Two

Pursing her lips in concentration, the dark haired woman's cerulean colored eyes shifted back and forth between her hands.

Did Mama want… firm or extra firm tofu…?

Finally sighing in defeat, Kagome allowed her head to roll onto one shoulder. It was hard not to pout knowing that she would have to call her mother a second time to confirm her long mental list of ingredients for dinner that night. She had already had to listen to her laugh over the phone after she had forgotten whether or not she had wanted daikon radishes, and now this…

It had not even been ten minutes!

"I should have asked her to write this down," she muttered to herself, before putting both packages back so that she could fish out her phone once again. Unlocking the screen, she swiped away the recent notification from Satoru without so much as looking at it. It was probably absolute nonsense anyway, and even if it was not for once, he was more than capable of handling anything on his own while she enjoyed her first long weekend without him.

He was "the strongest," after all. It was not like he actually needed her, despite his constant protests toward the contrary.

Having pulled up her contacts with ease, she pressed the call button and raised the device to her ear. The thought made her roll her eyes, before growling, "He just wants me to do all the work so he can slack off anyway." Waiting for the phone to ring on the other end, she finally took note of the lady next to her. It was the strange look on her face that caused her to realize she had said that out loud. Quickly waving her hand between them, she motioned to the phone and quietly apologized about her coworker with a sheepish grin.

The other woman only shook her head and returned to her shopping.

No doubt she thought she was the crazy one, even though it was most definitely Satoru.

Mentally sighing, Kagome silently cursed the idiot for always getting her into awkward situations until the phone finally picked up. The soothing sound of her mother's voice was enough to dispel the internal tirade. She could hear the underlying laughter, though, and knew it was obvious that she was calling back about something else. Her poor mother was probably wondering why she had not gone herself at this point. It would have been a much easier task to prepare everything that they already had on hand, but she also knew her mother had wanted to get her out of the house while she was off.

Or at least away from all the chores Kagome had insisted on doing in her stead for the time being.

"Oh! Kagome dear, before I forget—"

Distracted by her mother on the other line, Kagome instinctively turned on her heel now that she had confirmed the correct purchase. The extra firm tofu that she had wanted dropped into her basket without so much as another thought, as she nodded and muttered, "Uh huh?"

"—Gojo-san stopped by to drop off some sweets he'd thought you'd like, but when I told him that you'd gone to the store for me he said that he would stop by in order to help you carry everything home."

She saw him a split second before truly registering what her mother was talking about and froze.

"Isn't that just sweet of him, dear?"

The corner of her mouth twitching upwards into a snarl, her mother's voice grew muffled as the phone slipped away from her ear. She could only stare at him, watching as a decent number of female customers swarmed him in an effort to ask him for his number while he preened beneath the sudden attention. The ridiculous number of poses he performed for them was enough to make her glare at him, and it was only then that he seemed to notice that he had finally gained her attention.

His eyes lighting up from over the top of his glasses, Satoru waved enthusiastically at her and shouted, "Kagome-chaaaan!" over the various female voices vying for his affection. "Are you ready to check out yet?"

Kagome ducked into the other aisle without a second thought, before the other women had the chance to even turn and glare at her.

It's official, she told herself. I'm going to have to kill him.

"Kagome dear? Kagome?"

Oh, crap!

"Sorry, mama, but I gotta go," she said in a rush, putting the phone back to her ear. "Satoru-san is trying to kill me, so I gotta be the one to take him out first!"

"What?" Her mother's confusion came through loud and clear. But then she laughed, as if she could sense that her eldest daughter was trying to use the shelving as cover while scurrying toward the check out and the exit beyond. "That's silly, Kagome! Gojo-san obviously likes you very much, and he's taken such wonderful care of you every time the two of you have to go out and deal with things. I doubt he's trying to kill you."

"Mama, you don't understand," she shook her head, wrinkling her nose at the crestfallen sighs that erupted from the other aisle with Satoru's dismissal of them, "but he's definitely trying to get me killed, so there's no hope for him at this point!"

"Oh, Kagome," her mother sighed into the phone, obviously shaking her own head on the other side. She went silent for a moment, listening to the sound of Kagome nearly slamming her basket onto the counter and scaring the cashier half to death with her frantic need to get the hell out of there. Then, clicking her tongue, she sighed, "I suppose if you have to, though. I certainly had a few close calls with your father, so I understand."

Whipping her head back around to check that Satoru's head of white hair was still far enough away, Kagome did not quite understand why that particular thought made her turn absolutely red. "Mama!" Mouthing apologizes to the cashier and bowing her head several times out of sheer embarrassment as she paid, she regretted saying, "I'm not getting married to Satoru-san!" almost immediately.

"Well, of course not," Satoru's warm breath grazed across her ear, as he draped himself around her to reach for her bags, "I haven't even gotten the chance to ask yet, have I?"

Kagome allowed him to direct her toward the exit then, stunned into silence by the cashier's embarrassed expression and wide eyes, and hoped beyond hope to escape this awful nightmare. The countless glares from the other women in the store followed them on the way out, but not even the sound of Satoru speaking to her mother over the phone for a moment was enough to override the horror coursing through her veins.

"Ah, imagine though," Satoru pulled her in closer by her shoulder, waving her phone in his other hand and causing her bag to crinkle in the crook of his elbow with the motion. He sighed whimsically, practically singing, "Goojooo Kagommmee," before beginning to hum the tune to here comes the bride.

Slowly craning her neck up so that she could focus her glare on him, she breathed, "I'm going to kill you. I just want you to know."

Satoru only laughed.

Note: did somebody say moooree~? Haha