InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Movie House Hanyou ❯ Wrongly Amused and Covered in Coke ( Chapter 11 )

Scrounging around in the shallow but wide drawer of his vintage wooden desk hutch, Inuyasha finally pulled out a pencil that did not look like it horribly needed to be sharpened and licked his lips as he opened his notebook and found the place about two thirds of the way in from the cover where he was planning to start with his writings.

He had picked up a strange habit several years ago when it came to writing in notebooks. He never started right at the beginning of the notebook. He always flipped a few pages in until he had someplace farther in where no one would be as likely to start filtering through should his notebook be "looked at" by others. The more important the information he was going to write about, the farther away from the front cover he started the writings.

He had a mental list of things that needed to make their way into this notebook. As he'd been working for Naraku for coming up on seven months, he had plenty to write about. Not all of it was stuff he had witnessed. While he and Zara had broken up long before Naraku became the GM, they still were somewhat close, so for a while he had attempted using her as an insider.

Unfortunately for them, though, the tired thirtysomething often seemed a bit secretive and uptight around anyone he hadn't personally seen hired, so the most he could ever get out of Zara was the emotional abuse she would often be put through. That, and she periodically would see some less than pleasant exchanges of words between Naraku and Allen Schultz. However, these things and what he had heard from others were just not enough. That's why he needed Kagome.

Inuyasha wrote down the date, May 19, 2003, at the top of the page for his entry and listed as many incidents as he could and when they happened, trying to go in-depth whenever possible.

He honestly could not understand why the projectionist, of all people, needed to have a user ID for the TIMSBoot database. What in the hell would she be using the system for, anyway? She had her own computer database system set up for movie showtimes and archives of the trailers she had in either scope or flat aspect ratios, listings of which films they could and/or should be placed on, and the program that helped her set up which films would be showing on which screens and when.

Nothing in the Total Information Management Systems actually pertained to booth-related controls, and Kanna was merely the head projectionist, not a manager of any sort, so it always bothered him that Naraku had gone out of his way to give the albino woman access to all the privy information that didn't concern her area of work in the first place.

"Always did think it was odd that she has a user ID in the PACER CATS system, so I might as well list it along with everything else," he mused to himself boredly. The oddity went down on his list. Soon it was joined by the robbery, the circumstances revolving around Allen Schultz, and everything he had told Kagome quite some time ago. Oh, and he couldn't forget the events of the night before.

A slight emptiness made itself known in his stomach, and he reached up for the plate of hash brownies that sat on the upper shelf of his desk hutch. He'd made them a few days ago but, as was typical, only now started eating any. He'd kept them in the fridge before this day. The irony of eating such a type of food in order to quell off hunger was softly lapping at his numbed brain, but all he did was smirk and laugh at himself. Dealing with the munchies later would prove quite amusing.

He leaned back in his chair, chewing and swallowing quickly, and stretched out his arms because they had gotten stiff from his cramped hand postures during the intense writing. At that moment, his cell phone rang, and he answered it quickly, detaching the clip from his belt, knowing it was much too early for Kagome to be calling him. The girl was probably only halfway through her classes for the day so far.

"Yo," he called into the mouthpiece with interest. He hadn't bothered to check the caller ID on his phone. He rarely did.

So, it was with half boredom and half surprise that he reacted to the excited and rambling voice on the other end.

"Inuyasha, Miroku and I are coming over. We've got plans for the upcoming party at my place, and--"

"Calm the fuck down, man. I'm busy right now, and even if you guys do come over, I can't have you hanging around for too long. I'm expecting a call later, in the afternoon."

"You're uptight about being around your buddies when getting a call?" There was a scoffing sound heard, and the voice continued, low and gravelly. "Potential fucktoy you don't want us to find out about?" the voice teased with obvious amusement.

Inuyasha stiffened before answering harshly, "She ain't no fucktoy, ya fuzzbutt, and Miroku already knows about her," finishing off his sentence with an annoyed growl. After calming himself, he continued. "Now, as long as you guys leave by 3, I'm all fine and dandy about ya comin' over for a few hours. Oh, and I made brownies."

