Kagome's POV
"That will be three ninety-two please, ma'am," Ayame informed a young girl that looked barely past fifteen, handing her a couple of hot cocoa.
I sighed and rubbed my back. I hadn't slept well from the night before; I had a nightmare and fell off the bed all in the same night. It was funny, how little I had to explain of the night's events. My mother simply told me "I believe in your judgment," and that was the end of that.
I hurried over to Ayame, glad to see Yasha hadn't come yet.
"Hey Kags," She greeted. Then the corners of her mouth turned downward. "Kagome...you don't look so good. I don't mind sweeping the floors, ya know."
I managed a smile.
"No, you don't have to. It's just...I don't understand. I've worked so hard. Couldn't she have at least given me a promotion instead of letting that Yasha idiot take my place? I mean really, the guy is nuts. I mean seriously, nuts."
A slow smile had spread across her face, much to my befuddlement.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing," She chirped in a manner supposedly innocent.
"Seriously, just cut to the chase and tell me. I'm too tired today."
She let out a melodramatic sigh as if I had just taken all of the fun out of her day.
"I saw you. You were following behind him. You totally have the hots for him. Just admit it."
My immediate response would have been to regurgitate my breakfast all over the floor I had just cleaned but I swallowed this response down the last second. Perhaps this was the best thing to let her think, for it was a heck of a lot better than the truth.
A hopefully real-looking smile crossed my face.
"Yeah. He's totally sexy. That hair is gorgeous." More like a rat's hideouts.
Ayame giggled.
"So...what happened?"
I told her about me meeting his mother and all of us drinking tea together, conveniently leaving out the part about him threatening me and me sneaking around his house.
"You guys are so cute together. You can tell he has this bad-boy thing going on, like he doesn't want to show others he cares about you but he really does. I love it!"
I winced; my stomach couldn't handle much more of this.
"Yeah haha...he's so gangster..." I looked around hoping Kikyo would come around and fuss at us for 'slacking on the job'. She seemed to be preoccupied with yelling at some other poor soul on the phone, however.
"C'mon. Let me get that for you." She took the broom from my hands before I could protest.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Go on, you deserve it."
I smiled gratefully at her before taking her position at the cash register. Two ratty looking fellas with golden-toothed smiles hobbled up to the cash register. They smelt like an old warehouse, purple bags gleaming from under their eyes.
"I'll have a beer," The pale-green eyed rat announced.
"I'm sorry...this is a coffee house. We don't have that."
The two of them started to giggle incessantly. I couldn't have been more confused.
"Would you look at that Ravis? She says she doesn't sell beer."
Then they began to giggle again, walking...well, more like stumble out of the little coffee shop. It didn't dawn on me until many minutes later that those people were actually drunk, and that "warehouse smell" had to have been beer.
My ears picked up the sound of more giggling, only this time it was more feminine. Since when did those two idiots start sounding like young women? There was nobody else in the shop. I knit my eyebrows together in confusion, tuning my ears into the sound. It was coming from the left of me.
I turned, to come face-to-face with Kikyo. Only her appearance was much more different than usual. Her normally stick-straight witch-looking hair was silky and flowing. Even her thin, strict-appearing lips now looked soft and plump with some lip gloss. She was wearing a tiny miniskirt. I stared in confusion; just what had gotten into her!?
She was bent over, cleavage showing, and staring at…wait since when did Yasha get there? He was furiously scrubbing down tables, and she was just sitting there! All she was doing was standing there and staring at him! Occasionally she would let out a small sigh. I shivered a bit at the creepy sight before me, before suddenly putting two and two together.
Kikyo has a crush on Yasha.
I had to put a hand to my mouth to keep from laughing. For some reason the idea of Kikyo having any other thoughts than how to be a pain in the rear was very comical, especially since it involved a jerk like Yasha. I smiled; they really were made for each other.
I stopped in my working, completely utilizing this opportunity to take a break. Ayame was now washing the windows, but I decided to let her in on this free break. Carefully I slid from my cashier position and maneuvered my way to where Ayame was, luckily without notice. I tapped her shoulder.
She spun around in surprise.
"Kagome? You've changed your mind?"
I smirked, leaning close to her ear.
"Kikyo has a crush…on Yasha"
"WHAT!?"
I winced at her for the outburst. She looked past me to see if I was being honest, and without a doubt, Kikyo was still staring at him with that dreamy look on her face. I couldn't help but crack a smile; she was as astonished as me.
"Holy…wow. I am speechless." She shook her head.
"I know right?"
She stood there in silence, staring at the floor contemplatively. I stared right with her, glad to have a moment to my own thoughts. Then a slow grin spread over my features.
"Hey Ayame…I got an idea."
"What?"
"I'm gonna set up a date with them."
Her lips turned downward.
"What do you mean? I thought you liked him?"
"Yeah but…you have to admit. They would make one helluva entertaining couple."
Not only that but it would be one helluva great way to possibly help Yasha forgive me about following him home, and if I'm lucky, he may even not kill me in my sleep. Well…that was probably an exaggeration but still, the guy is scary!
She seemed to weigh the idea in her mind.
"Hmm…yeah that seems like a good idea. I'm in!"
