Turn On Me
Chapter 2-Miniature Disasters
Miniature disasters and minor catastrophes,
Bring me to my knees.
Well I must be my own master,
Or a miniature disaster will be,
Will be the death of me.
Miniature Disasters by KT Tunstall
It was the end of September and, after a few weeks of nonstop work, my friends and I blew off some steam and went out to see a movie. On our way back to campus, we stopped into the local coffee house, Friendly Grounds, for a quick pick me up before we went back to work and back to the stack of homework that was still unfinished. To our surprise, the place was packed; we could barely get in the door. Music filled my ears and while I was waiting in line, I stood on my tippy toes to try and peer around people's heads to see who was playing. It was obvious what he was the one that brought in the crowd.
"What are you doing?" my friend asked to my odd behavior, with a quiet hiss. I shrugged off her judgment.
"I'm trying to see whose show case this is. The voice sounds so familiar, but I just can't place it." She rolled her eyes at me.
"You'll be able to see when we get closer. C'mon, the line's moving." Suki dragged me by the arm to the counter so we could place our order. I frowned in annoyance, before I asked for a mocha and waited impatiently to try and get closer. The music was beautiful, acoustic, and light. It was the kind of thing I'd listen to while studying or just hanging around. The man had me hooked and I hadn't been able to see who it was. Finally our drink orders arrived and we made our way through the crowd to the table that Mimi had swooped in and grabbed for us and sat down. Once I settled in, I turned my head towards the small stage they had set up to finally see the musician playing. I gasped and my eyes widened as I saw Inuyasha playing quietly, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye that I had never seen before. Admittedly, I had not seen Inuyasha look very happy; our encounters always ended in yelling and name calling. Seeing him so content on the stage, performing unnerved me slightly. This was not the Inuyasha Azuma I knew. He continued to sing, to draw me in to his world. As I watched and listened, everything else faded away. My girlfriends' conversation, the applause form the people gathered around, the buzzes and whirrs of the coffee machines all disappeared into the background. All that mattered was Inuyasha. If only I had known that what I was beginning to feel would continue to grow from there and never stop. Soon enough, my friends left. I waved them off, still in a daze and stayed until his show case had finished. With the end of the music, I jolted out of my state and looked around. Most people had left or were on their way out. Inuyasha was packing up.
I wasn't really sure why I stood up and made my way over to my "arch-nemesis" instead of just leaving, but I was on my feet and getting closer before I could stop myself. "Hi," I spoke. The minute that syllable left my mouth, I wanted to take it back. What was I doing? His eyes casually glanced over to me and his mouth turned down lightly somewhere between a grimace and a frown.
"Oh, it's you. What do you want wench? I really don't feel like arguing with you tonight." I bristled slightly at the wench comment, but I held my tongue. Truth was, I didn't feel like arguing either.
"I just wanted to say…well…I was listening…and…I guess I just wanted to say that you're very talented and…I enjoyed listening to you play." Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up in skepticism and he eyed me suspiciously.
"Was that a compliment, Higurashi?" I smiled at him.
"Yes, yes it was. Don't spread it around though; people might think I'm insane." His 'frownace' disappeared.
"That's what I'm starting to think," he replied and I giggled.
"Yeah, I guess this is a little out of character for me."
"You got that right," he commented. Awkward silence overtook us and I prayed for the earth to open wide and swallow me up. I didn't know what to do, what to say, if I even wanted to say anything. I could get out right now. It would be easy; all I had to do was say 'nice to see you' and be on my merry way. That was the safe thing to do and it seemed to be my best option.
"So how's the semester treating you?" I asked, surprising myself. What happened to my plan to get out nice and easy? What was I doing?! I had the perfect opportunity to get out fo this mess and not only did I not take it, but I dug myself further in.
"It's been alright. It's only been a few weeks though, it's bound to get harder."
"I know what you mean," I commiserated. "I don't even want to have to think about doing my thesis yet."
"Ugh, don't remind me." He stated with a groan. I glance at my watch, and my eyes went wide with the time.
"Oh wow, I didn't realize it was so late."
"Yeah," he responded. I really had lost track of time. There was no way that I was going to finish my work tonight. I sighed, accepting this fact before bidding Inuyasha farewell.
"Well, it was nice talking to you, Azuma. I'm sure I'll see you around campus." I smiled at the thought, although my head was sending off alarm bells.
"Yeah, sure, see ya Higurashi." I turned on my heel and with a little wave, I exited the coffee shop, my emotions a jumbled mess. At least I knew what I was going to do with the rest of the night; sort it all out.
"Kagome? Kagome darling? Kagoooomeeee? KAGOME!" I jolted back to life from my little nap. I hadn't slept well the night before; I had too much on my mind. So instead of working, like I should have been, I had close my eyes for a power nap through lunch. I had hoped that no one would notice, but my coworker, Jakotsu, had returned, and to make sure that I didn't get fired and just screamed in my ear. I blinked a couple times, now awake and offered Jakotsu a weary smile. He tossed me a sandwich which I clumsily caught. "You've been asleep an hour. Please tell me that you're so tired because you had wild, hot, passionate sex all night with a male model." I laughed quietly and unwrapped the sandwich.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Jak, but we both know that it's not going to happen. To either of us." I added, taking a bite. I frowned; ham and cheese. Not my favorite, but it would do. It certainly beat not eating. Jakotsu laughed.
