Discalimer: I OWN NOTHING, DARNIT!

Don't Get Involved, Baka

Chapter 2

He's Going to Burn Me, Just Watch!

She had actually woken up early today so she wouldn't have to meet the crazy black-blood after what she said to him the night before. She was terrified and had barely gotten any sleep. Who knows? He may have just appeared in her room and sucked her dry while she was lying in her bed if she did sleep. She wasn't about to risk that. Sliding out of bed, she gently turned off the alarm, as to not wake Shippo earlier than he was used to because of the loud crash that it would make.

She gently padded across the room in her bare feet and changed in the bathroom while finishing all of her morning duties. After walking back out, she was acquainted with the smell of toast and she couldn't help but smile at the wonderful scent that it gave off. Grabbing her shoes from under her bed, she then ran down the steps and began to look for her ID in order to get into the building. Sadly, a uniform and a name tag were not enough to get someone into the private offices of headquarters.

The sound of toast popping out of the toaster made her yelp in surprise before relaxing and grumbling to herself as she continued to look for the card.

"Where did it go?" she whispered under her breath, throwing open a cupboard and digging through it's contents. Glancing up at a clock, she swore under her breath and quickened her searching.

"Kagome. time to get-!" Sango called, but stopped when she saw the distressed female in front of her, digging in a random drawer now. "What are you looking for?" she questioned.

"I can't find it!"

"Can't find what?"

"My ID card!"

Sango walked into the kitchen and came back out with a slice of toast, handing it to Kagome. Kagome took it and whimpered as she looked around for the plastic that should have been in her skirt pocket. Skirt pocket!!! Kagome groaned as she reached in to the pocket of her skirt and found the elusive item. Looking at the clock, she whimpered before sitting down and putting on the heels. She would be leaving at her normal time after all, huh?

"Bye Sango..." she sighed before running out the front door and turning into an alley at her normal time. She stared dumbly ahead of her, the toast in her mouth, and her jacket sleeve fully on. The end of the alley appeared and she turned to the left, racing out of it and narrowly dodging the opening door.

"Ohayou Kagome, late again?"

"Unhappily so..." she replied, giving a quick wave as she raced past. "I'll come by the shop after work again so make sure to save something for me Ginta-sama!"

"You know I will" he chuckled in response, stopping and watching as she ran. He crossed his arms in amusement, waiting for that 'special' moment to happen. Yes. That moment.

"Good morning Kagome!"

"Good morning Hakkaku!"

"Watch where your run-"

Kagome spun around and tried to swerve around the vampire. Anything to not aggravate him more than she already had, only to run into his arm at such a speed that her body turned. She slipped on her heel, and she landed on her hands and knees, skinning them once again.

"Ow..." she whispered, getting to her feet and wincing as she brushed herself off. "I'm sorry for running in to you again, onii-san. Forgive me" she began, but he didn't seem to be staring her down like he usually did. Instead, he was looking down the street from the direction of which she came from.

"Watch where you're going or get to work earlier."

"I tried..." she grumbled and he spared her a glance. She wished he didn't look at her, and immediately regretting the thought about wanting him to acknowledge her. There was a look on his face that was worse than the annoyed expression he usually wore. The annoyed face already sent a shiver throughout her entire body, but the look today made her tense, her blood running cold as she watched him walk past, terrified. Kagome was faintly aware of Hakkaku dragging her in to his shop and fixing the scrapes on her body.

"Kagome?" he asked and Kagome glanced at him, eyes wide.

"Yes..?"

"Are you alright?"

She slowly nodded. "I-I'm fine."

"You're shaking."

"I'll be fine after I get to work, Hakkaku. Thanks, though." She stood up and walked over to the door but Hakkaku stopped her as he cleared his throat.

"I heard about yesterday."

"He... he..."

"Kagome?"

"He... Clock-sama... I don't want to think about it!" she cried before racing out of the door. Her heart had calmed down a bit, but she was still shocked. Had the infamous Zelman Clock just... yes, he had... Kagome shook her head to clear her mind at the thought and couldn't help but think that if only he did it more often...

"No..." she whispered to herself, "not good, don't think like that, Kagome. Soon you'll turn into one of the crazed fangirls and... ugh..."

"You're driving the others crazy again, Kagome" Mimiko sighed as she made herself known and Kagome jumped with a yelp of surprise. "Had another rough run-in with the 'Ancient Dark Hunter'?" she mused and the younger female glared at her.

"Yes."

"Wow, Kagome, you really need to do something about that. You'll be dead by the end of the week if this keeps up!"

"I'll be dead in two days if this keeps up" she grumbled under her breath, plopping into her seat and once again allowing her boss to bandage her injuries. Her boss smiled knowingly.

"He smiled at you, I heard."

"Blech" Kagome grimaced, a shiver running down her spine. "Hope I don't have to see it again. I much prefer the glare of annoyance, much less intimidating."

Mimiko laughed and glanced up at her face. "I would think it would be the other way around. A smile should be nice and comforting, shouldn't it?"

"Maybe for other people, but his is just like being sent to hell and back. Can't believe how you can possibly stand it, Mimiko. That one grin makes me chilled to the bone."

"You should feel honored, he never smiles at anyone."

"Probably thinks it's too much work."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, but whatever. It's your life and you make your own decisions, just be more careful tomorrow. His smile scares me, too."

