InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Phony Digits ❯ Knee Jerk Reaction ( Chapter 15 )

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

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

Chapter Fifteen: Knee Jerk Reaction

Darn it.

Kagome quickly grabbed a tissue and attempted to correct her wayward eyeliner, only succeeding in making it worse.

Shoot.

She sighed as she looked at her smudged eyelid in the magnified mirror. Forget it. She grabbed a makeup remover towelette and wiped the eyeliner from her lids. Maybe I'll just get a new haircut, she thought as she blew her bangs out of her eyes. She wanted a change. She was feeling restless...or stagnant...or dissatisfied, maybe?

She shook her head. She wasn't really sure what she was feeling anymore. She'd been satisfied with her life before that day several weeks ago when her best friend sent a text to her go-to fake number. If she could somehow travel back in time and prevent it from ever happening she would. It would be better to have never met InuYasha than to feel like she was feeling now. Not crushed. Not heartbroken. Just a nagging feeling that something was missing. Something that wasn't easily replaced. Not that she was particularly eager to find a replacement for that unknown something.

She had decided that casual dating was for the birds, anyway. Maybe she'd just wait for destiny to drop someone into her lap. She chuckled to herself at the thought. That's probably what got her into her current situation. That's what you thought, wasn't it Kagome? That this was going to be some kind of serendipitous cosmic match?

She let out an amused snort. "Twenty-three is too young to become a cat-lady." she said to her reflection in the mirror.

As if on cue, her cat let out a meow of objection from it's resting place at the foot of her bed.

Kagome got up from her dresser and crouched down next to the bed, giving the cat a scratch between her ears. "Well, you say that now, Buyo, but you wouldn't like it if there were a dozen more cats around here competing for my attention."

Buyo gave a contented rumble as she pushed her head into Kagome's hand.

"That's what I thought." she said with a pat, before standing up, exiting her bedroom, and making her way downstairs.

"Good morning, Kagome." her mother greeted her as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mama."

"How are you doing this morning, dear?"

"Fine." Kagome answered simply as she grabbed a piece of buttered toast from the table. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well. Do you have a moment to talk before you head off to work?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Umm...sure." Kagome said, furrowing her brow in concern. "Is everything okay?"

Her mother smiled. "Oh yes, everything is perfectly fine. I just wanted to see what your plans were for tonight."

"My plans…? I don't have any plans." she said, shaking her head.

"Okay, dear. Then would you mind making dinner for you and your brother tonight? I'm going to be...going out for dinner." she said somewhat hesitantly.

"Going out?" Kagome questioned with a slight tilt of her head.

"Yes, I'm going out to dinner with a friend...a male friend...on a date." she added.

"Oh...that's...uh...that's great, Mama." Kagome said after a bit of shock induced sputtering. "Have you been seeing him long?"

"No, this is a first date. You know Yoshida-san, from the Japanese market?"

Kagome swallowed hard and schooled her features as she gave her mother a very slow and tentative nod. She hoped against hope that her mother wasn't insinuating that she was going on a date with the shriveled old prune that owned the market.

"Well, he set me up with his son."

"Oh." Kagome said, sounding relieved. "Shiro?" she asked, familiar with Mr. Yoshida's two son's. "I thought he was married."

"Not Shiro," her mother corrected. "Takeshi."

Kagome inadvertently let out a quiet gasp. "Takeshi?" she questioned. "Mama…"

"I know, Kagome." her mother cut her off. "He's a little younger than me."

"A little younger? Mama, he's my age!" Kagome said, remembering the giant crush she had on him when she first moved to the United States as a teenager.

"He's not your age Kagome, he's thirty-three."

"Still, thirty-three? Mama, are you sure about this?"

"It's just a date sweetheart." Mrs. Higurashi said with a chuckle. "I promise we won't elope." she added, patting her daughter on the shoulder.

Kagome gave her mother wry smile. "Okay, Mama."

Mrs. Higurashi watched Kagome thoughtfully for a few moments, taking in her downcast demeanor. "Kagome, if it really bothers you I can cancel."

"No, Mama, no...I don't want you to do that." she said, waving her free hand. "Really I'm okay, you just caught me a little off guard is all."

Her mother smiled. "Okay, if you're sure."

Kagome nodded. "I'm sure, Mama…"

<<>>

"My mother has a date. MY MOTHER!" Kagome ranted.

"And what's wrong with that?" Sango asked.

"Nothing is wrong with it at face value, but factor in that I don't have a date and…ugh.." Kagome groaned as she plopped into her desk chair and covered her face with her hands. "I am such a loser."

