InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Phony Digits ❯ The Tail Wagging the Dog ( Chapter 11 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I have nothing.

Chapter Eleven: The Tail Wagging the Dog

The Kikyo look-alike lifted her hand and tentatively waved her fingers at InuYasha. His eyes did a quick scan of her body. She was wearing a grey sweater and black jeans. His heart plummeted to his stomach. Oh no... No. No. No. No. No...

This was Kagome? Was the universe playing some cruel joke on him?

When he imagined how this meeting would unfold, he thought that he had played out every possible scenario in his mind; but not once had he entertained the idea that she could be his ex-girlfriend's perfect doppelganger. What were the chances? One in a million? One in ten million? No. The likelihood was far less than that. He deduced that this was more than likely the first time any such thing had ever happened since the beginning of time. The odds were incalculable.

It couldn't be a good sign...

He lifted a hand and waved back, slowly beginning to make his way toward her table. He only hoped his thoughts weren't showing on his face.

"InuYasha?" she asked as she stood from her chair.

He thought about saying no, telling her she must be mistaken and high-tailing it out of there without looking back.

But she looked so happy...and he wanted her to be happy. He nodded.

"Um...hi." she said smiling.

"Hi." he greeted back, hesitantly returning her smile.

Now that he was seeing her up close, he could see a few more subtle differences. Her eyes were different from Kikyo's. They were bigger and brighter. She was also shorter, and her build was slightly smaller, softer, more feminine... She was a little younger too, and now that he was close enough to smell it, her scent was entirely different. Kikyo's scent was like a clear autumn morning; like a light frost on freshly fallen leaves. Kagome scent was like and orange grove in springtime; straight rows and white blossoms, and the steady droning hum of a million honey bees...

But she looked so much like Kikyo it was unnerving.

"It's good to finally meet you." Kagome said as she tip-toed up to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a friendly hug which he returned with a pat on the back.

"Uh, yeah, same…" InuYasha said awkwardly, mentally kicking himself all the while.

The first thought that entered Kagome's mind when she spotted InuYasha from across the room was 'God, I hope that's him'. He was handsome, and he was obviously hanyou, judging by furry white canine ears that sat atop his head...and he was looking right at her…

She lifted a hand and waved at him; he waved back and started toward her. When he arrived at her table she greeted him with a hug. She momentarily worried that it might be too forward of her, but her fears were relieved when she felt his arms wrapping around her in return. Her heart felt like it skipped a beat and her stomach filled with butterflies. She hadn't had that feeling before. It felt silly. Maybe it was what love at first sight felt like. She had never really believed in such a thing before, but this situation was somewhat different. She already knew him before seeing him, so it seemed perfectly reasonable that she may have fallen in love with him already, and seeing him here all beautiful and snoutless had sealed the deal.

But now she was beginning to feel disheartened…

He wasn't being very friendly at all. Far less sociable than she had expected him to be based on their phone conversation. He seemed uncomfortable...disappointed even…

She couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So, did you find the place okay?" she asked as she reclaimed her seat.

"Yeah." he nodded as he took a seat across from her at the small table.

"Good. Umm...I come here all the time. My friend Sango and I…my cop friend, we come here every morning. Well, except Sundays. I have breakfast with my family on Sunday mornings. Anyway, this place has the best coffee. They roast their own beans..." she rattled on. She knew she was rambling, but it was certainly better than meeting his silence with more silence.

InuYasha knew he was being rude and he needed to say something, but his mind was still reeling in shock over her resemblance to Kikyo. He wasn't sure whether or not he was going to be able to look past it. "How do you take your coffee?" he said suddenly, standing up from the table. He just needed to step away for a moment to regroup.

"Black." she said simply.

InuYasha turned and headed up to the counter, ordering their coffee and bringing it back to the table. Secretly wishing she would have asked for a drink that took longer to prepare. Maybe he should have ordered some fancy girly drink for himself...

"There ya go." he said as he said the mug down before her, and she thanked him.

"This is good coffee." he said after taking a sip. Of course it didn't really matter. He doubted he'd ever be coming back to this place again after today.

"Isn't it, though?" Kagome said. "The guy who roasts the coffee here is like a mad scientist. Like seriously, he looks like the guy from Back to the Future. I don't really care what he looks like though, as long as he keeps making coffee like this." she chuckled as she brought the cup to her lips.

"I'm not really a great judge of coffee. I just drink whatever Miroku makes. It's never very good." InuYasha said.

Kagome giggled.

More awkward silence ensued.

"I like your shirt." Kagome said in a desperate attempt to make conversation.

InuYasha looked down at his shirt. He didn't even remember what shirt he was wearing. A sweaty one, no doubt. "Thanks." he said.

"Purple is my favorite color."

At that, InuYasha's head shot up. "Purple?" he said, cocking his head slightly to the side. "This shirt is blue."

It was most definitely not blue.

"InuYasha...I hate to break it to you, but that shirt is purple."

"Uh, yeah, o-kay." he said facetiously. "Whatever you say…"

Kagome turned to the couple sitting at the table next to them. "Excuse me," she said, getting their attention. "What color is his shirt?" she asked them, pointing to InuYasha.

