.

"Well, if you're this strong I guess you can help carry my bags home. Only because you seem SO strong," She laughed again and it was like music to his ears. He really didn't want to part ways, but he hoped he could see her again.

"Well, see you around." He waved good-bye and started to walk away begrudgingly.

"Wait!" Inuyasha turned around quickly to see Kagome running after him.

"Do you have line? We can chat there, can I send you my email?" She pulled out a cellphone from her back pocket of the jean shorts she was wearing. Inuyasha pulled his phone out of his pocket too, they exchanged emails to add each other to their line contacts.

"Well message me anytime! Don't be a stranger Inuyuasha, good night!" She waved at him and turned around to run back in front of the massive stairway. She picked up her grocery bags and began the descent up.

He watched her for a little bit to make sure she was ok, and he turned around to walk back from the same direction he just came in. He tried to steady his heart which was racing in his chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kagome~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome placed the bags on the kitchen counter, her chest a flutter with excitement. She never had such a cute guy help her before...or ever! She put away the groceries and grabbed the bag of snacks, bottle of tea, and headed up towards her room. She opened the bag of chips and sat at her desk, looking at the math textbook lying open. She really didn't want to go back to studying math but her grades were not the best right now. Looking over the textbook trying to decide what practice problems to work her phone dinged with an incoming message. She quickly grabbed her phone out of her back pocket, hoping to see a message from Inuyasha.

Kagome opened the notification; it took her to the chat screen but the name wasn't one she recognized. She thought to herself, "What kind of dumb username is Hell Portal, anyway?"

The message only read 'Hey', giving her no indication of who it is. She wrote back hey and sat down her phone, it pinged again with a new message. She lifted it and saw the new message.

'How are you doing tonight?'

"I'm fine. Who is this?'

'Just a friend. Try to guess who I am.'

Kagome stared at her cell phone screen, annoyed by the audacity of the person, why can't people ever tell you who they are? Angrily she tapped on the keyboard displayed on the screen.

'Look, if you don't tell me who you are, we won't be talking anymore.'

'Calm down, I never said I wouldn't tell you who I am. But I am hoping you will remember me; I work at your favorite convenience store.'

Kagome stared at the cellphones screen, rereading the message over and over again. She doesn't remember giving him her email address, she tried to remember all the times she ran into him and for the life of her she could not remember. She exited out of the chat and clicked on her group chat she had with her friends, furiously typing her message.

'Ok, which one of you gave my email to the clerk at the convenience store?'

Kagome watched the screen waiting for any message to appear from her friends. Yuka responded first.

'Y: OOH did he finally message you?'

Kagome snapped and sent an angry emoji over and an all caps message.

'Yuka! Did you send my email to him?!'

'Sorry! He is super cute and I thought I could give him a little nudge in your direction. The dude seems really nice Kagome! Especially since it never worked out with Hojo-I thought I could help you with your love life!'

Yuka also sent a picture of a rabbit apologizing, its paws pressed together and bowing. Kagome typed back.

'It's fine, I just wish you would have told me first, that's all.'

She really wasn't fine with it; the guy gave her major creep vibes. He was the last person she wanted to deal with. She exited out from the group chat and clicked on the chat she had going on with the creepy guy.

'So, I see my friends gave you my email. Sorry they bugged you but I'm not interested in a boyfriend right now.' She sent the message and sat down her phone, it pinged right away again, sighing she picked it back up and stared at the screen.

'That's alright, I'm not looking for a girlfriend either. I just wanted someone to talk to.'

'Sorry but I have to study right now.' She typed back; she was now chewing her finger nail as she awaited his reply.

'Cool, will talk to you again soon.' She stared at the message and after a few seconds she locked her phone and sat it back down on the desk. Kagome scrunched her face and her hands went straight to her cheeks, slapping both of them. 'Time to focus on studying now!' She picked up her mechanical pencil and began to work on practice math problems.

After a good solid three hours of studying she leaned back in her chair and let out a loud sigh. She raised her hands above her head and leaned to one side then the other, giving her body a good stretch. She closed her math textbook and raised her cellphone to wake up and show the screen. It was already after 10 pm, she got up and made her way to the bathroom and cleaned up for bed. She brushed her teeth and hair, and washed her face. She went back to her room, opening the one of the drawers to grab a set of pj's out and changed.

Her phone pinged again with a notification and she checked it after she was finished changing. Her heart skipped a beat, as this time it was the one she was waiting for. Inuyasha had texted her, she quickly opened the notification and checked his message.

'Thanks for giving me a chance to walk you home, it was nice meeting you. Good luck studying!'