He paused for a moment to gently use his left thumb's claw as a toothpick, listening to his friend's persistent jabbering. "By the way, bring some blank CDRs; I just got some imports of some really tight synthpop groups in the mail last week, and trust me, you'll want copies. I'll let you guys pick and choose which ones you want, and I'll have your copies burned for ya by tonight at Hard Mondays."

---

"You actually wear that thing in public now?!" Inuyasha cried out incredulously when he saw his friend Kouga walk through his doorway, Miroku in tow. "Oh my fucking goth, get the nailgun. I think I'd rather read badly written, angsty poetry and get my hand nailed to my forehead than be seen outdoors with you like that!" he continued on bitching dryly.

Kouga, however, marched right on and past him, ignoring the snide comments made about the particular piece of animal anatomy that hung limply from the back belt loop of his denim jeans, rolling his eyes and averting his gaze. He made a slight humph sound and silently walked over to the couch in the large main room, plopping himself down and acting like he practically lived there.

"Get off my back about the tail, okay? I feel more like myself when I wear it," Kouga pompously answered and turned his head at his two friends, busying his fingers with his long black ponytail for self-distraction. "Besides, Yura likes it."

"That's because Yura likes anything having to do with hair, or fur, or whatever," the hanyou retorted smugly.

Kouga narrowed his eyes at his hanyou friend.

He was used to the outrageous reactions he always received from Inuyasha concerning his little fetish. Miroku, being a sex store employee, merely brushed it off as something harmless and thankfully less creepy than those weirdos who had a thing for feet. But he surprisingly felt disappointed that Inuyasha, however, was greatly disturbed by the whole thing. He would have figured that for a guy who had been born with dog ears, he would be a little more understanding about the whole appeal with anthropomorphism. But no, Mr. Dog-Man always had to give him shit over the fact that yes, he, Kouga, liked to wear a wolf tail. What was the guy's problem with furries, anyway?

"Inuyasha," Miroku began as he pulled out some folded-up sheets of paper from his lightweight jacket, "these are what we're going to need. DJ [spacebar] has never done any stints that were based in someone's house other than Bankotsu's, so we need to make sure we get Kouga's new sound system installed quickly and then confirm that it will be compatible w/ his equipment."

The three males then proceeded to work on the plans, their relevant chat interspersed with the usual male banter that always went on. They had the date set for about two months in the future at that point in time. Coincidentally, it would be taking place on the exact 30th birthday of one of their other friends, while three others, Kouga included, would be celebrating their birthdays around the same time as well. To dumb things down, it was a collective birthday bash for all four of them, particularly for their female friend, as she would be turning 21.

Time passed by more quickly than they realized, and around 2:30 Inuyasha started bugging both Miroku and Kouga about leaving, also requesting them to take a look at his recent import arrivals and make their picks before they left on Kouga's motorcycle.

"We've still got two whole months to prepare this, guys," he verbally prodded them. "We can work on things another day. And remember, I still have stuff to do, and that's why I'm expecting that phone call. So, scram!"

Once both of them were finally gone, he sighed in relief and went back to working on his notebook entries. He'd lost about three hours' worth of work due to their visit, and he wanted to have more substance to share with Kagome when he eventually met up with her. Whenever that would be, of course. He scratched his head lightly and then massaged the bases of his ears before going back into the other room to continue writing at his desk, his stereo blasting Seabound.

He was in the middle of a sentence when his cell rang again.

"Kagome?" Again, he immediately answered the phone without even a glance at the display screen.

"Hey," the voice he had correctly identified before even hearing it spoke back to him.

The two coworkers made small talk before getting to the topic she had brought up the night before.

"Did you want to just meet up so I can show you my lists and stuff? It'd be easier," he casually asked, grunting slightly as he readjusted how he was sitting in his chair.

"Sure, but where?"

"Can you drive?"

"No."

"Where… do you live?" Hesitation had slightly accompanied that last question..

"Just across the river, north from work."

He grinned smugly. "You mean east."

"Huh?"

