By: Patche
Disclaimer: Umm I do not own/am not in any way affiliated with… Inuyasha, the song "Stay" or any songs I think fit the story perfectly.
What You Need
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It was New Years by now. I had to work until sometime around ten. Inuyasha had promised to come and get me… and we'd walk home together.
I looked down at the little charm on my bosom. Bringing a hand up to it, I started to play with it, distancing myself from the world I was supposed to be in.
"Kagome!" Miroku's shout shook me from my daze.
"Yea?" I asked, turning around. He was walking in holding a large box.
"Cc…can you help?" He strained. Without any hesitation I ran over to him and carried the other half of the box.
"What is this?" I asked. Miroku sighed as we set the box down by the door.
"Well… it's a bunch of my old stuff." He clapped his hands together, congratulating himself on a job well done.
"Stuff?" I repeated, glancing inside the giant cardboard box.
"Well, crap..." Miroku corrected. I stood up straight, looking confused as ever.
"First off, why do you have a giant box of crap here and… second… what do you need it for?" I placed a hand on my hip waiting for a response.
"Well… funny you should ask that, Kagome dearest…"
I raised an eyebrow still waiting for an answer.
Miroku sighed. "Some one bought this place…" He avoided my eyes as he spoke.
My heart stopped. "What?!" I asked, clutching my chest. "So… this place… is closing?"
Miroku shrugged and nodded.
"Tomorrow, I'll need the keys back… I have to give them to the new owner…" Miroku said, returning to the back of the store.
This was all happening too fast for me. The little bakery I had worked at for a year and enjoyed visiting my whole life was closing.
I knew it was breaking Miroku's heart. This was his father's bakery… and after his father died with lung cancer… it was all Miroku had left…
"Miroku…" I said, running after him. He turned and looked at me through half opened eyes.
"I'm… I'm really sorry…" I said pulling him into a hug.
He sighed and returned the favor. "It's okay… some one has already bought it… so, that at least puts a few more dollars in my pocket."
I nodded and let him go.
--
I didn't say much on the way home. Inuyasha kept asking about how work was… but I didn't feel like talking about it.
I knew it was bothering him, though. He always hated not knowing what was wrong with me.
I heard him take in a deep breath before stopping.
"What the hell happened to make you so freaking depressed?" Inuyasha shouted. I had already walked a few steps ahead but stopped and turned to face him.
"Don't worry about it, okay?" I said softly, continuing towards my house.
"Don't worry about it?" He exclaimed as he ran ahead to catch up to me. "How can I not worry about it whenever you are wasting my time pouting over nothing?"
I stopped and cocked my head to the side.
"I'm wasting your time? You wanted to see me… not the other way around." I clasped a hand to my mouth completely regretting what I just said.
"So, you didn't want to see me?" Inuyasha asked. I tried to take back what I said, but it was a little too late.
"I didn't mean… I just was saying that…" I sighed and looked at the ground.
Inuyasha scoffed. "I think you can make it from here without getting mugged…" He said turning around.
I sighed and turned to find my house staring at me.
I couldn't believe this whole Bakery thing was bothering me so much that I'd push Inuyasha away.
I just headed inside… I had bigger issues to worry about other than my relationship with Inuyasha.
--
It was about eleven thirty. I still hadn't slept a wink. I was so upset by both Miroku going out of business and what I said to Inuyasha.
I rolled over onto my side and looked out the window, noticing fireworks going off above my neighbor's house.
Worrying wouldn't solve either of the problems… and the only one I could do anything about would be apologizing to Inuyasha.
I pulled my blanket off me and stood up, looking out the window. It was pretty cold outside, I didn't know if walking to his house on New Years Eve to apologize would do more good than bad.
I sighed and took a deep breath digging for my giant winter coat. I slipped it over my pajama shirt and opened my window, taking in a light breeze of thirty degrees.
With swift movements, I made it out of my window, closing it halfway and pulling my blinds closed.
