Shock and Awe by Meav [OneShot #104]
Title: Shock and Awe
Author: Meav
Prompt: Needle
Genre: General
Rating: G
Warnings: Forgive me, I'm rusty.
Word Count: 1200
Summary: Working in a coffee shop after the well closes, Kagome runs into someone she hasn't seen in a long, long time.
Kagome bobbed her head, and mentally sang along with the song currently playing over the coffee house's speakers as she scrubbed out the blender she had just used. Maneuvering quickly yet carefully at the bottom to avoid the blades. They were sharp, oh so very sharp, they were as unpleasant as getting stuck with a needle at your doctors office.
She hummed as she turned the tap off and set the blender upside down on a towel next to the sink. Kagome dried her hands off on her apron before turning to her next customer, her ginger haired regular, one of her favorites.
“What can I get you today?” She smiled.
“Oh, I think I'll go with honeydew this time.” He smiled at her.
“Large?” She asked, already knowing the answer. He grinned and she picked up the cup and set to work making his drink.
“Oh, oh, hey!” He whispered excitedly, leaning over the counter a ways. “Do you guys still have those little lollipops? You know, the ones you give the kids.”
“The ones I used to get you too back when you were little?” Kagome looked over her shoulder and took note of his twitching nose.
“You know we do, Shippo.” She whispered back and smiled. She walked back over to the counter, set his cup down and crossed her arms. “One honeydew bubble tea.”
He was about to ask if he could have some before he notice the three lollipops she had put in his straw.
“Never mind!” he trotted off to the table in the corner of the shop, next to the big front window and sat down in one of the big plush chairs.
Kagome looked up at the clock and then over at the other person who was working behind the counter with her. “Hey, Joe! I'm going on break!”
Joe, without turning to look at her nodded his head and continued on with his work, “'Kay.”
Kagome worked her way out from behind the counter and over to her ginger kit's table.
“Joe?”
“Yep, this area has changed since you were last here, quite a few Americans and Europeans moved in. I think we have a few from Australia too.”
Shippo mouthed the word 'Ah.' before looked down and plucking the lollipops out of his straw.
“I thought you weren't supposed to be back until next month.”
“Eh, our dig was cut short do to our boss getting sick.” He replied with a small frown, there was a tapioca ball stuck in his straw.
Kagome snorted.
“Yeah I know, I find it hard to believe that the drama queen still has her job too.”
“Well, besides that did, you find anything?” Kagome asked, hopeful.
Shippo was the only one she had found in her era, the Bone Eaters Well sealed itself off after the final battle some thirteen years ago. She had found him during an event one of the local museum, she had been frequenting museums since she was sixteen, in hopes of finding anything, anything at all that related to her friends. Shippo had been there with his archaeological team.
Shippo told her he had separated from their group around twenty years after a falling out with Inuyasha, he said he had been doing the same as her, looking for any sign of his friends, only, he was doing it out in the dirt.
Shippo, still sucking on his straw, reached into his front pocket before holding his had up to his miko mother. She looked at the long gold tassel with the dulled red bead that Shippo had hanging on his finger and smiled sadly. Shippo leaned over the table to whisper as the bell on the coffee house's door signaled a new customer.
“We had to leave before I could dig any further, the area has changed quite a bit over the years but I'm thinking we either found the Taijiya village or our old battle ground,” He thought a moment.
“Hey Kagome!” Joe called from behind the counter. “I need to up here, I have to go.”
“Or she may just have just randomly lost this little thing somewhere.” Shippo continued and wiggled his finger, making the tassel dance. Kagome chuckled and got up from her seat.
“Where do you have to go?” She asked as she made her way back to the counter.
“My wife is having the baby!” He threw is hands up in the air and grinned. Kagome copied him and 'Woo'ed' as he ran past her and out of the store. Kagome skipped up to the register and put both her hands on the counter before looking up at her new customer. He was tall, so very tall, his short black hair was slicked back much like a 1920s gangster, his eyes were a dark chocolate brown, Kagome couldn't place it but he seemed familiar to her.
“What can I get for you?” She asked, still studying his features.
“Three blueberry scones.” Was his simple answer, in a low baritone, her heart skipped a beat.
Kagome looked past the man to her now pale kit, who simply stared at the man's back. The miko slowly shuffled, to the case displaying the pastries and picked out the three best looking scones she could find and placed them in a bag. She watched the man out of the corner of her and almost eep'ed when he turned to look at her, she looked back down at the bag and folded the top down.
She looked back up at him sheepishly.
“Can I get you anything else?” She could have sworn she hear a 'hn'. As Kagome rung up his order she watched him pull out a white business card and write on the back of it before dropping it in her tip jar. The man picked up his bag, took one of the scones out and took a bite as he turned to leave. Kagome looked to her kit again, Shippo was staring right back at her and mouthed the question 'Is that-?'. She looked at the man's retreating form before digging into her tip jar and pulled out the card, she flicked her eyes up to look at the man who had paused by the door, he smirked before leaving the shop.
Shippo jumped up from his seat and bounded towards Kagome.
“Whats it say?” He asked, trying to grab the card from her. She kept it out of his reach.
Kagome's breath caught as she read the front, flipping the card over so she could read the back her heart stopped as she stared down at the lone four letter word that sat there.
Kagome shoved the card into Shippo's hands before vaulting over the counter and chased after the 1920s gangster.
“Wait! Please Wait!” She yelled as the bell on the door rang.
Shippo looked from the closing door to the business card and read; Suichi Taiyokai. Shippo blinked, Taiyokai... He flipped the card over to read what the man wrote; Miko.
Shippo smirked.