Kagome squealed while pressing her phone to her chest and flopped backwards onto her bed! She looked at the phone again and smiled from ear to ear. Attempting to compose herself she tried to write a message back, rewriting it a couple of times as it all seemed to be desperate.

'Thank you for helping me with my bags, I really enjoyed talking to you. I think my brain is full to the rim with algebra formulas right now, I don't have room for anything else. Good night!'

She sent the message and a sticker of a rabbit going to sleep. She put her phone down and snuggled into her pillow and blanket. Sleep took her surprisingly fast, but all she could dream was a shadow figure lingering nearby her.

She awoke the next morning, not feeling rested, today would be a caffeine fueled one. She got washed up, put on her uniform, quickly ate breakfast, and was out the door. She met up with her friends at the usual spot and walked over to the convenience store. As they neared the door, Kagome peaked through the window, sure enough-the creepy clerk was there.

'Why is he always working?' she thought as she followed her friends in.

They made their way around the store, pointing and grabbing what drinks and snacks they wanted. The whole time Kagome could feel his eyes boring into her. She looked up from one of the shelves, the clerk gave her a creepy smile-it didn't meet his eyes, but there was something dangerous lurking behind it. Numbly, she followed her friends to the till to pay for the items. The clerk scanned them in, one by one, Kagome stayed to the back of the group trying to not make eye contact with him. He didn't say anything to her, surprisingly her friends never mentioned anything as well.

They walked out of the store and Yuka opened the bag, "Shoot! I left an item at the counter!".

She gave the shopping bag to Eri and ran back to the store. The clerk gave her the item and the two began to talk, Kagome watched them talk and she saw the clerk giving Yuka a flashy, flirty smile. Yuka gave a laugh and leaned in closer over the counter, she said something which must have been something interesting since the man gave a wicked smile.

Yuka ran out of the store and took the bag back from Eri. As they started to walk down to the train station,Yuka was pressed over the steamy conversation she had with the clerk.

"So," Eri asked nonchalantly. "When you ran back into the store, what did the clerk say to you?"

"Yeah," Ayumi chimed in, the excitement written all over her face. "What did he say?"

Yuka smugly smiled and flicked her hair back. "Well, he was asking about Kagome!"

Kagome rigidly turned towards her, clamping her hands into fists, the nails digging into her skin. "You what?" she spoke through clenched teeth.

Yuka waved her off and smiled. "Oh, c'mon Kagome! I'm just trying to help you! He was wondering where he heard your last name before, and I told him that's because your family owns the shrine close to here."

Kagome felt her eyes bulge when Yuka finished talking, shock swarming through her. "How could you tell him something so personal about me? Have you considered that maybe I didn't want him to know where I lived?" She flung her hands out in exasperation and stormed off, leaving her friends behind. She only wanted time to cool off, she knows Yuka didn't mean any harm, but it's not up to Yuka to disclose where she lives.

The school day carried on like it normally does, Kagome was thankful that by lunch time the topic of the creepy clerk was over and done with. She sat in the classroom eating her bento with her friends, her phone vibrating on her lap. She put the chopsticks down and looked at her phone. She smiled as she opened the notification, it was another message from Inuyasha asking how school was going. She quickly replied to the message and put down her phone, picking up her chopsticks to continue eating. Her phone buzzed again and Kagome replied to it. Her friends each lifted their eyebrows and quizzically looked at one another.

"So, who keeps messaging you?" Ayumi casually asked, she slid her chopsticks around her bento attempting to scoop up the last of her rice.

"I've never seen your phone go off so much before. I bet you met a boy, didn't you?" Yuka smugly asked, her eyes gleaming with the thought of a boy walking into Kagome's life.

Kagome put her phone down, tucking her hair behind her ear, she looked at her three friends. "I-I did meet a boy." Her friends began to squeal with excitement, Kagome leaned onto the desk waving her hands in front of their faces, shushing them while her cheeks went hot with embarrassment.

"Who is he?" Eri spoke after the girls had calmed down.

"I met him last night after he helped carry my bags home from the convenience store. He's older than us but he's super nice, he's a cop too." Kagome's cheeks turned red again and she hid her face in her hands.

"Is he good looking?" Ayumi chimed, she was genuinely interested in what Kagome thought of the boy. Kagome softly smiled and took her hands off of her face.

"EXTREMELY good looking." Kagome laughed as her friends joined in on the laughter. The bell rang and they slid the desks back to their original spots. Kagome felt happy that her friends were finally on the same page as her. Maybe now, Yuka would stop pushing the creepy clerk guy onto her and be more accepting of Inuyasha.