"Hai, hai" Kagome laughed and turned to face her computer, deep in thought. Although his smile really did chill her to the bone, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of warmth at the very center of her heart. As the computer turned on, she realized that she was smiling dumbly and immediately patted her cheeks to rid herself of the stupid thoughts that had previously entered her mind.

"I'm probably just some crazy source of entertainment for him" she reasoned and got to work.

--Shippo--

"I'm going to Ginta's to get okaa-san!" the red-headed child cried excitedly, it had been a very long time since he had last seen the vampire and couldn't wait to see him again. "I wonder if Kouga's going to come by..." he mumbled to himself before an evil grin appeared on his face. It was always fun when Kouga and Kagome met.

"Ginta! Ginta, Ginta, Ginta, Ginta, Ginta!!!" he chirped as he ran to the restaurant and shoved the door open. It swung open, the bell clanging loudly for a few moments before the door shut and it stilled. Shippo skipped over to his usual spot and hopped up onto the stool. His head barely reached the counter when he sat so he stood up and leaned against the counter for balance.

"Hello, Shippo."

"Hello!"

"Your okaa-san should be here in a few minutes to get the food. Here" Ginta grunted as he dug around in one of the pockets of his apron and pulled out a packet of pocky. "It's been a while since you've been here so I won't charge Kagome."

Shippo ripped the pocky from his hands and tore it open. A clawed hand grabbed a stick and he nibbled on it, smiling contently. "Thangs Gin'a" he said through his mouthful of food and the elder vampire couldn't help but grimace at the sight.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, Shippo."

Shippo swallowed whatever was left in his mouth before apologizing and Ginta sighed, getting back to work. The bell on the door rang and Shippo spun around, tackling the person in a fierce hug.

"Okaa-san!!!!" he exclaimed but there was no response. There was a snort before Ginta began laughing and Shippo grew confused. That's when he noticed that his 'okaa-san' seemed oddly masculine. He blinked before looking into a pair of eyes that belonged to a certain half annoyed, half amused, Lord of the Special Zone. "...oops."

The crimson-eyed vampire cocked an eyebrow as he lifted the kid by the back of his shirt collar and held him up to eye-level.

"Okaa-san?" he questioned and Shippo gulped before his eyes lightened up.

"Okaa-san!" he chirped, squirming in the vampire's strong grip as he dangled in midair. The bell on the door rang once again and Clock turned around to look at the kid's so called 'mother' only to be smacked on the side of his head with a very, very, hard purse. He stumbled backwards and rubbed the injured spot as he let go of the kid, not exactly in the brightest of moods anymore, not like he was in the first place, but that was beside the point.

"Shippo, are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" a familiar voice asked worriedly as she fawned over the red-haired, green-eyed child.

"Nope!"

The young woman turned around and glared pointedly at Zelman Clock. He returned the look with one of his own.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" she demanded and the Lord's eyes narrowed to a dangerous degree as he glanced at Ginta. Ginta's laughter stopped immediately.

"I should be asking you the same, woman."

"You were the one dangling my child in the air!"

"He had the nerve to call me his mother."

"He's a kid! Cut him some slack, you moron!"

"I would have if he didn't tackle me in the process."

"Shippo thought you were me, and I always come here at this time, so-"

"He is unharmed, is he not?"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"He could have been hurt!"

"Do you seriously think I'm that lacking in common sense? I won't hurt a child, especially not a black-blood one."

"You little, arrgghhhh!!!! You can be so infuriating!"

"So I've heard" he drawled, smiling inside at his ability to get a rise out of her.

"If you weren't a Lord, I would so kill you right now."

"If you weren't a compromiser I would have done the same."

She gritted her teeth and balled her fists in a desperate attempt to hold back her anger before reaching into her purse and slamming some money onto the counter in front of Ginta and snatching the bag of food.

"I'm leaving" she hissed between her teeth and charging out the door, fuming. Shippo stayed behind and watched her leave, knowing that there was no calming her while she was in that state. The red-eyed vampire glanced at him before letting an amused smirk grace his features.

"Your mother is quite the character" he commented and Shippo smiled before a fit of laughter erupted from his throat. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to stop and just kept on laughing. Zelman and his mother seemed to be an even better source of entertainment than Sango and Miroku, and that was hard to find.

Zelman took the stool to the right of the kid and gracefully took the wine glass filled with blood from Ginta, staring at it's color, deep in thought.

"You look like you enjoy doing that, Clock-sama" Ginta finally stated and said person looked up at him. He said nothing, which meant for the waiter/chef to continue.

"You look like you enjoy aggravating Kagome-san."

At this, the Lord smirked again and took a sip of the blood, an unrecognizable glint in his eyes.

"So it would seem" he agreed, "but you do too, do you not?"

"Hai, but not to your extent."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Ne, Clock-sama?" Shippo murmured nervously and elder vampire looked at him, a softer look in his eyes now. This comforted Shippo greatly and he gained more confidence. "Do you think you can teach me?"

"Teach you?" Zelman repeated and Shippo nodded.

"Teach me how to use the 'eye ignite' thingy. I've been setting things on fire recently without meaning to and-"

"You use it?" he asked, now interested, and Shippo nodded once again.

"I don't know who my parents are, if that's what your wondering. Kagome adopted me when I was still really little!" he explained.

"I see" he mumbled to himself, taking another sip of blood.

"Can you?"

Zelman hesitated before setting the now empty glass down and ruffling Shippo's mop of red hair.

"Sure, kid. I'll teach you."

To Be Continued...