In A Hopeless Place (We Found Love)

The first sticky note the Office Lady leaves him is green. Inuyasha doesn't pay much attention to it. He rips it off, reads the "Hey, would really appreciate it if you could make sure not to leave crumbs on the desk :) Have a nice day, K.", written in calligraphy that he can't help but identify as cute, scoffs, crumples it, and throws it in the bin.

The Office Lady is the woman who uses the same office as him half of the week. He gets Monday, Friday, and Wednesday morning; she has Tuesday, Thursday and Wednesday afternoon. Yes, it's fucking stupid. He's aware. Not to mention, he got the short end of the stick. She gets the longer week-end and he has to get up on Wednesdays. He blames it on Sesshomaru. Yeah, the guy only owns the company and probably didn't meddle in his personal schedule, but he's more than happy to blame absolutely everything he possibly can on Sesshomaru.

The K. signature kinda bothers him, though. So far, he hasn't given much thought to the other person who occupies the office. He's noticed the cactus she brought, and by her smell he can tell that she's a human woman who, frankly, has no business smelling that fucking good, but he doesn't even know her name.

K, huh? Certainly couldn't be Kikyo. Last he heard — by a friend of a friend of a friend, 'cause he most definitely ain't checking on her — she had moved and was getting married. To a doctor. A human one, at that, so her family most likely hadn't complained this time. Good for her. Probably. They were water under the bridge at this point. Maybe they wouldn't have fucked each other up so bad, if they had been just a couple years older. If they'd been more experienced, more willing to compromise, more…

Why the fuck is he thinking about Kikyo? There's a fucking reason why he keeps the memories buried as deep as possible.

Ah. Right. He glares furiously at the bin, at the bottom of which the notes lays. Crumbs, she said. Yeah, yeah, he'll try. He was late on Monday, he ate in the office, and he definitely doesn't remember cleaning up afterwards. Politeness would probably require him to write a note back, apologizing and promising it wouldn't happen again.

He doesn't.

Inuyasha hears from her again a couple of weeks later. If she was offended by his absence of response, she doesn't show it. The note is still green. Again, he doesn't pay attention to it. This time, he rolls his eyes and takes it off while he goes to open the window. He focuses better when the room doesn't smell like her. He's not sure why he's so affected by it, quite frankly. It's definitely very new. People who stink, sure, but people who are just so damn tantalizing? New. Some might even say a first.

Anyway, what does she want this time?

"It really isn't a problem if you want to borrow a pen or something, but please make sure to leave everything the way you found it :) Have a nice day, K. PS: thanks for taking care of the crumbs, hope I didn't come off too annoying last time!"

Ugh. He just has to roll his eyes at it, because how the fuck can she be so ridiculously sugary? God. If there's one thing he hates, it's people who act fake. He would know, he's faced his fair share of them, being a half-demon, and he considers it a fact that they're worse than people who openly hate you.

There's no way she means that. There's no way she's that accepting and nice and not frustrated at him, even though this time, he didn't even do anything wrong. Must be Miroku, the guy has a habit of dropping in to borrow stuff from him. He's told him off multiple times, but it doesn't seem to change a thing. He probably got the wrong side of the desk this time.

Also, who even notices that kind of stuff? He wouldn't know if Miroku took half of his fucking supplies. Out of curiosity, he opens one of her drawer, and fucking hell. Pencils are organized by colors and sizes. Everything has its place. He lets out a disgusted noise. He's not going to bother and try to rectify the misunderstanding, 'cause that sounds like a stupid waste of time. If it had only been up to him, they would have never interacted in the first place.

He doesn't need any more people in his life. The few ones in it are more than enough for him to handle, thank you very much. He doesn't see why he'd need to be friendly with each other, either. They've never met, and he can't think of any reason why it would change in the future. So, without thinking much more about it, he puts the note right where it belongs.

In the trash.

This time, it doesn't take as long for him to hear about her again. The note is yellow, and Inuyasha vaguely pauses at the new color. How many does she have? Does she change them depending on her mood, or on the importance of the message? What kind of psychopath does that?

"You left the window open and it was really cold by the time I got there. Please don't let that happen again. Have a nice day, K."

Aw, no smiley face? The mask is starting to slip, then.

