InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Headliner ❯ Back to the scene ( Chapter 3 )

Kagome sighed as she walked out the building. Guess he's not gonna follow me. Ah well, I always walk anyway. I was kinda looking forward to a taxi ride home, too.

 

Kagome was the only demon reporter who wasn't swimming in money. All the others had 2nd or even 3rd jobs to make up for the low wages, but Kagome knew that this was to only job she would ever take.

 

Waitressing and bartendering, what's the point in that? Kagome thought as she turned a corner, all those jobs are completely useless....this is the only workplace you'll ever see me work in.

She heard someone behind her yell out, "hey, wait up!"

 

She turned around, saw who it was, and kept walking. Inuyasha caught up and started pacing next to her. There was an awkward silence as Inuyasha tried to think of something to say besides 'why didn't you take a taxi?'.

 

Kagome looked at him with an annoyed expression. "If you have something to say, then say it. I'm not walking down the streets with a companion who looks like a wet dog."

 

A low rumbling rose in his throat at the word 'dog'.

 

"What?"

 

"Nothin," he said, looking away. Kagome stopped walking and faced him. He tried to avoid eye contact.

 

"Look," Kagome sighed, "I'm trying my best to get along with you here. Can't you try to see where I'm coming from here? My work is my everything. I don't work to live, I live to do my work. And, well, YOU get in the way of ME doing my work."

 

Inuyasha didn't get it. "How am I getting in your way?"

 

Kagome tapped her foot impatiently. "Because, as part of the internship, I'm supposed to let you follow me anywhere I go, and ask questions whenever you want. Don't you realize how much slower my work will be witha furball like you clawing at my back all day?"

 

"Who are you calling a furball?!"

 

"My point being," Kagome stated, pointedly ignoring Inuyasha's indignant face, "that I could just as well punch you in the face if you interfere while I'm trying to do my work. So stay out of my way, and we'll get along fine, got it?"

 

Inuyasha looked down his nose at her. He was almost a head taller than she was, so this wasn't very hard.

 

"No, I don't 'got it', and I'm never going to 'get it.' I'll follow you and interrupt you and 'interfere' with you whenever I want to. Don't you dare tell me what to do and what not to do, 'cause I ain't listenin', got it?"

 

Kagome felt like she was going to explode. This was DEFINITELY not her week.

 

"Fine!" Kagome huffed, turning on her heels and walking back up the street. Inuyasha decided that he would show her who was in charge. He caught up to her and began phase 1 of his torture process.

 

"So, where are we going now?" he asked with a smug smile.

 

Kagome swallowed her biting remark and replied with a strangled voice, "the explosion yesterday."

 

If she didn't give him a satisfactory reply, then she could get fired.

 

Inuyasha became alert at the answer. Was she still trying to dig through that rubble for a clue? Gotta give her something for persistence. He asked in a casual voice, "Why are you going there? Isn't there an article about it already published?"

 

Kagome nodded again and answered, "I want to know more about the demon who fought with Sesshomaru."

 

You mean the one standing next to you? Inuyasha silently thought, trying not to laugh. He fired another question. (In case you haven't noticed, this is his torture phase: ask LOTS of questions)

 

"Do you know something about this other demon?" Inuyasha listened carefully for the answer. If she showed any signs of knowing about him, he would have to teach her to keep her mouth shut; using his disguised voice, of course, in the middle of the night.

 

Kagome didn't even blink. "All I know is what the article says, and the article says that the other demon didn't even get scratched. I don't care what the others think; this demon is more powerful than Sesshomaru."

 

Why, thank you, I'll take that as a compliment, Inuyasha thought, blushing slightly. He was starting to feel kind of bad for asking her questions about himself, which was weird, because he had thought 'guilt' was an emotion he didn't have.

 

"So, you don't know anything else? I would think that a devoted reporter like you would've been the first one on the scene."

 

Inuyasha could have bit his tongue when he saw her face mask up. She kept walking, and Inuyasha followed. They didn't talk for the remainder of the trip.

 

When they arrived, some policemen had blocked off the sight and were waving spectators away.

 

"This might be harder than we thought," Inuyasha whispered to her, as a policeman purposefully marched towards them. Kagome snorted.

 

Who do you think I am? Let the pros take care of this, newbie."

 

"Hey, this area is off-limits, what do you think you're...." the police trailed off as Kagome flourished a Demonic Times reporter ID at him.

 

"Oh, miss Higurashi.....please, feel free to browse around. And your companion?"

 

Kagome nodded at Inuyasha, though somewhat reluctantly. "He's my intern."

 

"Of course, of course."

 

Kagome put away her pass and ducked under the caution tape at the same time that Inuyasha leaped over it. They made their way to the center of the crater, and stood looking around. Kagome started to rummage through a particularly nasty pile of rubble. Inuyasha crinkled his nose.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Kagome looked up. "Well, the inspectors obviously didn't check this pile, so I thought I'd take a look for some overlooked evidence. Hey, can you help me get this beam out of the way?"

 

Inuyasha started to refuse, but then took a good look at the pile. There wasn't anything interesting under there. Inuyasha's nose would pick up on anything that belonged to him, but he didn't smell anything besides dust and more dust.

 

"Alright," he said. He gently pushed her out of the way and effortlessly removed the beam. It resulted in all the debris piled against it to come crashing down.

 

"Great, just great," Kagome muttered as she started to go through the pile.

