One year later...
Kagome had just finished school for the day and was walking to the train station. She wanted to get to her job interview quickly and make a great first impression.
Kagome was now sixteen. Since the last time she saw Inuyasha, she decided to turn her life around. She stopped hanging out with the wrong crowd, took the focus off her social life and put it on her schoolwork. Not only did it benefit her life and health, she got in to the school of her choice where she was reunited with her childhood friends.
Maybe she had Inuyasha to thank. Now, Kagome was never sure if his words came from the heart or if he was just trying to get her to stop calling, but the tone of his voice and the seriousness in his words seemed convincing and at least someone was paying attention to what she was doing. Not only did he pay attention, he wanted her to stop. She thought about Inuyasha all the time, even missed him. She hoped she'd see him again one day, maybe in passing so she could show him the bright smile that never leaves her face and the new outlook on life she has.
Kagome stopped living so carelessly and foolishly and even went to a counseling program to make sure she never went back to the drug life again. After doing various types of drugs for seven months, you become addicted, not only to the drugs, but also to getting high. All Kagome wanted to do in middle school was get high and be around people who liked getting high. It wasn't working for her at all and it wasn't working for her grades either. Once she put the brakes on her recklessness, things became so much clearer and she felt like a new person. She had been drug free for 11 months and never felt better.
She was ready to take the next step as an employed high school student.
Kagome got off the train at her stop and rushed through the crowded station and down the steps. She checked the address on the paper and the time on her phone. If she moved quickly she'd be early.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" She stopped a random woman on the street. "Do you know where Shinjuku Fashion is?"
The woman nodded and pointed straight down the block. It wasn't far at all.
"Thank You!" Kagome bowed and rushed off in the direction of the store.
Once Kagome reached the door, she took a deep breath and silently prayed before stepping inside. She had never been to that store before but after looking around at all the great clothing and the atmosphere, she wanted the job more.
Kagome nervously walked up to the counter and waited for the distracted employee to turn around. She fidgeted her fingers and bit her lip as she waited.
"Hey, stupid you got someone at the counter!" One of the female employees on the floor called out.
The employee behind the counter stuck up their middle finger without so much as looking.
The female employee left her station and walked up to Kagome. "You need some help sweetie?"
Kagome nodded. "I'm looking for the manager. I'm here for a job interview."
"Oh, I see. Well that's the idiot assistant manager. You won't get much help from him." She said with a giggle.
Upon seeing how comfortable the staff was with one another, Kagome liked the place even more, but was a bit nervous about making friends and feeling out of place among the others.
The female employee went behind the counter and called the manager. "Hi, Mr. T, there's a young lady down here for an interview." The girl looked up at Kagome. "What's your name?"
"Higurashi, Kagome."
"Her name is Kagome…Oh, okay I'll let him know." The female employee hung up, walked over to the assistant manager and smacked him on the back of the head. "What are you doing? Your brother said interview this girl. Stop watching porn or whatever the heck—"
"I'm not watching porn, idiot. Don't you have something to do?" He spoke sarcastically.
The employee nudged him playfully. "Hmph." She came around from the counter and walked up to Kagome. "Sorry for all the trouble. He'll be with you soon."
Kagome smiled and nodded. She continued to wait patiently while the assistant manager did whatever he was doing.
The assistant manager finally turned his attention to Kagome. "Sorry I was uh—" He stopped mid-sentence and studied Kagome's face. "Ka-Kagome? Is that you?"
Kagome smiled happily upon seeing the familiar face. "Hi, Inuyasha! Small world isn't it?"
Inuyasha was dumbfounded. Of all the places in the world to see her again. "Yeah. Wow. This is crazy. How ya been?"
"Great! I've made a lot of changes in my life."
He was happy to see her alive, well and sober for a change. She looked so beautiful and happy and he was proud. "Well I'm glad to see you under better circumstances."
"The feeling's mutual."
"So uh…you want a job here right? Do you have any experience?" Not that he cared. He intended to hire her regardless. 'I'm not letting her disappear into thin air this time.'
"No, I've never had a job before."
"When can you work?"
"Any hours after two on weekdays."
"Okay, no problem. Sango will train you." He pointed to the female employee that Kagome had spoken to earlier. "That jerk over there."
"Are you referring to me, puppy?" Sango looked up, cutting her eyes at Inuyasha.
Kagome wasn't too sure about the dynamic of their relationship but all their disputes seemed playful since they were both laughing. She was just happy she got hired so easily. Inuyasha being the one to interview her definitely gave her a break.
"When do I start?"
"Now, if you want. We're missing a lot of people today."
"It's finals week!" Sango cut in. "Almost everyone that works here is in college."
Kagome felt even more out of place. She was the youngest and newest girl at the job, but she wanted to be there so she intended to manage.
"Come with me." Sango grabbed her hand. "I'll get you a uniform and get you all set."
Kagome followed Sango to the 'employees only' room. Sango seemed like a very nice person.
"Just out of curiosity, why do you and Inuyasha fight so much?"
"Oh that!" Sango waved her hand and laughed. "I've been near Inuyasha my whole life. We go to school together, we work together, we're neighbors. He's like my brother." She explained, handing her a red uniform shirt and a name tag.
Sango took out a sticker and wrote Kagome's name on it before placing it on a locker. "You can have the locker next to mine. After you change into your uniform, come to the counter and I'll show you how to work the register."
Kagome smiled happily. "Kay. I'll be out soon." She went into the bathroom and began to change.
