Human Compensation

“Are you very angry at me?” Sango asas tas they sat in the cafeteria during lunch. It was the first real conversation she’d had with Kagome within the two weeks she’d worked there.

Kagome smiled at her friend from across the table. “No, now that I know what you do, I’m sure you had good reasons for not keeping in touch with me.”

Sango looked surprised. “You know?”

“She figured it out, Sango. She knows we work for the government,” Inuyasha said casually.

“The government!” Sango exclaimed.

Miroku choked on his food.

“We don’t...” she started to say.

“Like people to know what we do,” Inuyasha cut in giving her a stern look.

Sango looked down at her tray. Miroku was trying to keep from laughing. She did not think it was so amusing. It was Inuyasha’s idea that they have lunch together at their workplace instead of going out. She knew he was trying to get her and Kagome reacquainted, which was sweet of him, but she had been afraid of how Kagome would react if she tried to be her friend again so she had avoided her, only stopping to say hi or how are you if they happened to pass by each other.

Kagome was happy Sango was finally making the effort to talk to her. She had been very hurt at her friend’s distant attitude and had told Inuyasha when he’d asked why she acted so depressed whenever she saw Sango. She had a feeling Inuyasha had arranged this lunch so they could talk.

“Rin works here too, Kagome,” she said changing the subject.

“Rin! I can’t believe it! I haven’t seen her around.”

“Well, she works for Sesshoumaru and he keeps her to himself a lot.”

Inuyasha snorted. “She’s his bitch.”

“Inuyasha, Rin is not a bitch. What is it with you and that word? Do you go around calling every girl you see a bitch?”

“No, just you, actually.”

Sango smiled a little at seeing how riled up Kagome was getting. “Kagome, before you stab Inuyasha with that fork, there’s something you should know about dog youkai. They don’t see the word ‘bitch’ as an insult. It’s more of an endearment.”

“What?” Kagome asked confused.

“Feh, who asked you for your opinion!” Inuyasha said his face reddening. He got up and walked away.

“Think about it, ‘bitch’ means a female dog, usually when dog youkai call a female ‘bitch’ it usually means they like you.”

“But Inuyasha calls me that all the time,” Kagome said. “He called me that when I first met him.”

She looked at Inuyasha who was standing a few feet away staring out the window. He was pretending to not listen, but his ears kept twitching in their direction.

“Really? Then he must really like you,” Miroku teased.

Kagome blushed, “I still say it insulting.”

“Only to humans, Kagome,” Sango said.

“Perhaps Inuyasha sees you as a future mate,” Miroku said loudly. He knew Inuyasha was listening.

“A mate?” Kagome asked even more confused.

Sango giggled at that. “His girlfriend or wife in human terms.”

“No, he’d have to sleep with her and then mark her to make her his wife,” Miroku said.

“Mark me?” Kagome asked her face flaming.

“Will you two stop fooling around and get back to work!” Inuyasha suddenly yelled behind them.

Kagome stared at him. There was a lot she had to learn about dog youkai. She glanced at him as they walked back to their office. He was walking beside her and staring straight ahead. She’d been living with him and working for him for two weeks and he was still getting on her last nerves, but she was getting used to his attitude. She was beginning to learn to not take him so seriously. There were rare times where he was actually nice to her and sometimes, she would catch him watching her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. Still, it was hard to believe that he could like her. They argued all the time, almost about everything. Especially the times when she tried to go out without him. She didn’t know why he made it a habit to follow her everywhere she went. It was bad enough she had to live and work with him. Sometimes, she wanted to be alone, but Inuyasha insisted that it was too dangerous for her to roam around the city alone. He followed her to the grocery store, the mall, the post office, everywhere! As if he was afraid she was going to run off if he didn’t keep an eye on her. She couldn’t even get dates because of him. As soon as a cute guy tried to talk to her Inuyasha would suddenly appear out of nowhere and growl, a low menacing growl. His ears would flatten and his eyes would narrow as if he was getting ready to pounce on them. She’d yell at him, but it didn’t do any good. Her potential dates would run off and she’d be left standing with a smirking dog demon. She sighed loudly causing him to glance at her. She was in a new, exciting, city, but had no life because of him.

“What are you signing about? I got her to talk to you didn’t I?” Inuyasha asked misjudging her sign.

Kagome smiled. “I thought you did it for that reason, thank you.”

“Feh,” ashaasha said looking away and secretly smiling.

A tall, beautiful, woman with long, straight, black, hair, and dark, narrow eyes was waiting for them when they walked into her office. She frowned when she saw Kagome.

“Kikyo, what are you doing here?” Inuyasha asked. He didn’t look too happy to see her.

So, this was the woman who had left all those messages on his answering machine. Inuyasha had told her she was his ex-girlfriend when she’d asked about her. He’d also told her the reason why he’d broken up with her. She’d cheated on him with someone named Naraku. Kagome had asked him if he had loved her. He’d told her their relationship had been more of a proposition than anything else. She’d used him for his money and power and he’d used her for sex.

“Why haven’t you answered my messages, Inuyasha. I must have left fifty on your answering machine.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t want to talk you?” Inuyasha asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.

“So this is Kaede’s replacement? A little young, isn’t she?” Kikyo asked giving Kagome a disapproving look.

“Get out of here, Kikyo.” Inuyasha demanded. “I told you to never set foot in here again.”

“You think you can get rid of me so easily? I know all about you and this girl. I did some research while you were ignoring me. She’s living with you. What kind of relationship is that to have with her boss? Do you think you can replace me with this child? She not even pretty."

“Hey!” Kagome said at that insult.

“If I can’t have you back, then no one can, Inuyasha, no one....”

Inuyasha eyes widen when he saw the flash of light appear in Kikyo’s hand. Too late. He’d reacted too late! “Kagome!” He yelled desperately, as he ran to the window. Kikyo had shot the beam of light at Kagome knocking her out of the window. Inuyasha watched helplessly as the girl fell to her death.

Kikyo laughed maniacally behind him. She stopped when he ran past her and out the room. Inuyasha ran as fast his powers would let him, pushing himself over the limit of his usual speed as he shot down the stairs. He would not let Kagome die. He’d grown very fond of her during the short time they had lived together. He’d gotten use to her laughter, her smile, the way she smelled after taking a shower, her kindness when she insisted on taking care of his wounds when he came home hurt. He even liked when they argued. She was beautiful, spirited, and she was his.

It had happened so fast Kagome didn’t have time to react. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t scream, she couldn’t even be afraid. All she could do was watch the blue sky above her as she fell to her death from a surreal point of view. It was like some bad dream she was having that she was sure to wake up from any second.

To be continued....