"Hennepin goes mostly east and slightly north in Downtown. Anyway, back to the point…." Inuyasha trailed off for a moment. "How far away from Downtown?"

"Really close. I'm maybe a block or two past the bridge."

His ears stood perked at attention, and his eyebrows went up as well. She lives that close to work? "Take Main Street until you reach the St. Anthony Main area. You'll know it when you see the street turn from normal pavement to cobblestone, and you're going to pass a Japanese restaurant called Kikugawa along the way. Keep going until you reach a small plaza with steps on the left side of the street just past the movie theater--"

"There's another movie theater around here?" Kagome's voice asked in surprise.

"Yep, and the Mississippi'll be on your right the entire time. Meet me by the steps in say," he temporarily removed the phone from along the side of his head to look at the time display on the screen, "half an hour?"

---

I'll know it when I see the street turn to cobblestone, Kagome thought to herself as she made her way toward the designated meet-up spot. Despite having lived in the area for a whole month and a half already, she still barely knew her way around anyplace except where she went on nearly a daily basis. The sidewalk below her feet remained normal, but the pavement of the street to her right just beyond the curb abruptly broke off and was soon replaced by cobblestones. It almost looked quaint and rural. Almost.

The scenery met her expectations of what she had been told she'd see, and the cool breeze that swept across from the expansive body of water far to her right made her wish she had brought a warmer jacket. Passing Kikugawa, she cursed the strange weather variations of the goddamn state she'd had to move to and wrapped her arms close to her chest. Wind whipped the front flap of her long green skirt between her legs, exposing her legs to any passers-by. Damn, why did I choose to wear something with such high side slits?

As the movie theater came into view, Kagome kept her gaze just beyond it so that she could watch for Inuyasha on the steps. However, she had been expecting to find him sitting on the steps themselves, not perched on the grassy area just across the cobblestone street from her, settled on the bank with his back toward her.

But that's where he was. Sitting there on the bank, the wind wreaking havoc on his hair, a black bandana securely wrapped around his head like that of a raver-hippy or a tired housewife, the silvery white locks trailing behind at almost a horizontal angle. A black Jack Skellington shoulder bag sat to his right. His shirt had a fishnet-like mesh backing, and she drew in a breath when she saw the light but firm sculpture of his back muscles, his shoulderblades poking out slightly.

Those very muscles she'd been admiring twisted slightly as their owner not only turned his head but also shifted his shoulders so that he was now looking back toward her over his left shoulder. Those eyes that captivated her so much peered straight back at her, and she almost didn't notice the very faint smile that grew upon his face.

The silence was broken when she heard him call her over, his pointed canines standing out as he grinned with mischief. Within moments they were seated side by side, and with practically a giggle he handed her a brand new notebook he'd bought just for her.

Inuyasha took Kagome item-by-item through his list, giving her extensive details on the various happenings. Halfway through his third page, he set his notebook off to the side and pulled out a Ziplock baggie of brownies from his shoulder bag.

"Want one?" he asked with seemingly unwarranted amusement in his voice as he opened the baggie and pulled out a brownie for her, a pressing smirk on his visage.

A slightly wary look made its way onto her face for a moment, but she smiled and thanked him as she took the proffered dessert piece and immediately bit off a large piece.

After the little brownie exchange, the two Pierce employees continued discussing the events and situations detailed in the elder's list. He gave her explicit instructions to always be alert and listen to what other employees might be saying, even if it was just hearsay. Anytime she saw something, or heard something, in the workplace that didn't seem quite right, she was to make intense mental notes and then keep a log of it when she got home from work.

"What happened last night," Kagome began with slight hesitation, feeling a bit apprehensive yet somehow simultaneously feeling a bit carefree for some reason she couldn't quite explain, "how…." she trailed off again.

Inuyasha turned his attention to the worried look on her face, looking at her intently.

"How would that compare to…." Kagome trailed off again, feeling very uncertain of how she should explain it. She wrung her hands several times, focusing her gaze on them before meeting his eyes again.