"You're being dramatic, Kagome. You could have a date tonight too, if you wanted one."

"Yeah," Kouga cut in. "You could have a date tonight…"

"No, Kouga." she cut him off.

The wolf youkai heaved a disappointed sigh and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe. "Well, it was worth a try."

"It's not a big deal, Kagome." Shippo chimed in as he poured two packets of sugar into his coffee. "You're just going through a little existential crisis."

"Just a little existential crisis?" Kagome repeated dryly.

"Yeah, just a teeny tiny mental breakdown. No big deal." he shrugged before hopping up to sit on the edge of her desk. "I'm surprised you've made it this far into your twenties without having one."

Kagome rolled her eyes at him. "This guy she's going out with...he's thirty-three years old. Thirty-three! He's only ten years older than me."

"So," Sango shrugged. "Your mom is only like, ten years older than him."

"Eleven. And you're not helping…" Kagome said. "I had a crush on this guy when I was in highschool..."

"Oh...could it be that you're jealous, then?" Sango asked. "I'm sure your mom would cancel if you told her…"

"No." Kagome interrupted. "I'm not interested in him...he's actually sort of dorky now to tell you the truth…I just think it's kinda weird, is all."

"Look," Sango said. "what you're feeling is normal. You're just out of sorts because you got your heart broken. Everyone goes through it at some point, it's just new for you because you've never experienced it before."

"I'm really not heartbroken, I'm just...I don't know...I just need a new routine or something. A change in scenery…Maybe I'll get a tattoo..."

"No!" Sango shook her head. "Never get a tattoo on a whim. You'll end up living the rest of your life with the anarchy symbol on your left asscheek."

Everyone in the room turned their head to Sango with raised brows.

"Well, that seems oddly specific, Miyahara..." Kouga remarked with barely contained amusement.

"Shut up, Renji." Sango grumbled.

"Well, why don't you move out of your mom's house? Get your own place?" Shippo suggested. "Your brother's going to be moving out soon to go to college, you know your mom's going to be wanting her privacy when she starts bringing her jailbait home to play."

"Eww!" Kagome said, gouging him in the ribs. "Don't talk about my mother like that!"

"I'm just trying to get you to see reason, Kagome." the fox youkai said giggling. "But seriously though, you should think about getting your own apartment. If you started dating someone seriously, you wouldn't want to take them back to your Mom's house, would you?"

Kagome sat back in her desk chair, tapping a finger to her chin. "You know what? You're right." She pounded her fist on her desk. "That's a great idea, Shippo! Do you know anyone who's looking for a roommate?"

Shippo shook his head in the negative.

"You know, I have an extra room at-"

"No, Kouga." Kagome cut him off again.

"I could ask my brother." Sango suggested. "There are always students at the university looking for roommates, if you don't mind living with a stranger."

Kagome gave a little shrug. "That could be fun." she nodded. "Girls only though."

"I'll call him today and see if he wouldn't mind asking around for you."

"That would be great, Sango! Thank you so much! I don't know what I'd do without you." Kagome said as she stood from her chair and gave her friend a hug.

"Umm...it was my idea." Shippo interjected.

Kagome held out an arm for him to join the hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you either, Shippo." she said as she wrapped an arm around him.

"Hey! What about me?"

"No Kouga."

<<>>

"Well, well, well...who do we have here? I'm starting to think you really are stalking me." Miroku teased Sango as she and Kouga entered the diner.

"We were just in the neighborhood." Sango retorted as she and Kouga strode over to the booth where Miroku and InuYasha were sitting across from each other. It was the truth. They really were in the neighborhood. "And the food here is damn good." she added.

"Not to mention the excellent company." Miroku said.

"I've had better." Sango teased as she began to take a seat next to Miroku. Kouga grabbed her around the waist and moved her to the other side of the booth next to InuYasha.

"What are you doing, Renji?!" she said as she tried to slap his hands away.

"I'm not sitting next to that." he said, nodding in InuYasha's direction as he slid in next to Miroku.

"Keh!" InuYasha scoffed. "Nobody asked you to sit here, asshole. And it's not like I want to sit by your mangy wolf ass anyhow."

"Awfully big words, coming from a wimpy little mutt."

InuYasha gave a derisive snort. "Everybody knows wolves are just dogs that haven't evolved yet."

"No, everybody knows that dogs are just wolves who've degraded themselves into being human pets," He shifted his gaze to the top of InuYasha's head. "but it looks like you'd know all about that now, wouldn't you?"

InuYasha let out an intimidating growl.

