InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blossoms ❯ Bustling Hearts & Hard Goodbyes ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: I'm bad, I know. Practically a year and here I am once again writing. I'm pretty sure it's out of boredom and the lack of anything else to do, but I almost sorta miss writing. So, I hope I haven't lost the talent. Enjoy

 

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Blossoms

 

Chapter 4

 

Bustling Hearts & Hard Goodbyes

 

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“I swear to you! It had a 3, I know it had at least one 3. Or was it two 3's? Fuck! Why didn't I write down her number?”

 

“I thought you were an elephant,” Inuyasha quipped with a laugh. Miroku spun on his heel from passing the floorboards of his kitchen in the loft he shared with Inuyasha in downtown Tokyo.

 

“This is so not the time for your smartass replies, Inuyasha. This is tragic! It's been two days already! What if she thinks I'm standing her up? What if I can't remember her number? It's 3975, no, or was it 3973? Ah…I hate my life!”

 

“Well, it's your own god damned fault for being a stupid idiot and not writing down the number. I'm an elephant, you dumb fuck! You couldn't have written it down anyway?”

 

Miroku began to bang his forehead against the cupboard, “I hate my life…” he groaned.

 

“Stop, whining,” Inuyasha grumbled, opening up the kitchen door and scuffling through the items looking for the container of apple juice. He pulled out the milk, orange juice, butter and a head of lettuce and growled when he saw that his apple juice wasn't in the fridge in the back right corner where he normally “hid” it.

 

“Oy, where's my juice?”

 

“You just put orange juice on the counter.”

 

“No! I mean my apple juice! It was here this morning but now it's gone, what is this? Did you drink it? If you drank it…” Inuyasha glowered at Miroku and clenched his fist in anger. “Did you drink it?”

 

“No! I didn't drink your damn juice!” Miroku yelled back in frustration after doodling some numbers on the corner of the calendar hanging on the wall.

 

“Well, if I didn't drink it, and you didn't drink it, it probably just picked itself up and walked its apple juice container ass out of the fridge, then huh?”

 

“Calm down, Inuyasha. I've never understood this obsessive compulsiveness between you and you're apple juice. You're a twenty-three year old man; shouldn't you be drinking manlier things than apple juice?”

 

“Fuck you,” Inuyasha said slamming the fridge closed. “You know it's a touchy subject!”

 

“It's APPLE JUICE!” Miroku shouted with his hands in the air. “And, you're so fucking stupid! It's right behind you on the counter, learn to open you're eyes will you, Inuyasha? Lord, you're so angry all the time!”

 

Inuyasha turned around and saw the apple juice container on the counter. He rushed over to it, picked it up and took a big swig of it. “Fuuuuck! I hate warm apple juice. It freaks me out, it's like drinking piss.”

 

“Yum…” Miroku said sarcastically, staring at three phone numbers that he had scribbled across the calendar. “So, why haven't you called that lovely young lady friend of yours yet? I thought you were supposed to take her out for desert? Unless you want to give up and claim me the victorious winner of all time?”

 

“Yeah, fuck that,” Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes and putting the apple juice back in the fridge, along with all the other items that he had left sitting on the island of the kitchen. “I'll call her when I wanna call her. And I will call her! There's no way I'll lose to a douchefag like you!”

 

“Ooh, douchefag, that's a new one. Did you just come up with that now?” quipped Miroku. Inuyasha punched him in the arm as he walked by him and out of the kitchen.

 

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“Don't you think it's a little bit of a waste that you went to five years in an enriched program at a prestigious culinary school and now you're settling for being a waitress? It just seems a waste to me, Kagome. After all that money we spent, and how hard you worked, it just seems that you're letting your talents go to waste…”

 

“Ma! Enough! I told you, this is a four star restaurant! They won't just hire anybody! Besides, when I sent in my resume I explained my background education, Sakura knew I had exquisite training to be a Sous Chef. She knows this! But I'm starting off small, and then I'll try to get a place in the kitchen. She told me they just hired two knew chefs not too long ago anyway. There's no place for me in the kitchen yet.”

 

“Then can't you find another place to work?”