"I think you got off pretty easy, because you're new. I don't think he wants to scare you off too early. Like I told you," Inuyasha drawled out, a reassuring yet playful tone in his voice, "Naraku really likes you." His gaze fell to the white shirt she wore and the black two-word phrase that was printed directly above her bust… Pure Mischief. He paused, stared rudely, then drew his lips back in a drunk-looking smirk. "Hey."

"Nani?"

His eyes went back up to hers almost slyly. He could see her nipples through her shirt.

"You wanted to talk about 'us,' didn't you?"

Kagome tensed a slight bit from his bluntness but merely gripped tightly onto the edges of the notebook he had given her. "Hai," she managed to breathe out, a stupid grin finding its way onto her face somehow.

"Well, I think 'us' is hungry." Just the way he said that single sentence as he poked her in the middle of her tummy lightly made her giggle. And he was right. She didn't know about him, but suddenly, she was really, really hungry. "Kikugawa should be open by now. Sushi Time!"

Kagome was unable to answer right away because what he'd said had put her at clutching her stomach from laughing so hard. She honestly could not understand why it amused her so much. "Sure," she managed to chuckle out in between giggles. "Food. Now."

Soon he was already standing and pulling her to her feet, grabbing their notebooks and his shoulder bag in the process as well.

"And hey, that shirt better not be false advertisement, or I'll have to do some major work on that," he said smugly, turning back toward her as he practically dragged her by the wrist on their way to the restaurant.

---

Sango listlessly hung back away from the dance floor near the entrance to the DJ booth, watching some of her friends dance to "The Living and Their Stillborn" by Danielle Dax, tapping her foot to the almost jazzy swing beat but never veering away from the wall. It seemed that the DJ was in an alternagoth haze tonight. He'd already blasted plenty of 80s underground gems that would normally not be played except by real fans of the artists. He had even skipped over his usual industrial and synthpop palette and gone for the B-sides to the older ebm classics.

It was close to midnight by the time she noticed her silvery-haired friend stride through the entry door of The Saloon after flashing his ID and make his way toward the bar for a drink. She hurriedly made her way along the back wall until she came to the bar area and squeegeed between several people until she found herself standing right next to the tired looking friend she knew desperately needed a drink.

"Hey," she softly said as she tapped him on the shoulder. He couldn't really hear her from the loud music despite his excellent hearing, but he turned toward her at the touch of her hand and positively acknowledged her presence.

After a short grunt and an eyebrow cock, he asked, "Seen Miroku or Kouga? I got stuff for 'em," his clawed hand already reaching for the weeping glass of his Long Island Iced Tea that the bartender had just set down on the clean counter.

"Yeah, they're out on the patio! C'mon," she told him, happy to get out of the main room. It was stuffy in there.

Once out in the patio, drink in hand, Inuyasha sat down on a bench next to his buddies, Sango at his other side, and handed them their bootleg import discs from out of his bag without a word.

The four friends relaxed and chatted idly while watching the nighttime sky and the slightly less dark clouds that passed overhead beyond the canvas vestibule that stretched above their heads. It was a very peaceful night.

The loudest and most throbbing notes of "Sister Night" by Wreckage began to float through the air, reaching the ears of half the people in the patio. Kouga stood up and readjusted his clothing before grinning and turning to his chat companions.

"I'll be over in the dance room if you need me. 'Bout time the DJ put on something a lil harder and actually composed in the last five years." He handed his CDRs to Miroku. "Hold my shit, please."

Before Miroku could protest, the baggie of discs was already in his lap, and Kouga jetted into the inner area of The Saloon, wordlessly followed by Inuyasha, who had handed his bag to Miroku as well. The two remaining friends stayed where they were on the bench, though they scooted closer together for ease in chatting.

After a long while, they both found themselves stretched for topics.

"So, uh, Sango, how about we go girl-watching sometime?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she smacked his face very hard without even an explanation for her annoyance.

---

"Naraku, someone from Charles Schwab is on line one for you," a male voice announced over the speakerphone so that the message would be relayed to anyone near an extension. Fortunately, Naraku himself was already seated at his desk and within an arm's reach of the phone extension in the GMO. Right away the receiver was by his face, and he took the call.