"Speak for yourself, honey." The phone rang and I jumped. I ignored it for a second, turning back to my friend.
"Thanks for the sandwich, Jak. I don't know what I'd do without you." He smiled widely at me.
"Well, yes, I don't want to see you fired." I shrugged.
"I'll be fine. Myouga won't fire me. He's too nice."
"Well, you never know. Especially in this economy." He responded. "After all, Myouga might want a secretary that actually answers the phone." I glared and threw a pen at him. He laughed and walked down the hall to his cubicle. I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone.
"Tokugawa Publishing," I answered, politely.
"Finally, Kagome! I've been calling for ten minutes. I was starting to get worried," Sango's voice came through the phone.
"You could have just left a message," I advised her.
"But this is important!" She objected. I frowned, worried.
"What happened? Are you okay? Is Miroku okay?" She laughed at me.
"We're all fine," she responded, lightly.
"Well then, it can wait a few minutes for me to finish my lunch." I took another bite.
"It can't! The house has been rented!" she blurted out. I nearly choked. Swallowing hurriedly, I croaked out,
"What? Already?"
"I know!"
"It hasn't even been twenty four hours," I exclaimed.
"You know how Aunt Kimi's lawyers are. What Auntie wants, she gets within twelve hours or someone gets fired."
"So," I inquired, "who are they?"
"I've only talked to the wife, so far. The husband's working on business which is why they're here in the first place. They're newlyweds—"
"No way!" I interrupted and Sango laughed.
"My reaction exactly! But the husband is in the area for business dealings over the next few months, and since Rin, the wife, doesn't want to spend so much time apart from him, she joined him. Neither of them wanted to stay in a hotel for the summer. They only just started looking for a place when they happened upon our childhood home. Apparently, hubby's business' lawyers know Auntie's. I showed her around today and she loved the place. Oh Kagome, I can't wait for you to me her, she's so nice. I know that you'll like her."
"Mmm," I smiled into the phone before promptly yawning.
"Didn't mean to bore you," she replied, laughter in her voice.
"Sorry," I apologized, blushing; although, I knew Sango couldn't see me. "I just had trouble sleeping last night. I had a lot of my mind." Understatement of the year.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Anyways, is there anything else you need? I kinda need to get back to work given that I slept through lunch." Sango laughed as I recounted my nap. "Jak woke me up just in time."
"That's good. So, I was thinking, since we don't have family dinners for a little while, that we could have dinner over the weekend. Kinda make it a weekly thing before we have to go back to the regular ones."
"That sounds fine," I add.
"I was hoping you'd say that. I'm inviting the neighbors."
"Okay. I'll see you Friday?" I inquired.
"That's what I was thinking. Bye now."
"Bye Sango." I hung up before taking a deep breath and banging my head down on my desk with a thump. I sighed, so exhausted I wanted to cry. Why, oh why, couldn't I just let Inuyasha go? Why did he haunt me, for you years later? Things had ended badly, yes, but four years! Four whole years! It was a long time. Surely, by now, I should be able to move on. I rubbed my temples, trying to ward off the headache I knew was coming, but I didn't lift my head off the desk.
It was time that I made a resolution. From now on, I would put this whole Inuyasha Azuma thing behind me. I was done pining away for what I couldn't have. I needed a plan, and I needed one now. Step 1: Remove all things Inuyasha from my life including, but not limited to, photos, letters, cards, CDs, interviews, and, most importantly, my engagement ring, which might just fetch me a pretty penny if I sold it. Step 2: Find a guy to date. It was okay if I didn't like him at first. If I gave it time, I just might. Step 3: In pursuit of said guy, stop comparing him to Inuyasha! Step 4: Find the actual guy for me, forget all about this Inuyasha mess, get married, have kids, find a better job, and stop being an utter failure.
Yup, plan Move On From Inuyasha (M.O.F.I.) just might work. I think. The phone next to me rang and I screeched in shock, my head flying up from the desk. Frantically, I grabbed the phone and answered it, "Tokugawa Publishing."
"That's what you get for falling asleep again!" My eyes widened and I turned to look down the corridor. Jakotsu was in the middle of it, sitting in his chair, phone to his ear. He waved at me. "Try to stay awake, love!" I stared at him in shock for a second before I uttered,
"I wasn't sleeping."
"Well, that's not what it looked like from here."
"Oh, screw you," I responded, raising my middle finger in the air. Mature, I know.
"Higurashi!" a voice, not from the phone, gasped from behind me. The blood drained from my face and I slowly turned around in my chair, and came face to face with my boss and two of his associates, standing in the lobby. In my shock, I hadn't lowered my finger. His eyes narrowed at me, and while Myouga was a nice old man, I don't think that even he would understand why I was flipping him off. Slowly, I lowered my finger and my head. "Is there a problem?"
