"That'll be five sixty-seven."

Handing over a twenty, the man before her sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"You doin' okay today?" Kagome asked softly, not wanting to seem nosy. The man was a regular, coming in every morning ten minutes after opening. Even though she knew very little about him, she felt like they were friends, almost- acquaintances at least. He was always very polite, but also very quiet; Sango, the store manager, had once called him 'taciturn', but Kagome didn't think that was the right word.

"I'm alright," he said, giving her a small but genuine smile. "Just dealin' with some stuff."

She hummed in understanding, handing him his change and sliding him his receipt over the glass top. "Got it. Well, if there's any way I can help, let me know and I'd be happy to."

He grinned. "I'll be sure to do that."

She smiled brilliantly at him. "Good."

Then he moved off to the side to wait for his coffee, and she greeted the customer behind him.

As she took their order, she couldn't help but sneak glances at the man she'd just spoken to. He was leaning against the counter, the picture of ease, and she suddenly felt a rush of something down in her stomach.

"Order 7," Sango called to her, catching her off guard. Smiling, Kagome picked up the coffee and lemon scone from the back counter, turning to hand it to the man from before.

"Order up," she said, softer than she had meant to, but he heard her anyway. She presented him with his items, but he paused, hands halfway to them, and looked at her.

"Your hair covers your name tag."

Blinking in surprise, Kagome looked down at her vest, where her name tag should be, and saw that he was right. Setting the coffee down, she brushed her hair over her shoulder, straightening the tag and her vest along with it.

"Kagome," he mused, sounding as if he was testing how her name felt in his mouth.

"Yeah..." She murmured, suddenly bashful.

He smirked. "I'm Inuyasha."

Before she could do anything but blush and smile, he had picked up his coffee, setting something down on the counter in its place, and plucked the scone from her hands.

He walked away, and Kagome picked up the slip of paper he had left behind.

'Going to the movies would be very helpful. I was thinking tomorrow at 7. Call if interested.'

Giggling like a schoolgirl, Kagome folded the paper and stuck it in her vest pocket next to her cellphone; she'd program his number in later.

She was so delighted that she didn't even hear Sango's cry of disbelief.

"That guy stuck a 50 in the tip jar!"