Chapter one
"Waitress!" a customer yelled from across the room, "This chicken soup has noodles in it, I asked for rice!"
Kagome glared at them with her hands full as she kept making more and more trips to the kitchen to dump the dirtied plates. Today was an extremely busy day and the cold December air refused to drop some snow. The worst thing was that the majority of the employees called in "sick" and didn't come. Leaving her and two other employees to do all the work. Now that she thought about it, those employees hadn't returned from the laundry room for a long time. She mentally cursed her bad luck.
"Sorry sir we don't have any rice!" Kagome called as she skittered into the kitchen's swinging doors causing her to drop all the plates. She cursed loudly and hoped that her boss hadn't heard.
"Ms. Higurashi!"
'Damn…' she thought with a sigh.
Kagome looked up and smiled sweetly at her boss, a large gruff looking man with tiny beady little eyes.
"Y-yes sir?" Kagome stuttered out as she tried to push the shattered plates aside and behind the door. The whole restaurant had grown silent and seemed to be staring at the young woman trying to get her work done.
Her boss rubbed his temples and sighed loudly. Opening up his eyes he looked at Kagome sadly and shook her head. "You have failed me for the last time."
"B-but I only started working here last Monday!" Kagome protested, feeling a dread in her heart. She had to keep this job!
"I'm sorry Ms. Higurashi, it isn't working out, your apron, please?" he held out his huge hand and Kagome reluctantly placed the bright pink apron in her ex-boss's hand.
"Yes, I understand," Kagome said softly and walked slowly out.
Of course that's when her ex-coworker, Ame, had to reappear with Ryu, both smirked. She hated both of them. They had always hated her, too. Even from the first day they'd gotten off to a rocky start, and though she'd just lost her job, she did not regret having to leave the two workers.
Ame sniffed, her eyes tearing up with feigned concern, "Are you going to be ok, Kagome-chan?"
Ryu smirked wickedly and slinked his arm around Ame, "Yeah, we'll miss you."
"I'm fine," Kagome said through clenched teeth.
Ame smirked, "That's good, to tell you the truth, you weren't the greatest waitress in the world."
"Yeah, well," Kagome paused, "You're fat."
Truth was that Ame was as skinny as a pole; there were rumors around the café that Ame was an anorexic or binge eater. Kagome didn't give a rat's ass about the stupid girl and marched out with the dignity any one just fired could possess.
So of course she had to trip over her own feet once she got outside and land face first in a pile of five day old brown slush.
"Kagome!"
Kagome looked up and smiled as a boy with black hair and violet eyes came into view. He was currently holding a hat on his head with one hand while using his free hand to grab a street lamp and swing around and on top of a car's roof.
The driver didn't seem too happy, though.
Inuyasha puffed franticly as his hair and scarf blew out behind him. He hopped from the Volvo he was standing on and onto a Toyota pick up. He was getting closer to her and Kagome still wasn't sure why he was doing this.
Her question was soon answered when her future cousin-in-law came blazing around the corner in a motorcycle, his red eyes narrowed and his braid billowing out behind him. "Inuyasha!"
Kagome laughed happily at the alarmed look on her fiancée's face as he jumped off a van and ran right up to her. Throwing her over his shoulder he ran like holy hell, Hiten close behind.
"Inuyasha, what did you do now?"
"Nothing! I was just getting some food and he came up and declared that I still hadn't given him his DDR!" Inuyasha panted out as he looked over his shoulder, searching for his cousin.
"But didn't you make that deal with him four months ago?" Kagome screeched in surprise as Inuyasha picked up the pace. 'He should consider running a triathlon,' she mused silently.
"Yeah, I didn't know someone could want that game so badly. He could just buy it!"
"Well you did crash in his house and then totally forget about babysitting Souten," Kagome giggled.
Inuyasha slammed the door shut and locked it with three locks they'd installed once they realized that they couldn't afford home security. It had been four months since Inuyasha had proposed to Kagome and they had decided that, with this going on and all that they should leave and purchase a new home.
Thus, their new home was currently in a worthless dump.
Joy.
Rapture.
Happiness.
Three words of what this life-style was not.
Inuyasha smiled and removed his hat, scarf and coat; three articles of clothing Kagome made him wear during the wintry seasons. "So how was your day?"
Kagome glared at him angrily, "Don't ask."
Inuyasha waved his hands in surrender, "Whoa, don't have a cow, Kagome."
Kagome sighed softly and flopped down onto Inuyasha's lap who was currently sitting on the moldy beanbag chair with holes in it. "I was fired."
"Again?" Inuyasha chuckled when Kagome nodded and he ran his fingers through her hair, "You need to calm down, Kago, it's not the end of the world."
"Yeah I guess, but since Kaede-Bachan left for a China to take care of her friend's cats, it's been hell paying rent, ya know?"
Inuyasha continued to massage her scalp, "Of course I know, I have to pay half of it too, don't I? Don't worry Kagome, you have two other jobs for back up, don't you?"
"Yeah I guess," Kagome smiled and kissed her future husband on the cheek. He was always good a comforting her. "That job did kind of suck ass anyway, at least at the roller rink I can skate for free."
"Cheap ass."
"What was that dear?" Kagome growled, "I seem to recall a certain someone who will go around and steal every coupon and he can get his eyes on and eat about five of every free sample at Costco."
"It takes skill."
"Yeah right, all you do is change your clothes, come back, then take food!" Kagome said, "The old ladies that work there are so blind they can't even tell."
"At least its free food!" Inuyasha cried in defense.
"Cheap ass," Kagome smirked a very Inuyasha like smirk.
"Arg!" A shout of annoyance jolted Inuyasha out of a light sleep and looked around bewildered.
"I'm up! I'm up! I'll make breakfast!" he announced loudly and Kagome looked over at him from the other side of the three-legged kitchen table. One leg had been snapped off in an attempt to get firewood when they didn't pay their heating bill in time. It was now propped up with a broken golf club Inu- yasha had found in a dumpster while job searching one day.
"Inuyasha, it's three in the afternoon, what's wrong?" Kagome said to him, looking up from her work on the bills. She was currently working on the water bill, this one wasn't too high, since both of them had promised they only take two minute long cold showers until they could afford the luxury of hot water.
Inuyasha sighed deeply, "Nothing's wrong, Kagome, I just..."
"Fell asleep again?" Kagome said knowingly as she giggled at his guilty look. "Well of course you're going to fall asleep if you eat cereal in the morning."
"Huh?"
"You eat Trix, right?" Kagome smiled at Inuyasha's confused nod, "Well, Trix has carbohydrates and sugar; both give you a huge boast of energy, but you'll crash two hours later after hitting a mental wall, that's why it's better to eat protein for breakfast. Like eggs and a smoothie. That's better than those non-nutritious flakes of corn."
"Thanks mom," Inuyasha sighed, his eyes softening when he thought of his mother.
Kagome noticed the look and placed her hand on his own, rubbing her thumb across his knuckles, "Come on Inuyasha, why don't you go take a break?"
Inuyasha brightened, "Really?"
"Sure, go play DDR," Kagome sighed, "But only for half an hour, our electric bill is already sky high!"
"Thank you Kagome!" Inuyasha hopped up and kissed her forehead before skipping off like he'd just won the lottery. By Inuyasha's standards, Kagome supposed that he had.
Kagome smiled after the man, before glaring at he pile of bills she'd just volunteered to do by herself. She sighed; a half-hour break wouldn't kill anyone. She grinned and ran after Inuyasha as the instrumental music for 'Midnite blaze' came on.