Waitress

By: UGAdawg

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry for the long wait, it was a bad week with AP exams and graduation. But now I'm back to writing and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Chapter 4

Kagome sat in her room letting her fingers mindlessly drum against her wooden desk. It was her day off this week, and she had no idea what to do with herself. Over the past couple weeks; Kagome has basically volunteered to work every day, every shift. Finally Inuyasha had to tell her that she had to take a couple days off or he might get sued for working her too much.

And that's why Kagome was sitting home alone with nothing to do. She had started to think that she had become a bit more independent after working for a while at Your Choice, but she was wrong. She had just replaced her dependence on Hojo to a dependence on Your Choice.

Sitting upright, Kagome dragged her Mac book over to her and checked her email. It was just wishful thinking that Hojo may have sent her something, some reassurance that he was thinking on her as much as she was thinking of him. But Kagome had already checked five minutes ago and there was still an empty inbox glaring out at her.

There's nothing like an empty inbox and a silent phone to make one feel unwanted.

Finally after feeling worthless for another half hour, Kagome slipped out of her room into the upstairs hall. Stepping lightly to the end of the hall, Kagome glanced inside her mother's office. Of course her mother was sitting diligently at the computer following up on a few contracts. She worked a lot too. It was easier to avoid the family that way.

"Mom?" Kagome announced clearly while lightly tapping the doorframe.

Her mother glanced up for a moment to show that she acknowledged Kagome's presence before glancing back at the computer screen. "I'm a little busy right now. What did you need, honey?"

Kagome licked her dry lips and sighed under her breath. When her mother announced that she was busy that usually meant you had to keep your dialogue short because she just didn't have time for children at the moment. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm going out to the park for a little while." Kaori didn't make a verbal response, just nodded to show that she heard Kagome.

Stepping down the steps and out the front door, Kagome practically jogged to her car. She was just so eager to finally be out of her room. It was starting to get claustrophobic.

The park was a huge place surrounding the town's lake. It wasn't a large lake but had enough fish in it to tempt men to come out to the banks on the weekend mornings to try their luck. A nice wooded area surrounded the lake with a winding track meandering around the whole lake. It was a very popular place to jog for most of the town. There were also picnic areas scattered about the shores too.

In her earlier years Kagome would always come to the lake. Sometimes her father would somehow manage to convince her to roll out of bed at 4 a.m. to get a good fishing spot. No matter how early she woke up, or how good a spot they got; it seemed she could never catch more then minnows. Kagome also used to jog there too. Hojo didn't like it though, too many people and bugs. So she had gotten a gym membership with him and now ran on treadmills.

But she wasn't going there to run or fish. Kagome just wanted something to do. And there's not that any things you can do for free. She had gotten very money conscious lately with college peeking at her from around the corner.

Parking in one of the various small, gravel lots, Kagome slipped out of her car and started to walk towards the track. Exercise increases endorphins (she had learned that in her Anatomy class), so maybe a little walk in the fresh air would help her get over the slight depression Hojo's negligence and her own boredom created.

Halfway around the lake and ten bug bites later, Kagome finally reached a clearing. She had started to think the mosquitoes hid in the bushes till a stray ankle got close enough for them to pounce on. No wonder Hojo hated the place; nature really is out to get you.

While she was lightly scratching a few bites on her left leg, leaning over and not paying much attention to what was going on around her. She vaguely noticed a young man's voice crying out about something in the background. A few guys were playing a game of soccer in the open field, so she just assumed they were yelling at each other. Normally she would at least spare a glance over to see what the commotion was about. But the two teams were split up into shirts and skins, and even though Hojo was thousands of miles away, she would feel guilty ogling another man so she removed the temptation by ignoring it.

Unfortunately she probably should have been paying attention to the men because not a moment later something large and round collided with her head, knocking her onto the ground since she was already leaning over. Letting out a cry, Kagome caught herself with her arm feeling a few scraps resulting from the contact of skin on concrete. A soccer ball rolled innocently away from the scene.

"God, you really do have the worst timing don't you? You're always getting in my way." The voice was obnoxiously familiar. But Kagome was too busy laying splayed across the track in a public area like a fool and starring at her slowly trickling blood.

A few more footsteps were heard approaching her. "Don't be such as ass, the girl's hurt."

A hand presented itself to her and Kagome gladly let the man pull her to her feet. She found herself starring at charming violet eyes, familiar eyes. "You ok Kagome?" She was having trouble understanding where she was at the moment. The soccer ball had hit her fairly hard at the back of the head, knocking her a little senseless. Whoever had kicked it had quite a leg.

"Miroku?" She continued to hold onto his arm, refusing to let it go even though she was steady on her feet.

He just smiled a little. "You really are out of it, aren't you? But you can let go on my arm now."

Kagome just shook her head. "If I let go of your hand, it's just going to wander from my arm to my ass. I think I'll just hold on for a little while longer."

She heard chuckling from her other side and glanced over at the sound. Inuyasha was standing there, smug as could be, with the soccer ball securely placed under his foot. "She really knows you too well Miroku. You'll never get a good feel of her at this rate." Did she mention he was playing on the skins team? Even his rude, arrogant nature was having trouble masking that built body. Damn temptation. Just think of Hojo… Hojo… Hojo…

Then it clicked.

"Were you the one that hit me?" She stood there, glaring daggers at Inuyasha till the smirk on his face started to falter a little under her glower.

He huffed a little. "Not my fault you always get in my way. First you stalk me to the restaurant, then you ram into me at work, now you're throwing yourself in my way out here. Could you be any more desperate?"

All thoughts of his body were gone. "You are such an arrogant asshole! You nearly knock me out cold and you blame it on me. What is your problem with actually admitting that you can screw up? I've never met someone so… so infuriating in my life. I only find myself losing my temper around you." She let go of Miroku's arm and crossed her arms over her chest in the typical child tantrum stance.

Instead of groping her, Miroku neatly slinked away and back toward the other soccer players who were standing watching the spectacle and waiting for their ball back. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes at her argument before placing the smirk back on his face. He leaned in a little towards her till their faces were mere inches away from each other.

Hojo… Hojo… Hojo… Kagome furiously thought and tried to ignore the burning amber eyes and full lips so close to her own.

Finally he muttered huskily under his breath, just loud enough for Kagome to pick it up. "At least I'm the only one that can inspire some… passion in you." He drew back and jogged over to his friends, leaving her speechless and red where she was. Sparring another glance at the group of boys, recognizing Koga among the twenty or so boys too, Kagome turned on her heel and bolted back to her car. By the time she reached her little red sedan, she had worked up a slight sweat.

She didn't immediately jump into her car though; instead she turned and leaned against the hood. What Inuyasha said disturbed her in ways that it really shouldn't. It was true that she had never lost her temper around Hojo. It seemed every relationship had little fights scattered throughout the time people are together, except for her and Hojo. There were no arguments, but there was also no spark. She had been happy with that. It had always been… relaxing. She didn't even want passion. And Inuyasha had no right to say that when he knew she was in a very committed relationship.

Glancing at her watch, Kagome noticed that a couple hours had already passed by. It was probably time for her to go home and help her mother prepare dinner. Something in her wanted to find Inuyasha and Miroku again though. They looked like they were having fun, and she certainly never felt like she was beneath them. It was a refreshing change from always being around Hojo, who inspired a feeling of unworthiness in her.

She shook the thought out of her head. She really was lucky to have someone as perfect as him… even if there wasn't any passion.

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.