He does have some responsibility in this one, though. He has probably opened the window Wednesday morning as he always did, and then left it open. He can handle the cold pretty well, being a half-demon and all, but it is October already, and the Office Lady is human. Still, it had only been a few hours. No way it was that bad. Yet another thing he would make sure wouldn't happen again, only this time, he may be feeling the tiniest twinge of guilt.

He hesitates longer before throwing out the piece of paper, and actually considers replying "Sorry". Maybe it would deescalate things, get him back on her good side, where she writes on green paper.

He looks out the window, at the grey, cold sky. It's generally cloudy, but Wednesday it was clear and blue. He remembers enjoying it.

Ah, fuck it. It's her fault in the first place if he opens the damn window, even if she doesn't know it and there's no way she can do anything about it because he's not communicating with her. He's not going to write back on a colored sticky note. Plus, it's Friday, so even if he did, he would probably rip it off when he would come back Monday.

His hand hovers above the bin, then with an annoyed growl he puts the note in one of his drawers. He doesn't know why. He didn't even keep the nice ones. He tells himself it's because that way, he'll keep track of the things she asks him and it'll be easier. He tells himself it has nothing to do with the fact that he's starting to enjoy this contact with this unknown woman who smells strangely nice.

Nothing at all.

Then, the Office Lady leaves a furious pink note on the desk, and Inuyasha realizes that yes, they are color-coded, and apparently she bases said color on the severity of the offense. She's fucking weird. Who does she think he is, a five-year old? (Miroku does tell him he acts like one, but he refuses to take it into consideration right now)

"Listen. The crumbs, the pen, that's okay. The window, it's annoying because I have to keep my jacket on and it makes squeaky sounds whenever I move, but I can survive it. You not answering me, I think it's rude and you probably have some deeply seeded issues about communication, but again, I'll manage. The fact that you emptied my stapler and didn't put any staples back in? That's unacceptable. I want new ones. K."

What did he say? A psychopath. She's a fucking psychopath. Still, he grimaces at the note. Him not replacing the staples is breaking the main rule of an old code between office workers. There's only one thing that's worse, and that's not putting paper back in the printer once it's empty.

Not that it justifies her tone. Who does she think she is, exactly? Think she's perfect, huh? Well, he doesn't have dirt on her right now, but there's no way she didn't annoy him since they started sharing the space. She, erm, she left the computer on that one time and he certainly didn't write her a green note to complain about it. And she left her key on the locked drawers on her side of the office and did he scold her for it? Nah, he didn't even touch the thing — that would have deserved some yellow note, at least.

Again, he could, and maybe he should, apologize. He could reply on her note. He definitely doesn't. He's not playing her weird game. At this point, frankly, he thinks it must be a kink of hers. There's no other way around it.

He knows he kept the yellow note for whatever reason, but this one, certainly, should go straight into the trash. He crumples it in his hand. Then he hesitates. Maybe she'll try to murder him one day and this will be evidence that she was insane from the very beginning.

He keeps the note.

When Inuyasha arrives on Monday, he has a little stack of staples refills, which he puts on her side of the desk. He could write her a note about it.

He doesn't.

The Office Lady replies with a yellow note, and Inuyasha feels strangely satisfied when he sees the color. Not that he feels guilty about the whole thing, ahah, certainly not, or that he wants the Office Lady to at least think of him in friendly ways, but, well, since most people out there hate him for no valid reason, maybe he can do with one less person disliking him.

"Thanks. K."

He's not disappointed by the one-word reply, and even if he was, it would not be childish. Miroku would say something about how he can't expect people to congratulate him for basic decency, and he would retort that this was not basic human decency, that if she wanted him not to empty the stapler, she shouldn't have left it out, and that he had no obligation to buy her refills.

Thank God he doesn't talk to Miroku about that shit. Miroku does most of the talking for them both.

He moves the notes into his locked drawer. He doesn't want her to know he's keeping them, or anyone, at this point. Weirdly enough, this is the most he's interacted with someone he didn't already in quite some time.

"Thanks", she said.

Well. It's some sort of improvement, isn't it?