 

Kagome ran a frustrated hand through her hair and switched the phone to her other ear where she could hold it up with her shoulder so she could finish ironing her apron, considering she had to work in forty-five minutes. “No, Ma! I want to work there!” Kagome stopped ironing and put a hand on her hip, “The pay is good, Sakura is wonderful, the restaurant ambiance is completely gorgeous!”

 

“Oh crap! Kagome, my water just boiled over, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, ok?”

 

“Sure, Ma. Bye.”

 

Kagome hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh and tossed the phone onto the top of the laundry bin that was full of her clothes on the floor beside her. Mama doesn't know or understand anything! I went to the school she wanted. I took the programs she wanted. I even dropped out of high school so I could go take the program SHE wanted! Kagome once again let out a frustrated sigh and finished ironing the hem of the white apron. She held it up against herself and looked at herself in the full length mirror just in front of her.

 

“I will do good tonight. I will do good tonight. I will do good tonight! Come on, Kagome, you can do this,” she told herself as she grabbed the hamper and walked into her bedroom in her small apartment on the lower side of downtown Tokyo. “Just do what Mama says. Think positive. Don't have negative energy. You think bad things, bad things happen. You think bad things, bad things happen. I had a good first night the other night! I can have a good second shift! Don't be negative!” …maybe that's why Inuyasha didn't call me…

 

“Idiot!” Kagome said berating herself, dropping her hamper on her bed and scratching the ear of her pet cat, Buyo. “Don't think like that.” She stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. “Well, maybe it just seemed too perfect. I mean, a completely gorgeous guy asks me out just like that? How often does that happen to me? And he was so totally cute. Oh my gosh, was he hot! Those eyes! And that hair. I have never seen such an attractive man. And the way he looked at me…O Gods, could I have melted right then and there!” She shut her eyes and she could just see those amber eyes in her mind, even after two days of not seeing him.

 

“Maybe he'll be there tonight?” She wondered aloud.

 

No! No, I will not get involved with a co-worker…that only ever brings about trouble.

 

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“You work too hard, Sango. You should really tone it down. Six days a week, my dear, you work too much. Wouldn't you like lesser hours? You practically live her.”

 

Sango fidgeted in the seat in Sakura's office behind the kitchen in the back of the restaurant. “Well, you see, Ma'am, the thing is. I really need the money, and it's no trouble to work this much at all.”

 

“I'm just afraid that you are over-working yourself, Sango. I don't want you to strain yourself too much…”

 

“Nonsense,” Sango said with a smile, “I'm fine. Honest. I enjoy work, I really do. It's a gorgeous place and people are generally nice, even though I mainly stick to myself. But regardless.”

 

Sakura smiled and leaned forward in her chair, “I just want all my employees to be happy here, and if you are happy working thirty-seven hours a week, then by all means, I won't keep you. But,” Sakura said, taking the smile off her face, “I won't allow you to over-exert yourself, so once a month I will be giving you a week off, no ifs, ands, or buts. You understand me? You apply too much of yourself here, and I'm sure you have a life that you need to tend to.”

 

Sango frowned at this fact but understood and nodded, “Thank you Ms. Kotsu,” she stood up and touched Sakura's hand appreciatively, “thank you for understanding.”

 

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“I'm telling you, it has to be the one that ends in 3! The other ones just don't seem to fit!”

 

“Can't we talk about something besides this? Order up! I'm fucking tired of hearing you moan about Sango-this and Sango-that.”

 

“But, Inuyasha!” Miroku argued, looking for the salt to add to his boiling water, “How can I stop thinking about her? A) She's completely gorgeous, B) her ass is freaking the hottest piece of woman-ass I have ever seen in my life, and C) how can I win this bet if I can't get a hold of her!”

 

“Women issues, Miroku? It's a pity you losers can't get the kinds of women I get,” Kouga bragged walking into the kitchen with his usual strut and high, arrogant brow and smirk. He grabbed several plates and peered over at Inuyasha and Miroku.

 

“I'm not into your kinda women, Kouga,” Inuyasha said with a sarcastic flare, “I like them not fresh-outta-the-grave.” Miroku laughed and this and whispered, necrophilia, under his breath.

