An InuYasha alternate fanwork by Wolfye Productions.
All InuYasha characters are © Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications, Inc., Shonen Sunday, Sunrise and Nihon TV. Characters are used without the express prior permission of the aforementioned. Story concept, other characters and original situations are © Wolfye Productions; this fanfic is written for entertainment purposes only.
Hojo stared at Kagome across the table.
The two of them were in the university commons eating lunch. After having found that they shared a common lunch break every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they had agreed to always meet up somewhere to spend some time together during their mutually busy schedules. With Hojo, it was either meetings or classes; while with Kagome, it was either classes or work.
Kagome had been acting really strange the last few days, as if she was curling up into an emotional ball all over again. He couldn't understand why. Classes were going well for both of them, work was good for her so far, and they spent almost all of their free time together. And yet, he felt that she was somehow slipping away from him again. She wasn't all there anymore, like she was a completely different person.
He watched her as she stared blankly out the window at absolutely nothing, her fork idly pushing around the potato mush on her plate. She wasn't even paying attention.
"So, will you go with me?" he asked for the third time. This was getting irritating. She'd never ignored him before.
"Hm?"
Kagome turned her head back to him, eyes wide and innocent. Hojo recoiled a bit. Perhaps he was a bit too harsh-sounding just now. He hoped he hadn't offended her; she was always so fragile looking since her return to junior high.
"I asked if you would go with me to the luncheon on Saturday?" he repeated, although this time much calmer than the last. "That is, if you're not working then."
He watched as Kagome reached into her bookbag and brought out her calendar. He had offered to buy her a palm pilot last year, but she had refused, saying that she preferred writing her schedule out the old way. He knew it was just that she didn't want to accept his money.
"I have to work until one on Saturday. When is your luncheon?"
"It starts at twelve thirty. Will you be able to make it?"
"Hm, you said it was at Osagi Hall?"
Hojo nodded. She had been listening somewhat.
"I'll be there, but I'll be late."
"That's okay. I'll make reservations for both of us then," Hojo reassured, ecstatic that she would be there. His professor would be there too, and he was hoping to introduce Kagome to him.
Kagome smiled. "Okay then, I'll see you then!"
She picked up her lunch tray and left the table, off to her next class. Hojo remained at the table, watching her as she dumped her tray and left the commons. His next class wasn't for another hour, so he had time to kill. After she was out of sight, he took out his calculus homework and started working on it, trying to drive away the dark thoughts screaming at him in the back of his mind.
"Thank you, have a great day!"
Kagome smiled cheerfully as she handed the customer a bag with their purchases in it. She really liked her part time job at the bookstore. The owner was really nice, and she was paid enough to afford herself a few luxuries a month.
"Okay Kagome," Mr. Hamasaki said, ambling over to the front door to flip the sign to "Closed". "Thank you for your help my dear. Is it your payday today?"
Kagome nodded. She was paid every Saturday, but still had to remind him whenever she was to be paid, as his memory was no longer as sharp as it used to be.
"Very well," he said, ambling back over to the store register. Pushing a button to open the old machine, he counted out her week's pay and handed it to her.
"I'll see you on Monday, Kagome."
"Yes sir, Mr. Hamasaki. Thank you!" Kagome said, bowing before leaving the small store. The time was now five minutes past one, and she had to hurry to get to Hojo's luncheon meeting.
"Hey you."
Kagome looked up from buttoning up her jacket only to stare openly in shock at the boy with the violet eyes from last week, as he leaned casually up against the old brick wall of the building, hands shoved deep in his jeans pockets.
"You work here?"
Kagome almost missed the question in her transfixed state. Numbly, she nodded her head slowly, mouth suddenly too dry to reply.
The young boy snorted his disgust at her, reminding her greatly of Inu Yasha during his macho moments. The resemblance was remarkable.
"You shouldn't, ya know," he kept going on, apparently unaware of her blatant staring. "That old fart's crazy."