We gave each other a high-five. The happiness was short-lived, due to a rather loud crash scaring me out of my wits.
"Great job, idiot." The words flew out of my mouth. So much for forgiveness.
Yasha glared at me with those deadly eyes.
"Idiot? Me? I think the only idiot here is a crazy-ass stalker that likes to follow people to their houses!"
I glared right back at him, already equipped with an insult, when he just stopped in his tracks. Just stopped.
After everything he said and did I thought I already knew what I could expect from him: a witty insult, straight up anger, or him just ignoring me. But instead of all this, he just stared at me, shut his jaw, and walked right out of the store.
I stared at his retreating back.
Had he heard my plan?
Inuyasha's POV
I wasn't sure how long I sat staring at the empty space where that stupid bitch slept the whole night. Boy was I a fool for screwing with her...who knew she would turn out to be such a psychopath and follow me all the way to my house? What could she have seen? Hopefully she didn't follow me because she knew...
Nah. That's just paranoia. There's no way she could have known if I only knew her for a day.
I sucked in a deep breath, before deciding that now would be a good time to take a long, steaming hot shower, to try to shake off the irrational feeling that somehow, some way, she knew.
Throwing on all my work clothes in no particular order, I rushed out the house, pausing when I got to the door. Mom was still asleep on the couch, having fallen asleep to some black and white movie.
I decided to leave the check where she was sleeping, just in case she changed her mind. 'You need the money ma. Just accept it.' I willed her to listen to reason with my mind.
Some minutes later I finally arrived at DELUXE COFFEE. I sneezed...someone must be talking about me. Shortly after closing the door with a loud 'thud' I saw two men in dark blue suits, one of them really old-looking and short, just...standing there. I felt myself freeze. Just what did these assholes want?
Before he could hurl an insult, they were already walking towards him.
"Are you Inuyasha Takahashi?"
I stared at them defiantly.
"No. My name is Yasha Taisho."
The men regarded him briefly.
"May I see some identification, sir?"
I forced myself to shrug, to make myself appear nonchalant and bored; even though inside I was having a mental break down.
"Sorry guys. I must have left it at home. What do you guys need?" I cracked a mega-watt smile to disguise my nerves.
They stopped and faced each other, whispering in each other's ears. I tried to not get agitated with their obvious secrecy.
"We...will skip the identification in this case sir. We would like to talk to you."
"I'm on the job right now." I snapped.
The two men gave each other a look. The taller man, that looked much younger than the other with intense yellow eyes, was behind me in a flash. I didn't even have time to think before he clicked two hand-cuffs on me.
"Hey! What the hell man!" My temper flamed.
"Don't worry sir. This won't take long."
I jerked my hands back and forth to try to rid myself of the hand cuffs but it was to no avail. The two men came up and dragged me to the back of DELUXE COFFEE, non-too-gently I might add.
"Sir, we have come on behave of the death of Naraku Takahashi."
"What about it?" I clenched my jaw. It was deemed a suicide. I kept rehearsing the lines in my head that I would give in case they suspected anything.
"You see," The old one piped, "we found finger prints on a bottle of aspirin pills. After running many scans, we have discovered that he may have not over dosed on alcohol, but on aspirin. Those finger prints...belong to you, sir. There are no other finger prints on there besides yours. But we are not of certain. Why were your finger prints on the aspirin bottle shortly before his death?"
"Your results are inconclusive because I may just have been sick on that day. But I really don't want to answer your questions right now. I have the right to a lawyer." My heart thudded loudly. It was true, but did this mean they were one step closer? Damn it...
The older one let out a long, labored sigh.
"Fine kid. But I have an eye for evil. I know that you did it. It's just a matter of time." With this he stood up. His name tag gleamed "HIGURASHI". Higurashi...why did that name sound so familiar?
They both left silently. I thanked Kami for giving me the power of quick-thinking, even though I was still shaking. This guy...would be back for a piece of more. Shit.
Still I waltz right back into my job, completing the normal ritual of scrubbing down tables. It was so boring…I couldn't wait to get a new job somewhere. I tried to immerse myself in the job, to forget what had just occurred and the loud thumping of my heart. It didn't help with that psycho girl staring at me the whole time with her eye twitching.
Great, I have to deal with her too.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was extremely out of place with that visit. Just how the hell did they know I worked here? How did they know when I would be there? Jeez, how did they even know about that case? I had moved so far away. Besides, weren't they supposed to pin it on a suicide and be done with it?
I knew I had to move in case something like this did happen…but it still seemed extremely unlikely.
In the midst of my over-analyzing, I managed to knock over three plates off the table. I winced after hearing the rather loud crash.
"Great job, idiot."
I whirled around. It was that crazy chick. In no way, shape, or form did I have the patience to deal with her right now.
"Idiot? Me? I think the only idiot here is a crazy-ass stalker that likes to follow people to their houses!"
She scowled. I took in her appearance; her hair was messy and her face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Her clothes weren't doing much better; they were equally filthy.
But that wasn't what made me stop dead in my tracks, even for what a crazy day it was. That didn't make my heart stop then thud loudly in my ears, making my stomach churn.
What did was in her name tag:
KAGOME HIGURASHI