"Naraku speaking."

A mild smile crept onto his face as he listened to the woman on the other line make a request for an auditorium rental. A Thursday in the late morning and early afternoon, specifically a week from the current date. It was for a promotional seminar, an employee workshop. They wanted a five hour time slot and a speaker podium set up with a microphone.

His eyes glistened as he charismatically explained the going rates for rentals to the Schwab representative.

"We'll need enough seating for about four hundred people."

"Well then, miss, we have only two auditoria large enough for you, and the hourly rental charge for that would be about $750, bringing the total to about," he paused to determine the figure on his calculator, "$3750. As soon as I get the credit card number, expiration date, and the name which appears on the card, I can get this rung through, and Screen 1 will be yours from 10am to 3pm on Thursday, May 29. Sound good, or are there any reconsiderations to take into account?"

Naraku merrily tapped his pen against his forehead with his free hand before scrambling to write down the information. He finished off the phone call and then went back to his Thursday paperwork. When he had the chance later on that night, he would have Kagura run the card for the charge.

The charge, however, would not be made to Pierce Theaters LP, but to Naraku Vault, care of Pierce Theaters LP. He and Kagura had worked out a process that would allow them to directly receive the funds acquired from rentals with only themselves as having access.

It would work as long as the renters were not some big celebrity asking for a private screening of this or that movie, like when Jerry Seinfeld had come back in October for a private screening of his own movie, a large group of personal friends being his audience. Someone that well known doing an auditorium rental would have to be recorded in weekly paperwork to the corporate office, or there might be suspicion should Corporate receive wind of said celebrities' visit. But a measly group of business executives who just wanted workshop space? It would be easy to pass it under Mr. Pierce's nose.

This new little addition to his savings account would be more than enough to pay for his next trip to Chicago, he thought to himself with appreciation. That, and the time was coming up for the monthly "surprise bonus" that he always gave to Corporal Stenton so that his and Kagura's activities, should they ever be noticed, be overlooked.

---

Kagome swiped her time card, a few minutes early for her 5pm shift. She was ecstatic; school was almost over, and soon she would be able to work more shifts. Getting more daytime shifts would especially be nice, she thought to herself with a grin. Working evenings was okay, but the long walk home, despite only being about half an hour, was beginning to bother her.

Minneapolis, while being a lot better at late nighttime than Chicago could ever be during the brightest of days, was definitely not comparable to the safety of Tokyo streets at their worst. Things just didn't happen to lone walkers at midnight, or anytime past then, in the streets of the most heavily populated city in Japan. However, on occasion, things did happen to lone walkers at midnight in Minneapolis. She read about them in newspapers.

Bringing her thoughts out of her personal insecurities for a moment, she made her way, fully dressed in work uniform, toward the concession stand. Almost immediately her supervisor Inuyasha motioned for her to follow him into the back prep room, stating that he needed help with putting some of the new inventory away and getting things stocked up for the upcoming 7:00 rush.

"We're getting Finding Nemo tomorrow, so it's a good thing we got such a large order of stock today," he told her as they passed the pallet with the 50lb bags of seed.

He led her to the racks along the wall that held boxes upon boxes of bagged pop syrup hooked up to a frustrating circuitry system of transparent hoses and nozzles. "We've got a lot of pop bags to change. You're the only one free who can help me do this right now."

Kagome looked at the nozzles that attached the hose tubings to the protruding spout like openings of the pop bags and grimaced slightly in distaste. Some of the nozzles were covered in congealed and dry but still potentially sticky pop syrup. Hell, the crap was bespattered in droplets and drizzling drips on the linoleum floor, the heavy-duty cardboard boxes that held the bloated bags of syrup, and the tubing as well. It was, simply put, revolting.

However, she didn't have much choice.

She helped Inuyasha figure out how many needed to be changed, which was quite a lot, and then found the appropriate syrup boxes from among the haphazard, random arrangement of them on the stock pallet that had been plopped alongside the wall. It was easier to take from the pallet first because it would mean fewer boxes to put on the shelves on the side of that narrow part of the prep room opposite from the currently-in-use racks of pop syrup after they were done changing pops.