It would take me roughly ten minutes to get to his house. As I walked, I took in all the fireworks going off around me. The magnificence of the explosives was quite charming. I started to think about Miroku. I was only upset because I knew how crushed he was about losing his bakery… he loved it.
But I couldn't do much to help, other than just offer my assistance at whichever place he decided to gain employment from.
Besides, he and Sango were still together. I was sure she could handle this situation. Miroku was naturally a very happy-go-lucky guy… no matter what happened to him in his past.
I never knew the whole story. I just knew his mother died during childbirth and his father picked up chain-smoking… thus developing lung cancer and dying.
I had reached it. His house was the first on the street… to me, it was always the biggest and grandest of them all.
I made my way up to his roof. It wasn't too hard to climb up, even though I'd never done it before.
I steadied my hands at the lowest part of the roof and pushed myself up with all my might. I then, carefully crawled along the side of the house until I reached his window.
I lifted a hand up to knock on it, but got no response. I waited for a moment before trying again, but as I lifted my hand, my weight shifted and my foot slipped off the edge of the roof.
I tried to pull it back up but only made matters worse and ended up losing all the grip I held on the roof. I let out a light squeal before I felt some one reach out and grab my hand.
I looked up to see Inuyasha looking at me with no real emotion on his face.
"Were you just destined to always be a damsel in distress?" He asked me, pulling me up through his window.
After finding my footing, I dusted myself off. I felt completely embarrassed. I was here, trying to sneak in and apologize to him and yet… I just made a fool out of myself.
"I'm sorry…" I mumbled. He cocked his head to the side.
"For what?" He asked. As if there were plenty of things I'd done wrong.
"Well… for saying what I said. I didn't mean to waste your time… I just am really upset over stuff at work." I looked out the window.
"Why?" He asked. "In ten years, is it going to matter?" I saw him sit down on the edge of his bed.
"Well… not for me." I said sitting beside him.
"Then why are you upset?" He asked, wrapping an arm around my waist.
I paused before answering, looking away from him.
"The bakery is closing…" I bit my lip waiting for a response.
"Kagome, I can get you a job." He offered. "It's not a problem."
I shook my head. "That's not the thing… it's that this bakery belonged to Miroku's father… and after his death the bakery was kind of all he had." I felt him pull me closer.
"And I'm just worried for him. Miroku's one of my closest friends and I'd be lost without him." I sighed.
"Where do you figure he's dying?" Inuyasha asked.
I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "Well… I mean, he isn't dying. But that kind of thing really tears people apart."
Inuyasha nodded. "Well, you know, my mom used to tell me when I was little that you're not dead if you're still breathing. No matter what catastrophes happen in life, if you make it through, life carries on."
I glanced up at him. I hadn't noticed until then how serene he looked with the moon shining through his opened window.
I just smiled. "Your mom really told you that?" I asked. He nodded.
"She used to tell me whenever I was upset about my dad's death."
Death?
"Wait, your dad died?" I asked. "I thought you only lived with Sesshoumaru because you had a bad relationship with your parents. At least, that's what Taro told me."
Inuyasha released my waist and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yea… well Taro doesn't know too much, okay? Both my parents died. If I had a choice I would be living with anyone but Sesshoumaru." He stood up and walked away from the bed.
I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"When did it happen?" I asked, standing beside him.
"Sometime when I was real young. My mom died when I was eight…" He turned around to look at me. I couldn't help but look sad for him. He lost his mother.
"Kagome? Are you okay?" He asked, probably noticing the tears welling up in the back of my eyes.
"I'm so so sorry, Inuyasha…" I whispered, embracing him in the tightest hug I'd ever given anyone.
"Keh, stupid… it's not your fault…" He said, hugging me back.
I didn't care that he insulted me… I really didn't care about anything right now. For some reason, knowing he was so badly damaged… it just made me feel like he needed me more.
Almost as much as I needed him.
--
A/N: Aww thanks for the reviews… Kagome's mom is kind of bleh in this story, so I wouldn't worry about her opinion… But here's a lil squish for you guys. Enjoy.
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