 

“You're a fucking douche, Inuyasha. Just jealous that you can't get the fine pieces of ass that I can. I bet you haven't even had a good fucking in God knows how long. Eh, Inuyasha? Missing that pussy huh? Starving, Inuyasha? Starving for pussy?”

 

“Women aren't just sex possessions that men can use for their own convenience!”

 

Kouga turned around and stared into the brown eyes hidden under low bangs and furrowed eyebrows.

 

“You should know better. I've heard about you. Apparently you're Kouga, the best waiter here, but you don't impress me one bit.”

 

Kouga opened his eyes wide and looked this fiery and full of spirit girl up and down. She's gorgeous! He thought. “My apologies, miss. I didn't mean to offend. I was just joking around with Inuyasha, over here.”

 

Inuyasha looked up and glared at Kouga, “Fuck off, Kouga,” he shouted.

 

But when he looked up, he hadn't expected to have seen Kagome standing there. Or was that Kikyo? No, that was definitely Kagome, her hairstyle was similar and they had the general same face shape, but Inuyasha could tell from that pissed-off look on her face that this was Kagome. There was no way he could forget how cute it was when her cheeks flushed from frustration.

 

“Kagome,” Inuyasha said, louder than he had expected to, considering she looked over at him and offered him a brief smile. She mouthed `hello' back to him, turned and looked at Kouga one more time, grabbed the tray of utensils that she came back there to get, and left the kitchen.

 

“You know her!?!” Kouga shouted, staring at her behind as she walked away, thinking vulgar thoughts about how he could see that ass being put to better use.

 

“Damn straight I know her,” Inuyasha said proudly.

 

“He's sorta dating her!” Miroku chirped in. Finally catching in on the conversation after finishing three dishes of scallop linguini in a rosé sauce.

 

“Dating her? A girl like that and a faggot like Inuyasha?? You gotta be kidding me!” he shouted.

 

“Dating??” Inuyasha hissed under his breath at Miroku.

 

“Well, if you wanna win this bet you will be dating her.”

 

Inuyasha just rolled his eyes.

 

“Huh…” Kouga said, grabbed the dishes of pasta that Miroku just finished and turning to leave, “What the fuck does she see in you?”

 

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“And I never want anything like this to happen again! I am being more than lenient with you, Inuyasha, do you understand me?”

 

After Kouga's comment, Inuyasha had snapped and jumped on him overtop the kitchen counter. There was a huge brawl in which Sakura had come across on and had sent Kouga home early and told Inuyasha to finish his shift and come to her office directly afterward.

 

“Yes, ma'am,” Inuyasha said with his head low and his ego bruised. I could have taken that asshole without her interrupting.

 

“If this happens again, which it better not, you can consider yourself fired faster than you can say pasta puttanesca!

 

“Why would I say that?” Inuyasha said with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Good night, Inuyasha!” she snipped, and Inuyasha scurried himself out of that office as if he was a dog with his tail between his legs.

 

Miroku was waiting for Inuyasha outside of the swinging kitchen doors. “How'd it go?”

 

“Fucking terrible…” Inuyasha growled, “she basically told me that if I do that again, I'm fired, and if I lose this job there's no way we can pay for the loft and then no way I can save up for the down payment on my bike.”

 

“Then, don't fight then!”

 

“Dumbass! Ever since I was a kid I've been fighting. And Kouga's the biggest dumbfuck I've ever met and it's hard not to impale his ass every time he walks into my kitchen.”

 

“Well…you could try to ignore him…”

 

Inuyasha spun around and saw Kagome standing there with an armful of menus that she was bringing to the front desk to leave for Shippou to collect.

 

“Do you always butt into other people's conversations? Kinda rude, don't ya think?”

 

Kagome frowned, “I didn't mean anything by it! And it's kinda rude to say you're gonna call a girl and then you never do!”

 

Kagome spun on her heel and climbed up the stairs to bring the menus to the main desk on the top floor, rather than the front desk on the lower level where Shippou was expecting her to bring them to.

 

“I told you, you should have called her! Now you lose the bet, and I win…Hm, I still want Sango's number though…”

 

“I thought I gave it to you…”

 

Miroku turned his head and saw Sango holding up a dish bin against her hip while she wiped down the table closest to them.

