Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice © QuinRose

The air was tense and the awkward atmosphere weighed down on the shoulders of just about everyone in the room. The only one that didn't seem to be affected was the brunette-Ace, as he'd been introduced to her-and he had left after having given Julius a few clocks. Kagome bore holes through the white table cloth of the round table across from the desk where the long-haired man was situated, working on a broken clock.

"Julius?" She felt horrible for bothering the stoic man while he was working, but once he looked up at her, pausing in what he was doing, Kagome continued, "Is there anything that I could do to help?"

The man used a knuckle to push up his square-rimmed glasses, "You don't need to worry, you don't need to do anything."

The blue-eyed girl frowned at the man, "Are you sure? It just doesn't feel right just sitting here while you work.."

Julius said nothing to that for a time, holding the oriental female's stare evenly before he looked back down at the desk with the clock he was currently repairing, "You're the guest."

Kagome closed her eyes and shook her head, "That doesn't matter! I want to help either way!"

The soft sigh from the man burned dully in her ears, "If your mind won't be changed.. what do you know about clocks?"

The black-haired female smiled in Julius's direction, "Only the basics, but I am willing to learn~"

"And about making coffee?"

She tilted her head to the side as she put a finger to her chin, "I can make it well enough, as well as meals too."

The mortician nodded, and set his tools down on his desk, "I'll show you where the kitchen is, then."

Kagome stood up from the round table, moving to push her chair in as she watched the long-haired male make his way over to her, to usher her to follow him. Her blue eyes were bright as she was happy to at least assist the man in some way-even if it was just to make him coffee for late nights to keep him awake.

Despite her best efforts to pay attention to where they were going, Kagome couldn't help to looked around at the halls they were taking, wondering at their lack of distinctive decorations. Perhaps he could let her put up some things to make it less.. boring.

She stood expectantly in front of Julius's desk, watching as he took his first sip of the coffee that she had made. The silence was thick and tense, the blue-eyed girl felt as if she could cut it with a knife if she really wanted to. A frown settled onto her lips as she watched him set the white mug down, and picked up his tools. Well, he was being rude-

"Eighty-three points."

Kagome blinked, "Excuse me?"

Julius looked up from her from behind his spectacles, "The score for the coffee was eighty-three points out of a hundred."

She found her head tilting to the side in confusion; however, she couldn't help but flashback to the grades she would get during school while continually traveling back and forth in time. A smile replaced the confused frown, "That's one of the best grades I'd gotten in the last two years~"

The clockmaker made a sound in the back of his throat, "Do better next time."

"All right." Kagome couldn't tell if that was criticism or encourage, but with how it'd been since she first arrived here, she couldn't stop the small spark of optimism and took the statement as a form of encouragement. Moving to the door to bring the small tray back to the kitchen, she turned back to the quiet male, "Is there any place for me to sleep by any chance?"

Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned fatigue as her eyelids felt like iron weights..

"Yes. Would you like me to show you?"

Kagome waved a hand at him, "No, no, I don't want to get in the way of your work."

Julius sighed, and sat back in his chair, tools on the desk as he moved to slide off his gloves. Blue eyes watched him intently as he clapped, before she had to close her eyes, faintly hearing a tick-tock as a wind accompanied the sound. Gripping the tray with white-knuckled hands, Kagome's brow furrowed as she felt a small weight settle on one of her arms as the wind and tick-tock faded away.

Slowly opening her eyes and catching sight of the stoic man placing his gloved back on, the black-haired girl felt a small wave of astonishment settle in her mind at the sight of a simple lavender nightgown draped over one of her arms, "Um.."

"There is a room on the level above this one that is available. Just go up the stairs and it's the second door on the right. There's a bathroom across the hall from the room."

Kagome gave the man a bright smile despite her need for sleep, "Thank you~!"

The man focused intently on his work, "Think nothing of it."

Her mood considerably higher, she shut the door behind her with a skip to her step as she went to the kitchen before following the direction she had been given to the guest bedroom.

She definitely wanted to help him out now for giving her a room and night clothes to use.

Lying in the large bed, the oriental woman stared at the wall, lost in thought, thinking back to the three she had a run-in with before wandering back in the direction of the Clock Tower. More specifically, the cat ears of the fuchsia-haired male. Her fingers twitched as a faint blush dusted her cheeks-however, she merely wrote that off as being tired.

The piercings.. Kagome couldn't help but wonder if those had hurt as much as piercing human ears would. Fingering the couple piercings she had gotten recently in her own, it wasn't so much a pain as it was a pinch. Still, she knew from Inuyasha that animal ears were sensitive, so that might intensify the pinch to pain?

Closing her eyes-and feeling as if she wouldn't open then up again for the life of her-the black-haired girl filed the thoughts away for another time. Now was the time for sleeping, Kagome.

As her mind numbed to sleep, she couldn't help, but wonder about the world that she was in - a world with people with cat ears.

It almost felt like home in the smallest of instances..

Has it really been four days since I updated this? Damn, it only felt like one. My sense of time is out of whack, seriously. I have lots of ideas for drabbles and one-shots for Tabula Rasa~ I love you too much Durarara to hate the creativity! The shimeji took over my desktop in the meantime..