A few weeks later, Kagome and her students had settled into a comfortable routine. They would work on coloring pages, and have writing practice in the morning before snack, and have circle time and reading groups before lunch, the all-important midday meal. Then they would have a brief nap period before moving on to more brainy pursuits such as math and science. After school, she would stay with a few of her pupils providing an after-school program for children whose parents had to work late. Aside from the encounter with the peculiar janitor in her classroom the first day, she really hadn't seen much of him, a fact she was grateful for. She couldn't seem to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that he was still lurking around and she really didn't want to run into him when she had students with her. Something about the odd man really made her head hurt.
Her luck ran out one afternoon when the last few children were picked up and she was locking the classroom to leave. She had to go to the store before she returned home. She was certain the milk was getting ready to achieve sentience. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed him approach until she was nose to chest with the man himself.
"Ah!" she screamed, startled from her musings over her shopping list as she collided with a solid mass of muscle.
"Just the person I wanted to see!" Chuckled Inuyasha, reaching out to steady her shoulders. "I found this really neat place nearby that I thought you'd want to check out. I know you've been teaching a unit about zoology in your classes and thought your students would like to check out the local rescue sanctuary. Might be a cool field trip! I've got a couple of friends that offered to give tours."
Kagome was still stunned. He was just a janitor, how did he know in-depth details about her lesson plans? She involuntarily shuddered at the thought that he'd been spying on her. All of those times she felt like she was being watched she had just brushed it off as an overactive imagination. She was going to have to learn to trust her instincts!
"Uh, thanks. Yash, was it? I'll look into it. I appreciate the tip." She nervously backed away, pulling herself a bit more forcefully out of his grip than necessary. "Sorry for running into you, but I have to go. I have errands to run so, catch you later." With that, she turned heel and hurried off as quickly as she could, uncaring if she appeared rude.
"Sure! See ya around!" He half whispered the second half of the statement. Damn, now he really had scared her off. He didn't mean to sneak up on her but he really wanted her to go to the sanctuary! Maybe seeing Kouga and Ayame would help release her memories. If not, being fawned over by Ginta and Hakkaku who thought of her like a sister was sure to do the trick. The two ex-wolves were also working at the sanctuary, having been implicitly drawn to their leader upon their arrival in the future. It seemed some instincts were impossible to suppress.
Kagome had fled to the parking lot, locking her door as she got in the car. She was probably being ridiculous. It's not like Yash had tried to harm her in any way, but whenever he was around she just got a feeling of wrongness, like he wasn't supposed to touch her. When he grabbed her shoulders it sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine. She felt, rather than heard the word 'mine' echo through her and it distressed her. Now that she was an anxious bundle of nerves, she wasn't so sure that going to the grocery store was such a good idea. In fact, driving right now didn't sound like a very good choice at all. Maybe the eggs in her refrigerator wouldn't get up and walk away just yet. She really needed to get out of that parking lot and put some distance between herself and the school though. She remembered that Sango, the mom of the twins in her class was a kickboxing instructor at the ritzy spa across town. Maybe if she had a way to defend herself, she would stop feeling so nervous. She really didn't think the odd-ball janitor was going to hurt her, but he just made her so anxious! Making up her mind, she decided that she would speak with her when she came to pick up the kids after school tomorrow to see about getting some instruction in self-defense.