 

“Oh, my dearest Sango! You see, I cannot seem to remember what the last numbers of your phone number is. Silly me…”

 

“Hm,” she said with an uninterested, unsurprised kind of look on her face. So she took out a pen and wrote out her number and gave it to him and he smiled and her profoundly and thanked her.

 

“If you lose it this time, I won't be giving it to you again. And don't expect me to be waiting around the phone for you to call me. I have a life you know.”

 

“I'm sure you do, my plum. And the night you can join me out will be a treasured one indeed.”

 

Sango just shook her head with a roll of her eyes and walked away.

 

“I got her number,” Miroku said in a sing-song voice. However, Inuyasha didn't even seem to notice for he was too busy watching Kagome at the top of the stairs. Just when Miroku had begun to talk to Sango, Kagome was walking up the stairs, tripped, and dropped the menus all over the floor. And as she was still picking them up, Inuyasha watched her intently.

 

“You know…” Miroku said. “It's never too late to apologize…”

 

Inuyasha just looked at him, looked down at his feet, and begin to ascend the stairs taking them two at a time.

 

“Oh, sorry sir, I'll get out of your way in just a sec - Oh, it's you…” Kagome said as she finished picking up the menus and moved out of the way, realizing it was Inuyasha standing behind her on the second last step before being on the top landing.

 

“I saw you trip.”

 

“And it is so unlike you to come and over to help a girl when she falls over, and if she drops something.”

 

“Well, sooorrryyy…” Inuyasha said with a roll of his eyes.

 

“There's no point,” she said in a sigh under her breath.

 

“Huh? No point in what?”

 

“Oh!” Kagome looked up at him after putting the menus on the desk and leaning against it. “Nothing. Never mind.”

 

Inuyasha walked over to the desk and leaned on it beside her. He noticed the floral scent that instantly sprang into his nostrils: jasmine, vanilla, and lavender. Nothing in his life had ever smelt so appetising.

 

“Why do you always get mad at me? I mean, I barely even know you.”

 

“Huh?” They had been standing in silence for a couple minutes that Kagome talking took Inuyasha by surprise.

 

“No, like. I barely know you, so don't think I really care or something. But it's just like, you get angry at the most stupid things, and I don't even really know why. You have this huge attitude thing that goes beyond me. And you didn't call and I have no idea why you kept me waiting when you said you were going to call, and oh, damnit, I'm rambling again and I'm just going to shut up now.”

 

Kagome's cheeks were so pink from her getting so flustered and beginning to get so worked up and talking so fast and Inuyasha was just staring at her wondering why and what she was getting so worked up about in the first place.

 

“It's…it's ok, Kagome,” fumbled Inuyasha, not knowing whether to pat her on the shoulder for comfort or what.

 

“Wow, I'm so embarrassed right now. Sorry, Inuyasha.”

 

Kagome was about to leave when Inuyasha grabbed her hand and Kagome froze. She looked back at him and held her other hand to her chest, feeling her heart begin to quicken, as her cheeks began to flush.

 

“What're you doing?” she whispered under her breath.

 

“You don't have to leave because you're embarrassed, dummy,” Inuyasha said gently. “I didn't call because I didn't think it was that important to you.”

 

“It's not! I mean, well I didn't really think about it…”

 

“It's fine,” he said. “I'm sorry I didn't call though. But since you're here now, would you like to go out with me tomorrow night? Dinner, maybe?”

 

Kagome blushed heavily noticing that Inuyasha was still holding onto her wrist, “Dinner would be nice…”

 

“Great,” he said. His eyes widened and his heart quickened a little when he realized he was still holding onto her wrist, and he slowly let go.

 

“Well, I'm going. I'll see you tomorrow around 7 o'clock ok? Meet me here.”

 

“Sure,” she said.

 

“Well…bye,” Inuyasha said as he began to walk down the steps towards the front exit.

 

Kagome watched him walk away and for just knowing him not even a week, it seemed so hard and so impossible for her to at that very moment, just open her mouth and say good-bye.

 

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A/N: So I hope this was enough to make up for lack of time spent on writing haha. I really liked it though. I hope you all who read this do too. All comments and reviews are very appreciated Thanx!