"No sir," I whispered, my voice subdued.
"Then I suggest you get back to work."
"Right away." He walked past me and back into his office. When the door shut, I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding.
The rest of the week came and went in a similar fashion. I still wasn't getting much sleep, but I tried. By Friday I had almost had six hours of sleep. So it was getting better. My boss had apparently chosen to forget the incident and when he walked in the next day greeted me with a smile. But even though that was taken care of, it still didn't stop all the tiny things that went wrong to aggravate me more. Paper cuts, angry clients, creditors. Combined with the fact that Inuyasha was still on my mind and I'd made no effort to implement Plan: M.O.F.I. and the week could be considered a disaster. I was hoping that dinner with Sango and Miroku would lift my spirits a bit.
When I entered their house on Friday night, dressed in jeans and a pretty teal blouse, I was hoping for a quiet evening mixed with a small meet-n-greet. I was interested to see who would be living in our childhood home while our mother was going crazy at the beach. But the moment I got there, I knew that wouldn't be the case. Eri greeted me at the door and I felt dread sink into me. While it's true that Eri, her twin sister Ayume, and I all were pretty close in high school, but that wasn't entirely the case anymore. Sure, I liked them well enough. They were fairly good friends. The problem was that I had grown up since high school and Eri and Ayume had never felt the need to. They were still as superficial as ever.
"Kagome, darling! I'm glad you've arrived!" Eri called to me and kissed me on both cheeks. I smiled at her.
"It's been a while. How are you?" I asked politely.
"Uggh, I've certainly been better. You know how I get when Ayume brings her lovers around. I mean, I really don't care who she's sleeping with these days. But that's all she talks about. Quite frankly, I'm in need of more stimulating conversation." I fought back my urge to laugh in her face. Stimulating conversation? You mean dissing celebrities, talking fashion, and having everyone agree with her. Not quite what the rest of the world considers to be stimulating conversation. Instead of voicing this opinion, I asked,
"Ayume has a new boyfriend?" She rolled her eyes.
"He's positively dreadful. His name's Bankotsu and trust me, he's not even that cute." I nodded politely and we entered the sitting room where we were faced with a slightly embarrassed Sango, a calm, collected Miroku, slightly amused guests, and one fuming Ayume. I sat down, and when Miroku offered me a drink, I accepted gratefully, Ayume and Eri's bickering escalating. Ignoring her sisters-in-law, Sango cleared her throat.
"Kagome, this is Rin and Sesshoumaru Nakamura."
"It's nice to meet you," I held out my hand and Rin shook it. Sesshoumaru looked at it with disdain, but eventually gave it a firm shake, before promptly going back to glaring at me. Sango rattled on about how they arrived at our old house but I tuned her out, slightly confused as to why this man was treating me with open hostility. His wife had treated me with friendliness, but this Sesshoumaru seemed to hate me on sight. I studied him a bit. He had long silver hair that was tied back and piercing golden eyes. He was the epitome of elegance and I had to admit that he looked strangely familiar. And then it hit me.
When we were dating, Inuyasha had mentioned that he had a half brother whom he didn't get along with most of the time, but in recent years, since the death of his father, they had begun to slightly understand each other. He attributed the change of heart to his brother's girlfriend and the fact that Inuyasha was the only family he had left. And judging by the cold, hard stare, Inuyasha had also told him about me and had left nothing back. Even though we had never met, this man knew almost more about me than Sango did.
"Anyways, so because Sesshoumaru will be out and about, sometimes gone for a couple days, my brother-in-law will be arriving sometime in the week to keep me company," Rin stated brightly. I almost dropped my drink. Inuyasha was coming here? Oh dear god.
"That's wonderful."
"Yes, Inuyasha is really sweet. He's taking a break from promoting his new album to pay attention to me."
"Wait," Eri interrupted, ignoring her sister, who was still arguing about her boyfriend. "Inuyasha, as in Inuyasha Azuma?" Rin nodded and Ayume promptly closed her mouth. The twins shared a look before the both squealed, differences clearly forgotten.
"Inuyasha Azuma is coming here!" They yelled at the same time, excitement clearly written on their faces. They began to jump up and down, screaming. Miroku had the decency to look embarrassed at his sisters; his face was red and he was purposefully not looking at them. Me, well, at the announcement, I felt slightly lightheaded and almost as if my heart had stopped beating. I downed my drink, knowing that there would be no way that I could avoid Inuyasha. I had told Sango that I would see her every week for dinner and I couldn't back out. I liked my sister too much. We certainly couldn't meet at my tiny apartment. It would have to be here. He would be here.
Fuck my life.
A/N: I'm sorry that this took so long to get up. I was supposed to post Thursday, before I left, but I had too much editing to do and not enough time to do it before I went down the shore for the weekend. But this was my first task when I got back and I have to say that I'm finally satisfied with the chapter. I hope you liked it! Reviews would be appreciated!
Emily
NaP