November starts without any new notes having been sent, and Inuyasha finds himself getting bored at work a lot. He tries to tell himself he's not expecting anything, but well, he's lying to himself and he knows it, and he also can't stop himself from thinking about how fucking stupid it is.

The Office Lady could be anyone. She probably doesn't think about him half as often as he thinks about her, but hey, she doesn't have to handle his smell. They're not fucking lovers, they're certainly not friends, and they're not even acquaintances. They've never met, never seen each other. She doesn't owe him anything, and their only interactions were one-sided, from her point of view at least.

He hates himself.

But on Friday morning, he walks in the office, and is almost knocked out by the overpowering smell of flower. His vision blurs, and he can only press a hand against his nose to try to lessen the smell. It's not exactly working. A reasonable person would probably call for help, but 'reasonable' was never a word one could apply to Inuyasha. He manages to stagger to the window and to open it. There, he takes long, calming breath of air, before turning furious eyes to the offender.

Lavender. With the smell so strong that he can barely breathe, even now. He takes off his jacket and uses it to protect his mouth while he grabs the pot and puts it on the window ledge. Thankfully, the wind blows the smell away, and he sighs in relief.

Inuyasha walks to the desk in what can only be qualified as a blind rage. He has to move slowly so he won't rip off the handle for the top drawer, and once he's there, he has to try several time before he stops tearing to shreds the notes with his claws. Finally, he manages to get a pink one.

Yeah, he's aware, he said he wouldn't write back to her, and certainly not use her color-code, but fucking hell, she's done it now.

"Don't. Bring. Flowers. Again."

His writing somehow manages to be agressive, but he cannot care less. As far as he is concerned, this means war.

Pink.

"You killed my lavender! If you don't like flowers, couldn't you just wait a day? K."

Pink. (He can't believe he is using her code. Maybe he should change it just to mess with her. They're her notes, after all.)

"No."

Pink. So this is a war.

"Wow, amazing, so glad you're communicating with me."

Pink. What a fucking bitch.

"Printer is empty."

Pink.

"Oops, didn't notice. You should fill it."

Pink.

"You emptied it, you fill it."

Pink.

"Why'd you kill my lavender?"

Pink.

"Who cares? Fill the printer."

Pink.

"No."

Pink.

"Are you a fucking child?"

Pink.

"How can youcall mea child?"

Pink.

"The smell was too strong. Fill the fucking printer."

Pink.

"The smell was too strong? What are you, a dog?"

Pink.

"Half dog-demon, yeah. Took you long enough for the printer."

Yellow. Shit. He wants to stay mad at her.

"Oh. I'm so sorry, I had no idea. I should have thought about it. I deeply apologize."

Yellow. Inuyasha really, really wants to reply with pink, but he holds back somehow.

"You couldn't know. Forget it."

Green.

"No, seriously. I'm sorry. Can I get you something? Are chocolates off the table because of the dog thing?"

He wishes he could say it doesn't make him laugh.

Green.

"Ramen."

Next time, there's a green note on a small pack of ramen, saying "Enjoy! :)" Inuyasha answers with a green note that says "Thanks".

It's probably the nicest exchange they've had since this began.

The Office Lady puts out a family picture. It features an old man, a middle-aged woman and a young boy who's probably in high-school. Inuyasha doesn't really want to comment on it, but he wants to know if she's the woman.

He picks a green note, and for once, he starts the conversation. "Who are they?"

Green note.

"Mom, grandpa and little brother! You can put your pictures up if you want to, I don't mind :)"

He would be lying if he said he didn't miss the smileys.

Green.

"No pictures. We didn't get enough time."

Green.

"Shoot, sorry again :( Me and my big mouth…"

Green.

"'s okay. Been a long time."

Inuyasha laughs when she gets him another pack of ramen as a way of saying sorry, and then he realizes that she got him his own set of notes. There's green, yellow and pink, obviously, but there's also blue, and he's never seen her use blue.

He gets a green one. "What's blue for?"

Green.

"Work. Boring :("

She's fucking adorable.

Mid-November, the Office Lady starts decorating the office for Christmas, and once more, Inuyasha thinks about how much of a psychopath she is. Can't she wait for December like everyone else?

After a few days, though, the tinsels grow on him, and he leaves a note, almost despite himself. Almost.