"That's enough, Kouga!" Sango intervened.

Kouga proceeded to grumble something about ungrateful dogs under his breath, which earned him a swift kick to the shin from his partner.

The waitress came and took their orders, Sango and Miroku made casual conversation, and by the time their food was delivered most of the initial tension at the table had melted away.

"So...have you talked to Kagome lately?" InuYasha asked Sango in what he hoped was a relaxed tone.

"Yeah," Sango nodded. "Just talked to her this morning. Why?"

"I texted her last night, but she never responded." he said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

Sango furrowed her brow. "Really?" she asked. "That seems like something she would have mentioned to me. Are you sure the message went through?"

"I think so...I didn't get a notification that it failed to send." He slipped his phone from his pocket to check. "Oh…" he said as he opened the message app.

"What?" Sango asked.

"I must have forgot to hit send." he said as he looked at the typed message waiting in the text box. How stupid. He had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep for the anticipation of a reply to a message he had never even sent.

"Should I send it now?" he asked.

"What does it say?"

InuYasha looked at the two men across from him, slowly eating their food while staying fully inthralled in he and Sango's conversation. He handed his phone to Sango, rather than read the message aloud for the eavesdroppers to hear.

She read over the message. "Yeah, that's good." she said. "Send that."

"Do you think she'll respond?"

Sango shrugged. "Won't know if you don't try."

"You already tried and she shot you down. Can't you take a hint?" Kouga cut in and Sango delivered another swift kick to his leg under the table. "OW! What was that for?"

"I told you about that in confidence! And you're one to talk about taking hints, Renji."

Miroku sat back and ate his food, watching with great enjoyment as the drama unfolded.

"How the hell is this any of your business anyway?" InuYasha asked Kouga.

"It's my business because Kagome is my friend. Unlike you, I have an actual real relationship with her."

"Oh? And how's the friend-zone workin' out for ya?" InuYasha quipped.

"At least she doesn't hate my guts." Kouga grumbled.

InuYasha ignored Kouga's insults and sent the previously typed text to Kagome.

No more than thirty seconds after he had sent the text, Sango's phone began to ring. She removed the phone from it's clip to see that the incoming call was from Kagome, and she felt a sudden surge of guilt. She hadn't really thought of what she was doing as going behind Kagome's back until this moment, but the fact that she hadn't told Kagome about her previous dinner with Miroku and InuYasha made her feel like maybe somewhere deep down her conscience knew. She looked up to find the three other occupants of the table looking at her expectantly.

"Excuse me one moment." she said before sliding out of the booth and heading for the door, answering her phone along the way.

"Hey, Kagome. What's up?" she said innocently, knowing full well what was up.

"Hey, can we meet for lunch?" Kagome asked.

"Actually, I'm already eating lunch right now."

"Oh...are you somewhere close by?"

"No, not really."

"Oh…" Kagome said, clear disappointment in her tone. "I just needed to talk to you about something."

"Yeah...I actually need to talk to you about something too. Do you think we could have dinner tonight?" Sango suggested.

"If you don't mind my cooking and my little brother's flirting." Kagome answered.

"Oh, right...your mom's date. I forgot. How about I come to your house around seven then."

"Works for me."

"Great. Okay. I'll see you then." Sango said before disconnecting the call.

Would Kagome be mad at her? She'd have every right to be…maybe I should get her drunk before I tell her… Sango let out a dramatic sigh as she spun around and re-entered the diner.

<<>>

Kagome disconnected the call and opened the message from InuYasha, reading it again.

'Hey, I know you probably still hate my guts, but I would really like to apologize and explain myself if you will give me a chance.'

This morning she was feeling all empowered and ready to make big changes in her life. For the first time in the last two weeks she was feeling confident again. Excited even, and now…

Now all I can think about is InuYasha...

She sighed.

What had he been doing all this time? Why, now, was he suddenly wanting to make amends? What would he want out of their relationship? Maybe he didn't want any kind of relationship at all, and just wanted to clear his conscience. His message couldn't be more ambiguous on that subject. Would he still insist that he 'isn't ready' for a new relationship? Kagome could accept that, but...would it be worth it for her? Would it be worth it for her to knowingly enter into a strictly platonic relationship with someone who evokes such...non-platonic feeling in her? Probably not. No, definitely not. It would be torture. She would be crazy to intentionally put herself through that.

But what if he is interested in more than friendship?

She wasn't prepared to deal with all of this just yet. Before she made any decisions she needed the opinion of the one person she knew she could always trust to be completely honest with her.

She needed to talk to Sango.