Everything was happening so quickly. One minute she's seeing Inuyasha again, the next minute she has a job at the store where he's the assistant store manager. 'I applied for a lot of jobs and this was the only one I got a call back for. It's kind of weird…but a good weird.' She thought to herself with a smile.
Inuyasha was slouched over behind the counter, feeling slightly ill. "Damn! You're not hot, Sango?"
Sango looked over at him like he was crazy. "Inuyasha. I'm wearing a thermal under my work shirt. It's freezing in here since your brother makes it feel like the north pole with the AC."
Inuyasha sighed and wiped the sweat off his brow. "I think I got a fever or something."
She got close to his face and gave him a good look. "Inuyasha your eyes are red!"
"So? I am a little tire—"
"No! Demon red!"
Inuyasha was scared. He never fully transformed before and had only gotten close to transforming once. He took a few deep breaths and a sip of water before he was able to relax.
Sango continued to stare but was at ease when his eyes slowly went back to normal. 'Why did that just happened to him?' "Do you want to go home?"
Inuyasha shook his head. "I can't go home! You and Kagome would be a mess without me!"
Sango shook her head and laughed. "Okay, just take it easy."
Kagome placed her belongings in her locker and went to train as Inuyasha annoyingly oversaw the two, horribly portraying his managerial attributes. Overall, it was a great first day. She enjoyed interacting with Inuyasha under normal circumstances.
At 6:30, It was time for Inuyasha to go home. Sango agreed to close for the night so she would be there for another two hours.
"Kagome, you can clock out now, too." He told her.
Kagome happily complied. She was pleased with her new set schedule, seeing how it gave her time to get home and still do homework. She went to her locker and took out her bag.
"Come on, I'm taking you home." Inuyasha told her.
"Are you sure? It's not too out of the way for you?"
"No, your house is on the way to my apartment so it's nothing."
"You remember where I live? It was so long ago!"
Inuyasha shrugged. "How could I forget you?"
Kagome smiled and blushed as she followed Inuyasha out and got in his car. It was the same as she remembered…or at least could remember. Except things were different this time; and so was she.
"I'm glad, you know." He began as he drove down the road. "That you're okay. I didn't want you to think I was just annoyed with you asking me to pick you up. I was annoyed, but I didn't like the situation. You were in danger, doing what you were doing."
"I know. The morning after you drove me home, I decided to clean up my act and stop hanging out with that crowd. I guess being under so much stress I found the wrong outlet. My dad died right around the time I met those people. My mom pretty much became a hollow shell. She stopped paying attention to what we were doing and my brother and I were practically looking out for ourselves. I was just being selfish, I suppose. But things have gotten much better at home, too. I could have been a lot worse off."
"So no more trouble out of you right?"
Kagome giggled and shook her head. "No more trouble. I promise."
Inuyasha smiled as he stopped the car by her house. "That's a relief."
"I really wanted to see you again." She admitted with her head down. "You were so nice to me…but I figured…who would want to hang out with a druggie?"
"I never thought you were a druggie. I worried about you all the time. I even tried calling your phone once a-and I went to your house."
'He did all that for me?' Kagome reached over and hugged him. "Thank you so much for caring about me. I really appreciate it."
Inuyasha looked down at her and smiled as she squeezed him tightly. He returned her hug and held her, inhaling her scent, knowing she was safe…and it wasn't a dream.
After a few minutes, he realized it was wrong to be holding another girl in his car when he had a girlfriend so he reluctantly let go even though he didn't want to.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Kagome said happily as she got out of his car.
Inuyasha pulled off and sighed. He felt such strong relief, like he had gotten closure. He thought about Kagome constantly over the past year, wondering if she was dead or alive, hoping she would call if she needed something because even though she aggravated him by calling at the worst times, he didn't want her to die or get hurt. He had to admit, the first time she contacted him with that disturbing text message he was scared for her. He was scared of her overdosing, or being raped and even though she was fine now, he felt the need to protect her still. He didn't know what came over him or made him feel so strongly about a girl he hardly knew, but since they worked together, he'd end up knowing her and he was going to look out for her because it seemed like the best thing to do.
Inuyasha got home, stripped off all his clothes and lied in his bed. He'd been up for 14 hours and exhausted was an understatement for how he felt. He made an attempt to call Kikyo, which failed as it often did. He knew she had so much going on, with school, work and caring for her sister, but she didn't make much of an effort to contact him throughout the week. Sometimes seeing her on Sundays just wasn't enough. He'd just been with her so long, he felt like he had to adjust.
Inuyasha never complained about Kikyo to anyone. He portrayed her as the ideal girlfriend. The young nurse who cares for other people and studies hard to become a doctor. She was sweet, beautiful, caring and all the people who knew her, loved her. Inuyasha took pride in having Kikyo as his girlfriend.
'Sometimes it's nice to hear her voice and know she's doing okay.' He rolled over in bed, clutched his pillow and sighed. 'It's not like I'm lonely or nothin' he reasoned with himself. 'I just think if I can make time for you, you can make time for me too.'
Inuyasha stayed up as long as he could, waiting for Kikyo to return his call. She never returned his calls, but he still waited. He was thinking about how he felt feverish earlier and wondered why his demon tried to come out.
'What could have brought out my demon like that? I didn't sense any danger at all. But I'm glad I didn't fully transform. Who knows what could have happened.'
The last thing on his mind was Kagome: Sober, big, brown glowing eyes and very cheery. That was the way he imagined her over the past year. 'She's just what I thought she would be. Except I'm not fantasizing.'
Two hours went by and he was finally asleep.