"The decorations are cute."

Green.

"Aw, thanks! I'm so happy you like them :) I was afraid you'd be a bit of a Grinch."

He's a bit offended by how right she is.

Green.

"How about we meet for lunch on Wednesday?"

That's stupid. He knows it's stupid. And she will probably find it weird. But he writes quickly and then practically runs out of the office so he won't change his mind.

On Wednesday morning, Inuyasha finds out she replied "I'd love to! :)))", and it has him grinning for the entirety of his work hours. Miroku drops in and acts shocked at seeing him smiling. Inuyasha throws something at him — his stapler. Miroku's lucky, because the Office Lady's cactus was right next to it, and it was really tempting to throw that, but he doesn't want to start another pink-note war.

At noon, he waits in the office.

And waits.

And waits.

After an hour, he wonders what the fuck he's still doing there. She ain't coming. He's not even sure why he stayed there for so long. It's not like it's the first time someone stands him up, and he barely even knows the girl.

He throws his jacket on, grabs his suitcase and walks out. Everything looks and feels cold, deserted. It's noon, so there's almost no one in. It doesn't improve his mood, but it does make him feel a little better. At least he doesn't have to watch them try to stay away from him in the elevator today. No such thing as a small victory.

As he walks out, he notices a woman running towards him. Wind is blowing in her black hair, and she's wearing a green dress which only reminds him of the notes. He considers dropping the door and letting it hit her in the face, because he's in a bad mood, but he's also feeling sentimental today.

She shoots him a bright smile that makes her blue eyes shine when she realizes he's holding the door for her.

"Thank you!" she breathes out as she runs in, moving past him pretty fast, for a human.

He only recognizes the smell after she's gone.

She was late. He considers running after her, catching up with her, telling her. He doesn't move. Sure, she's early for her work hours, but she's still late, so it must mean she didn't want to see it that much, right?

The next morning, there's a green note that says "I couldn't make it I'm so sorry :("

He doesn't reply.

He is very surprised when he runs into her again, because it's not one of her days. She's running through the building, trying to keep up with someone who Inuyasha recognizes as Miroku's Office Lady — Sango. Yeah, Miroku knows who his Office Lady is, because, like the weirdo he is, he communicated with her. Then asked her out on a date. Then she said no. Then he asked again. Repeat that for a dozen times, and then she showed up at his office and threatened to kill him.

Needless to say, Miroku's in love.

Anyway, Inuyasha's Office Lady is running after Sango, but they're also both carrying big boxes of stuff that might very well belong to Miroku. If he was a good friend, he'd stop them.

He doesn't even think about it.

However, when his Office Lady trips, he barely thinks before stepping in and grabbing her arm, steadying her.

"Oof, damn, thank you so— Oh, it's you again."

She smiles brightly, and his heart drops to his stomach.

"You held the door for me!"

"…'cause you were running."

Not to be nice. He's not nice. Why did he just catch her? He has no fucking idea.

"Yeah, I was… late," she grimaces. "I'm Kagome, by the way."

Kagome. So that's what the K is for.

"Inuyasha."

Her eyes widen, and then her gaze moves up to his ears, like she just suddenly noticed them, along with the white hair and golden eyes. He rises an eyebrow. Does she know his name? But how? She opens her mouth, but then Sango reappears.

"Kagome, hurry! We don't have that long before he comes back!"

He should stop them right? He probably should stop them.

Miroku deserves it though, so he doesn't move.

"I really need to help my friend," she breathes out, "but you… We—We'll talk again!"

Then she runs away, and he vaguely wonders if the whole thing actually happened as he stays there, standing with his hands in his pocket, looking at the corner at which she disappeared.

She smells even better from up close.

The only thing on the next note, green, is her phone number.

What the fuck is he supposed to do with that?

He waits for a little while. It's definitely not the right move, and Miroku would kill him if he knew, but thankfully Inuyasha hasn't updated him since the beginning of the note-war. Also, Miroku's entire office was moved on the roof and he has been in a bit of a bad mood recently.

Tough.

One day, though, Inuyasha realizes that there are two golden plaques on the door. With his name — Inuyasha Taisho —, but more importantly, with her name.

Kagome Higurashi.