"And you can't peel open the spout openings of these boxes yourself why, again?" Kagome halfheartedly complained.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed in a "duh" manner as he pointed to the black print on the cardboard that clearly read for one to press one's thumb firmly into the spot marked 'A' and to not use sharp instruments due to the nature of the box's contents. He didn't even have to read aloud the directions to her.

"Fine. But do I have to carry them myself? I can barely carry those damn bags of seed, 'Yash," was her next retort.

"These boxes are not as heavy, Kag. It's nothing to bitch and moan about. Besides," he drawled out smugly, "these boxes have grip handles." He affectionately patted a box of Mello Yellow and then drummed his pointy fingernails rapidly on the cardboard surface in a steady rhythm.

Kagome sighed and went to work on pulling all the completely drained syrup bags all but completely out of their respective cardboard containers to mark which ones needed changing, leaving them hanging from the tubing by the nozzles. While her back was turned he rotated his cap so that the bill was facing backwards; he preferred to wear it that way when he was lifting and carrying heavy boxes. Then she, with her supervisor's assistance in lifting if she had trouble raising the damn boxes high enough, put the fresh boxed bags of syrup onto the shelves in the newly emptied spots. Eventually she was done switching the hose nozzles from the old, dried out bags to the new, fresh ones, except for one.

The bag was not actually empty, but quite full. More than full. It was heavily bloated and dangerously filled with gases, most likely CO2 from the pressurized cylinders that were connected to the pop lines. And it was not boxed.

She had no idea what it was, actually. Just that it was either Coke or Diet Coke.

It just sat on the rack, puffy and not wanting to deflate anytime soon.

"What are we going to do about this pop bag?" she asked him.

"Well, it's like that, first of all, because it's not on the same rack level as the other syrup bag that's attached to that line," he explained as he showed her that the bloated bag and a more normal, boxed bag on a higher shelf of the rack were both hooked up to the same line. "Only the Cokes and Diet Cokes have 2 bags hooked up to each line. Due to gravity, the syrup will get backwashed from the more highly elevated bag into the lower bag , and gas'll get in there as well, and it kinda creates a problem. We should probably just dump the bag."

Okay," she answered as she twisted the nozzle off and began jabbing around the edges of the syrup bag with her fingertips, attempting to dislodge the bag from where it was currently stuck. The sickeningly dark fluid inside the bag sloshed around due to her ministrations.

"Well, can you actually get that thing out by yourself?" he asked dryly, his eyebrow cocked.

"You can help me, remember?"

Inuyasha waggled his left hand's fingers in the air several times in illustration as he promptly told her, "These are sharper than they look, girl."

"Fine, then. I'll do it by myself." Her back was now turned as she went back to work on the bloated syrup bag and now had it dislodged from the spot where it had been resting and slightly stuck.

"My butt you can."

Without looking at him, she narrowed her eyes and sighed. "My, you certainly have a lot of faith in me."

"You're the one who complained about lifting those boxes, not me." He crossed his arms and leaned against a pop rack farther down.

By now, she had the bag in a firm grasp in her arms, though since it was an amazingly heavy and cumbersome item she wasn't sure how long her grip would hold. Inuyasha watched with uncertainty as she inched her way toward the large grey dumpster bin along the wall just back of the pallet.

When she was about halfway to the dumpster bin, the bag hugged only semi-securely to her chest, she felt her arms weaken, and Inuyasha cussed and quickly moved toward her to help her with the burden.

Unfortunately for him, he had been perfectly right about his claws being sharp, and the tip of one poked through the bag, causing the somewhat pressurized contents to explode loudly.

Coke syrup landed nearly everywhere within spraying distance, leaving both Pierce employees more than delicately soaked in syrup and quite disgruntled. Both of them froze in place with their surprised expressions fading slowly into ones of highly elevated annoyance. The floor was heavily coated with the thin, watery, yet sticky fluid.