 

Inuyasha knew she was wasting her time, but didn't feel brave enough to tell that to her face. She would start asking questions, and Inuyasha wasn't going to enjoy it.

 

He watched silently as Kagome went through the pile, taking a good look at anything unusual. It was long after dark when she finished her inspection. She got up, stretched, and sighed.

 

"Ah, well, I wasn't really expecting anything anyway," she said as she made her way back out of the crater. Inuyasha was sitting on the rim, bored out of his mind.

 

"Do you do this every time you go to a scene of a battle?" he asked, expecting an 'of course not!' or a 'are you kidding?'.

 

Instead, he got a "Yeah, I do, why?"

 

Inuyasha jumped and landed in front of her. She blinked. How had he done that?

 

He read her thoughts in her eyes. "I work out a lot," he said quickly. She rolled his eyes.

 

"So, why do you get down and dirty when you could just hire one of the proffesionals to do it?"

 

She was silent for a moment, then bypassed him, climbing out and brushing off the dust.

 

She started to walk away, when Inuyasha caught up, grabbed her shoulder and said, "Hey, I asked you a...."

 

Kagome shouldered him off and said abruptly, "One, it's always more thorough if I do it myself, Two, if I do it presonally then nothing will be kept from me, Three, I actually know what to look for, not like those 'proffesionals,' and Four, I can't afford one. Happy now?"

 

She marched away. Inuyasha stood there for a moment, then ran after her.

 

 

As she walked up the stairs to her apartment, she sighed and turned around to face a curious Inuyasha.

 

"How long are you gonna follow me around?"

 

"Until I see where you live," was the reply.

 

"Well, now you know. Now can I go in and sleep?"

 

"I still don't know what room you live in."

 

"305. Now go home and leave me in peace."

 

"Can I see where it is?"

 

"Uggh! You're impossible! Why do you want to know anyway?"

 

The truth was, Inuyasha was trying to find where she lived so that he could keep an eye on her at all times. The sneaky little wench might phone her friends during the night or something.

 

But why does it feel like I'm just making up excuses to know where she lives? he asked himself as he followed Kagome into the old building.

 

Kagome turned the key and walked in, without bothering to invite Inuyasha in. She knew he would invite himself in.

 

She was right. After looking around for a moment, Inuyasha sat down on the bed, his arms and legs crossed. "So, this is where the famous reporter Higurashi lives. I would've imagined that you own the building, instead of paying rent."

 

Kagome had had enough. Without a word, she grabbed by his arm and hauled him out the door. He was so surprised that he didn't know what she was doing until he was thrown out the door.

 

"I'll see you tomorrow at work. Goodnight, Inuyasha," a curt voice said.

 

The door slammed shut, leaving Inuyasha to wonder what he had don't wrong.

 

 

 

The next morning, Kagome got out of bed and went to the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice. As she poured herself some of the liquid into a cup and took a sip, she had a strange feeling in her stomach.

 

On impulse, she pulled on the cord that held a curtain covering the kitchen window, so that the window was now wide open.

 

She sprayed the orange juice in her mouth all over the window.

 

Inuyasha was sitting on the windowsill, staring at her with a sarcastic 'you-caught-me' look. He also seemed partly disgusted with all the juice dripping on the window.

 

Kagome shrieked in anger and threw open the window, whispering furiously, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY WINDOW!!"

 

He frowned. "Why are you whispering?"

 

"Do you want me to get kicked off by the landlord? Get off my window before the neighbors complain! How did you get up here anyway? I'm 3 stories up from the ground!"

 

Inuyasha chose to ignore the last comment. "You want me to get off? Fine."

 

Without a backward glance, Inuyasha jumped off the window. Kagome gaped for a second at the empty windowsill, then panicked as she leaned out to look at the ground below.

"

Oh my gosh!" She was sure she'd see a dead intern staring back up at her with sightless eyes.

 

No such thing. There wasn't anything down there besides the road and some bushes.

 

She blinked once, and Inuyasha's grinning face appeared centimeters from her own, looking up at her from where he was dangling off the windowsill.

 

Kagome yelped and stumbled backward, knocking over a stool and shattering her orange juice cup in the process. Inuyahsa followed her in, casually closing the window behind him.

 

She gasped to regain her breath. This was too much excitement for so early in the morning. She struggled to get up from her shock as Inuyasha glanced at her from his positio next to the open fridge.

 

"Isn't there anything to eat around here? I'm hungry."

 

Kagome rushed over and slammed the fridge door shut, almost crushing Inuyasha's fingers in the process. He quickly pulled back, looking at her with mock bewilderment.

 

"Why, whatever was that for?" he asked, his face barely suppressing a HUGE grin of amusement.

 

Kagome jabbed her finger at him, marching up to him accusingly. "Who told you you were invited in my house without my permission? Why are you bent on making my life more complicated than it is? And WHY are you coming in through my window!?"

 

She stopped pacing about an inch from his face, glaring savagely at him while poking him in the chest, hard.

 

"Do you have something against me, you jerk?" she whispered dangerously.

 

To her surprise, Inuyasha grinned and leaned down towards her, so that there was practically no space between them anymore. Kagome froze.

 

"Oh, I really don't think I have anything against you," he whispered, raw desire flashing in his eyes, "I just find it funny whenever you get mad."

 

Kagome felt heat take over her face. She pushed him back hastily, backing away shakily. This HAD to stop. She wouldn't be able to take this for another day without going mad.

 

Inuyasha just leaned on the sink and smiled. "Can I get pancakes?"