Without waiting for her reply, he pushed himself off of the wall and casually strolled down the street away from the store, uncaring of the stares and whispers of passers-by at his torn and tattered clothing. He was walking in the opposite direction of where she needed to be.
Against the better judgement of the voices screaming to her in the back of her mind, Kagome struggled free of her frozen state and called out after the boy, feet suddenly running towards him. The boy stopped in his tracks, although he didn't bother to look back at her. He didn't even bother to look at her when she caught up to his side.
"Where are you headed?" she asked, a little out of breath from her short sprint.
"Huh, what's it to you?" he answered back in a gruff manner also reminiscent of his canine counterpart.
Kagome smiled at him, "If you're not in a hurry, let me buy you lunch."
He finally turned to look at her, his violet eyes flashing deep hostility, and yet, something else hovered just beneath his gaze. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Whatever girl," he replied, although his tone was not so harsh as before.
Kagome beamed the sun at him, making him suddenly cringe away from so much open affection. He obviously wasn't used to it.
"There's this great place just around the corner," she said, taking their steps towards the desired location. "By the way, my name's Kagome."
The boy hmph'd his understanding, but remained quiet.
"What's your name?" she gently prodded, eager to hear him talk once more.
"Yamaro."
"Oh, what a neat name," Kagome commented, inwardly cringing at the lameness of her comment. Yamaro just snorted again.
Rounding the corner, the two stepped into the cozy cafe, and Kagome quickly drowned out the voices that still screamed in the back of her mind.
"So Hojo, where's this person you wanted me to meet?"
Hojo glanced up from his plate. He had been standing near the entrance to the hall, in hopes that Kagome would walk inside at any moment. Glancing at his watch, he saw that the time was already almost two, and she still hadn't shown. She obviously wasn't coming, and his professor had to get to a meeting.
"I'm sorry Dr. Asagi, it looks like she wasn't able to make it today," Hojo said to his professor in the most upbeat voice he could manage. Inside he was crushed.
"Oh, that's alright Hojo. Sometimes life throws us a curve ball every now and then. I'll just have to meet this mysterious person later. I've got to get to my meeting at two, so I'll talk with you later."
Hojo nodded, waving goodbye to his professor. Dumping his barely touched food in the trash, he picked up his bag and walked outside, making his way to the shopping district. He was determined to find Kagome; she was usually never one to ditch on him without telling him beforehand. Now he looked bad in front of his professor. Maybe he should get her a cell phone.
Rounding the corner to where her store was, he froze in his tracks, then quickly jumped back behind the building, his heart pounding in his chest. Peeking back around the building, his normally gentle eyes narrowed in jealous rage as he watched Kagome walking down the sidewalk with a strange guy he had never seen before. He scrutinized the guy from head to toe, from his wild black hair to his ratty tennis shoes. This guy looked like a gangster, so what the hell was Kagome doing talking to him? And so friendly too!
The guy never smiled the entire time, and he barely talked back to her as the two of them walked. Occasionally he would glance at her out of the corner of his eye, but aside from that he remained looking forward the entire time. What a bastard! Hojo screamed silently, his possessiveness of Kagome flooding through his veins, making it suddenly hard for him to breathe. And how dare she! Didn't she realize that she was his, and his alone!
The two stopped in front of her store. After a few more quick remarks, which the stranger merely shrugged at her, the two parted ways. Shit, Kagome was heading right for where he was. Taking one last look at her oddly happy expression, he turned and made a run for his apartment, glancing back every now and then to be sure that she hadn't noticed him there. He needed to cool down and think things through before he tried confronting her about this whole thing. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but more like the guy she had been with. Something in the stranger's eyes had sent ill waves of uneasiness down his spine, and he needed to find out why before Kagome got into danger.
A/N:
Woot! Is it me, or is Hojo getting really possessive over Kagome? Who wants to see Mr. Mild Mannered Guy explode? hehehe...