They looked at each other, not too pleased with the results of what had just occurred. Neither spoke right away.

Kagome lightly bit her upper lip and groaned.

"Damnit," Inuyasha finally uttered, taking one of his hands up toward his face to wipe off the sticky Coke syrup that had surprisingly splashed on his cheek.

"Well, this is going to be interesting, I guess," she replied hesitantly.

Inuyasha stared at her, the front of his uniform heavily darkened and more formfitting than ever against his figure, until he broke into a smirk and giggled a little. He was still holding the now deflated syrup bag, which he now tossed off to the side like a dirty towel or used Kleenex.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Kagome promptly asked him what was so funny, then glanced down at the sticky mess they were currently standing in. Man, it's gonna take forever to mop all of this up!

Still snickering and closing his eyes for a moment, Inuyasha stepped a bit closer and grabbed her face by the chin, turning it firmly to the side so he could get a better look at her left cheek. "You look absolutely like shit, Kagome." He smirked. "That's what's so funny." And with that last comment, he drew his face closer to hers and cocked his head to the side ever so slightly. What he ended up doing was a complete shock to her.

Inuyasha licked the Coke syrup off her cheek, bit by bit. The intimate contact made her react with widened eyes, heightened acknowledgement of what he was doing, and a sucked in breath.

"You taste like Coke," he managed to murmur in between cheek licks.

Kagome's head swam with a myriad of thoughts, but the predominant ones caused her to stiffen her posture and reach forward to grab at his Coke-soaked shirt-front. As the licks went on, they progressed farther downward to her jaw line and then to her neck, his tongue cleaning the sweet mess from her skin.

The sensation of his tongue against her skin, most especially her neck, coupled with his breathing that slowly became more labored, she felt her eyelids close in weakness as her blood throbbed and her heart raced. The licks became full-lipped kisses upon her throat, and his nose slightly rubbed into her neck as he licked at the Coke syrup-splattered skin over and over again.

Oh, God, he has no idea what this is doing to me, she thought as her hands trembled as they tried to find a better way to grip onto him. I swear, I can't believe this is actually turning me on. "Inu-Inuyasha," she softly muttered, her mouth slightly open even after uttering his name.

Inuyasha unconsciously removed his hand away from her face and gravitated both palms downward until they rested just above her hips. Only when he heard his name in such a breathy voice did he realize just what exactly had taken ahold of his usual self control. His eyes opened suddenly, and he took a sudden intake of air.

The cheek licking had only supposed to have been a joke done for his own amusement, but somehow it had progressed into a full-blown lavishing of her neck and throat. And in his current state of mind, he only wanted more. He could smell the change in her scent, what his neck worship was doing to her, and in that moment in time, he had no cares or worries about the potential circumstances of the current situation.

He just wanted to be drunk on her taste and scent.

"Ka-" he tried to answer her but cut himself off. Her responsiveness was making him respond as well. The girl he held in his arms stepped closer and tipped her head down as she breathed heavily, closing her eyes when she found her lips meet his. He gripped her more tightly and fought to hold back on his urges, their shirts melding together from the damn stickiness of the Coke syrup.

Breathing through her nose, Kagome kissed him as firmly and vehemently as he kissed her back, their lips making light sounds whenever an opening between the two mouths occurred in between kisses. She moaned softly into his mouth when she found him pressing her hips firmly against his with his hand, her tongue feeling more than overwhelmed and sensitive.

Firmly taking his lower lip between her teeth, she nibbled and pulled before letting go and sweeping her tongue back inside his mouth to take in his taste, which was a strange offshoot of its normalcy as it was slightly tinged with Coke. Both of them were passionately enjoying each other.

Shit! What the fuck am I doing?!

Finally gaining control over himself, Inuyasha came to his senses and realized the gravity of his actions. Reacting fast and hoping his actions to come would not be too devastating for her, he forced themselves to face the other way, repositioned his hands and forcefully rammed her straight into the pop racks, much to her displeasure.

"Wha--" She landed hard against the metal beam of the rack. "Ack, damnit!"