How did he never notice that?

He texts her that evening. Keeps it short and simple. Place and time.

She replies "It's a date! :)", and he kinda misses her writing, but it's all set now. No backing away, and if she doesn't show up this time, well, at least she'll be able to let him know? He's not sure about himself this time. He's not quite the type to give people second chances.

Only, it might actually be worth it this time.

Of fucking course, she has to be late. It only makes sense, that she would torture him a little more. Inuyasha seriously considers running away the second the time is passed. But he waits.

Not for an hour, this time. Just a reasonable fifteen minutes, before she runs past the corner. She's in good shape, he thinks when she gets by his side and is only barely panting, but he supposes if she's often late, it would make sense.

"Hey, I'm so sorry, I had—"

"You're always late, aren't ya?"

She blushes, not in an embarrassed way but in an angry one.

Still just as adorable.

"No, no, not always, just… Just often." She pushes some hair out of her mouth. "I'm Kagome Higurashi, by the way."

"I know. 's written on the office door. I had totally noticed."

She laughs at that.

"I felt so stupid. You're literally called Inuyasha. I can't believe I made that dog joke, I'm so sorry by the way I—"

"That was a month ago. I'm over it."

She frowns.

"You're not really good at conversation, are you? Funny, I certainly couldn't have told that from your notes."

Is she making fun of him?

"So, wanna… Walk around? Grab coffee?"

Truth is, he didn't plan the date, because part of him was worried she would bail on him, and he didn't want to look stupid having to cancel a reservation at a restaurant.

"Actually, I need to go grab something at the office, if you don't mind?"

"On a week-end?"

A psychopath. He knew it from the beginning. He can't believe he didn't pay attention to the signs.

"Oh come on. I went on week-ends when Sango wanted to get revenge on her Office Guy. It's for myself this time. And kinda for you."

Sango calls Miroku Office Guy. That's hilarious. Did she miss the plaque on the door as well?

"'kay. I'll follow you."

Like he can say no to her. And they're not even dating. Yet.

"Okay, just— wait a second, okay?"

Inuyasha shrugs. He hesitates a little before following her inside. He can't say he's really fond of the place, but mostly, he's getting ideas now. Ideas that feature her sitting on the desk with her legs spread and him—

"Got it!"

Thank God. He needs to cool the fuck down.

"It's for you."

She hands him a carefully wrapped present, and he can only stare at it.

"It's not Christmas."

December has barely started. Seriously, what's wrong with her?

"I'm late most of the time, but I like planning. Aren't you going to open it?"

He wants to, but he also doesn't want her to realize he wants to. So he scoffs and rolls his eyes. She leans against the desk, watching him with amusement dancing in her eyes and, yup, not looking at her, it's giving him way too many ideas.

He rips the paper open, and ignores her sudden fascination for his claws. She seems almost disappointed at how quick he is at opening it.

It hits him like a punch in the chest.

It's a picture of his parents. He hasn't seen many of them, and he definitely doesn't own any.

"I asked your brother," Kagome says softly. "He isn't an easy man to get a hold of, but Sango helped. She… has her ways."

So Miroku's Office Lady is a force to be reckoned with. He'll remember that.

He clears his throat awkwardly, and carefully puts the picture back in the envelope. Doesn't want to rip it by accident, and he is trembling a little.

"I don't have a present for you," he mumbles.

"I mean, you can think of something else you could give me, right?"

He squints at her. Surely, she can't mean… Is she pulling fucking mistletoe out of her drawers? How many decorations for holidays is she hiding in there? How in advance is she planning? Again, what's wrong with her? Now she's holding the mistletoe over her head.

"Not that you have to," she frowns when he doesn't move. "I mean, I don't want you to feel pressured into anything, I thought we had a good vibe and—"

It takes one wide step and his mouth is on her, his body pressing itself against hers between her legs. He kisses her hungrily. He's been imagining the way she tasted since he first smelled her.

He's not disappointed.

When she wraps her arms around him and brings him closer, he decides that she's not disappointed either.

Good. Cause he has no intention of letting go of her any time soon.

Hope you've enjoyed your read, and I'm wishing everyone a happy new year! Please consider leaving a review to make an author happy!

Dya.