"Purple." They immediately responded in unison.

Kagome thanked them and turned back to a deflated InuYasha. "You're colorblind."

"Oh, very funny. So because I'm a dog hanyou you think I'm colorblind."

"No, I think you're colorblind because you obviously are." she said, chuckling lightly.

"Keh!" he scoffed, crossing his arms.

"I can't believe no one has ever told you before now…How old are you anyway?" she blurted out. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking..." She had been wondering for a while, but had never found the right opportunity to bring it up. "Sorry...that was rude..."

"No, it's okay." he said. "I'm twenty-nine."

Kagome nodded in acknowledgement.

"I know you aren't supposed to ask a woman, but since you asked me first, how old are you?"

"Twenty-three." she answered.

His eyebrows rose. He thought she looked young, but figured she was older than she looked, given her occupation. "Wow. You really have your act together for a twenty-three-year-old. I was still living with my parents when I was twenty-three." he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well..." she said shyly, sliding her finger around the rim of her coffee mug.

"Oh," he chuckled. "You still live with your parents?"

"Eh...Yeah…with my mom." she said, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "I've been thinking about moving out...you know...but I just haven't gotten around to it I guess."

"There's nothing wrong with not wanting to live alone. I've lived alone before, and I hated it." he said. "So are your parents divorced or…"

"My dad died when I was fifteen."

"Oh...sorry."

"It's fine." she waved him off. "It was a long time ago."

"How did it happen...if you don't mind me asking."

"He was shot during a mugging on his way home from work one night. There was never even an arrest made in the case."

"Wow...so is that why you got into ballistics?" he asked.

Kagome nodded. "Cliché, right?" she chuckled.

"No. It's admirable. I think it says a lot about your character." he said.

InuYasha began to relax, and they continued to make small talk, but despite the fact that she was pretty, and sweet, and fun to talk to, he just could not stop focusing on her resemblance to his ex-girlfriend. They looked so similar, he was having trouble separating the two women in his mind. For the first time since their breakup, he found himself thinking about Kikyo, wondering how she was doing, plagued with feelings of guilt over the way things had ended between them.

He still couldn't help but think this was a bad sign. Maybe he was reading too much into it.

When Kagome could feel the conversation winding down she began to fidget nervously. She knew this was the moment of truth. He would either express interest in seeing her again, or he would reject her...and she really, really liked him, despite their somewhat disappointing 'date'.

"I had fun...umm...we should do this again sometime." she said leadingly.

"Yeah. I had fun too..." he said hesitantly. "Uh...listen, Kik-Kagome," he quickly corrected. "I just got out of a... sort of a long term relationship..."

"Oh…" she deflated. "I see." She knew rejection when she saw it. This was a classic 'easy letdown'.

"Yeah." he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Umm...I guess I thought I was ready to move on, but…"

She held up a hand to silence him. "I understand." she cut him off abruptly without meeting his eyes. She had been talking to him for over a month. She knew that all this bullshit about not being ready was just his attempt to spare her feelings.

Maybe this was karma. Maybe the kami were punishing her for leading on all those hopeful guys with a fake phone number. Or maybe he's just been messing with me all this time… No, that's stupid. No one would go to these lengths just to mess with a person. We got along fine over the phone, he just...doesn't like what he sees I guess… She tugged at the hem of her sweater, suddenly feeling very exposed. She knew she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up so high.

"So...would it be okay if we just stayed friends?" he asked, breaking her from her musings.

"Uhh...sure," she answered automatically before giving a long pause, her eyes remaining fixed on the table. "I mean...no... You know what? No." she shook her head vigorously. Less like a negative response, and more like she was trying to shake it free of something. She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. "To tell you the truth, InuYasha, I think I already have all the friends I need...but thanks for the generous offer." she spat out, her demeanor changing abruptly.

InuYasha was speechless. It was suddenly very apparent that she was pissed.

"Well, I gotta run!" she chirped, in a tone of sudden, downright unsettling, false cheeriness. She slapped both hands palm-down onto the table, scooted her chair back and stood; the legs of the chair scraping loudly across the floor, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Thanks for the coffee." she said as she snatched up her jacket and purse, before turning and stomping toward the door.

InuYasha stood from his chair, contemplating going after her, but not sure what he would say, or what good it would do if he did.

After a few steps, Kagome stopped and shook her head yet again. "Actually, on second thought…" she called back to him as she reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, removing a five dollar bill. She casually strode back to InuYasha, folded the bill and slipped the money into his breast pocket, giving it a firm pat. "Thanks for nothing." she said coldly, looking him dead in the eyes. She spun around and quickly marched out without another word. She would probably cry when she got home, but she sure as hell wasn't going to do it in front of him.

InuYasha stood watching as she whipped around and exited the coffee shop with her head held high, bells jingling loudly as the old wooden door slammed closed with a sharp crack. He knew she was hurt, but she was stubborn, and she was damn tough...

And he was suddenly overwhelmed with the sinking feeling that he had made a huge mistake.