"Quiet, we can't be doing this!" he harshly ordered in a low but urgent whisper of a voice. He looked at her with a slight pain showing in his eyes, desperately trying to calm himself down but instead looking quite furious. "Iyashii yuuwaku da!" came from his lips in a snarl.

Before she knew it, he had grabbed her wrists with one and pulled them together above her head with his right hand, yanking her so that her side faced him and she was now bent over forward, her belly just above the knee he had stuck out, the toes of his foot on tiptoe. She struggled but couldn't release her hands from his grip.

"What are you doing?!" she begged him, turning her head to look at him. His other hand was currently on her back, pressing firmly downward to keep her bent over.

What she didn't expect for an answer was a firm swat on the bottom. However, that's the answer she got.

"Don't!"

His left hand connected with her rump cheek harshly, and she reacted in great surprise from the sting. She was speechless.

"Ever!"

The connection was made again, and as much as he hated to enjoy punishing her for what had occurred, it was inevitable. She had to learn just how careful they both needed to be. He couldn't afford a slip-up, especially where they could be discovered so easily.

"Do that!"

Another swat stung and warmed her butt through her pants.

"Again!"

His hand came down upon her ass for a fourth time.

"Damnit!"

And once he had spanked her for the fifth time, he allowed the impact to settle before releasing her from his grip. Turning quickly away from her as she righted herself and stared at him in disbelief over what had just transpired, he crossed his arms and scowled as he looked downward at the mokkori that that now tented outward, sighing in frustration.

Both of them were covered in now dry yet still sticky, heavily concentrated Coke syrup, and not only was the disgustingly sweet smell getting a little too strong for his liking, but both of them still had several hours left for their shifts.

Lifting his eyes upward and staring in front of himself at nothing in particular, he sighed again and listened for his coworker's reaction. I want her so much, but this went too far. Shit. Hearing just the shift of her position and clothing, and some slightly heavy breathing, he turned back around to look at her.

Kagome had barely moved from her spot after she had been released, and a look of confusion and being lost was apparent in her eyes and on the rest of her face. She was still very startled. Her blood was still racing.

"Inuyasha, I-" But he cut her off, his expression serious yet somewhat consoling.

"Kagome, don't misread my actions. I like you very much. But if you con--" He backed tracked his words and took a breath, pointing at her almost accusingly. "I mean, if we continue being reckless, something could happen. I already said I could wait, and so did you, so-"

Underneath his back-turned cap, his ears caught the sound of a hand jostling with the handles of the door that led to the prep room, and he immediately stopped talking on the subject and turned his head far to the left to pay closer attention to whoever might be coming around the corner and down the hall of the prep room toward them. Kagome gazed that way as well.

Soon enough, FatGirl came into view from behind the icemaker, and she stopped in place, stunned at the sight before her. Inuyasha cleared his throat hastily.

"Stop gawking and go get a couple mops, will ya? Minor accident, but as soon as Kagome and I go clean ourselves off using the spray hoses in the janitors' closets, we'll be out to help clean this mess up," he authoritatively explained to his pregnant employee.

"Y-yes, Inuyasha," FatGirl answered. "I just need the jalapenos, but I think I'll go around the other way for them, and then I'll get the mops and bring them back here for you." With that, she was going back from where she had come, not wanting to wade through the thick mess that swamped the majority of the floor of the prep room.

Once she was gone, Kagome turned back toward her supervisor. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry." Her voice was somber.

Softening his expression, he responded, "I know."

"You know…" she trailed off.

"What?"

There was an awkward silence.

"I wouldn't really call that spanking a punishment. I kinda liked it." Her voice held a hint, though the barest, of mischief.

"I know, Kagome. I know." And finally, he was able to smile at her again.

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A/N: reviews make me happy :)

btw, please check out this fanart that Tammy made:
http : // www . deviantart . com / deviation / 7714281
http : // www . deviantart . com / deviation / 7783493

Japanese vocab-
Iyashii yuuwaku da - vile temptation!
Mokkori - the "tent" formed by an erection in one's pants or beneath bedsheets