Only A Daydream Away by LynLin

As Time Goes By...

Aiyaa! Lol I sound like an old Chinese lady but that's okay! I am writing a new story and well, haha it's very...yup.

Disclaimer: Hmm...I see not the point of these. Lol I'm talking funny. But anyway, I don't own InuYasha or any of the characters. I know everyone wishes they did though! I own the idea and please don't try and use this idea and try to pass it off as your own!

PG-13

[AU] She likes chocolate. He likes flowers. Don't flowers and chocolate just go hand in hand? She just has a tiny little problem... [SessKag]

O n l y A D a y d r e a m A w a y

Chapter 1

As Time Goes By...

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She always seemed to be daydreaming. She never looked entirely focused and she always looked like she had something better to do. When she smiled, it seemed like she was smiling to herself and there was some inside joke that no one else but her would understand. No one did. No one questioned anything about her. It was just the way she was.

They didn't know where she came from. It was surprising how quickly it had happened. She had just appeared suddenly. The market on the corner had been for sale for quite a while. It had been there longer than anyone could remember. They certainly didn't notice when the sign had been taken down and they hardly noticed when people started to occupy the building.

When the shop finally opened, it had surprisingly been very eventful. The shop also sold little trinkets and it was a very good tourist attraction as well as a little shrine. What the shop really thrived on was selling flowers. It was a flower shop. The name of the store was 'Forever Memories'.

She was friendly, she was cheerful. You could never hate her and you could never love her. She had the kind of face that wasn't breathtakingly beautiful but it definitely wasn't plain either. You wouldn't notice her all the way across the room if you weren't looking for her. If you were looking for her, you'd certainly find her. She was pretty enough and had a natural sort of beauty. If she'd only wear makeup, then she would be a knock-out but she seemed oblivious to it all.

The way she'd treat any person was the same. If you were drop dead gorgeous, she'd be nice to you. If you were just plain ugly, she'd the same. She seemed to see past everything on the outside and found her way within.

She was just Kagome Higurashi.

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He could see her everyday. He didn't want to see her everyday but she was always there. He didn't know her name and was pretty sure that he didn't care. She in her little apron that was color coordinated depending on which day of the week it was. Not that he noticed or anything. She was always in his way. He had never actually spoken to her but she had probably seen him too.

Once in a while, he'd look out his window to find that she had been staring at him. It seemed like she had been staring, anyway. Whenever he looked back at her, she was never intimidated. When he glared at her, she just kept on staring. She always looked dazed.

It was surprising that he hadn't noticed her in the first place. She just appeared one day. The place was deserted but one day, everything was in place. It was almost infuriating how she had managed to do everything without anyone detecting it. He himself hadn't been in the town for too long but he was pretty sure he'd have seen something going on in the shop. She was either inconspicuous or extremely subtle.

Somehow, she had earned his respect. Most small businesses failed after the first few months yet here she was. She hardly seemed to be bankrupt and there were always a few stragglers after closing hours. He noticed. He didn't want to notice but he could hardly help it. Her store was in plain view. He was only across the street!

Was it his fault that he had inherited this stupid place? No, it was that old hag's fault. She had loved the place to death and had had her last breath there too. He hadn't even known her that well. He had only come to her store to buy a couple of cliché items for his date on Valentines Day before he broke up with her but obviously, that had been enough. She had left him the whole damn store and now he had to actually be in it before he could think of what the hell he was going to do with it. It was worse than that; he had to work in it.

He was the manager, the cashier, basically everything. It had been popular with younger children and with some teenage boys who needed to get gifts for their girlfriends but recently, it had also been popular with a much different crowd. More specifically, it was the female crowd. There had been from little girls to old hags like the one who had left him the place coming in to say hi, buy a couple of sweets, and smile flirtingly at him.

It didn't bother him much. After all, he did want the store to flourish. It didn't matter who would own the store later, as long as it was off of his hands. He only needed a couple more months before he would sell it. He needed to make sure the hag hadn't screwed anything up and screwed him as well. Who knew how hags thought anyway?

It was a shame, really. He rather liked flowers. Now, if the damn hag had left him a flower shop, maybe, just maybe he would consider keeping it. Chocolate was somewhat disgusting. Chocolate was a vile substance that gave children the energy to jump and run around like crazed monkeys one second and drop dead another second later. Flowers, on the other hand, were not edible and they were likable to a certain extent. They were fragrant and brightened up rooms quite well.

One benefit he had from being across the street from the little flower shop was the fact that everyone thought chocolate or candy and flowers went perfectly together. Personally, he thought it was a little cliché since it was what he had bought for hundreds of girls before and it was getting a little old but as long as it helped business, it didn't matter.

Oh, and it was absolutely perfect since those things were what had doomed him in the first place. He vowed never to buy another box of chocolates and flowers ever again in horror of another old hag who would leave him their store in their will. One was enough for a lifetime.

He was contemplating the death of all the old hags of the world when the little bell that hung on the door chimed. He quickly threw out all thoughts about murdering innocent old ladies in their sleep out of his head as he turned to greet his customer.

"Hello, welcome to..." he trailed off as he realized who had come in. He set his glare reserved for the most bothersome of all beings on his face and tried to look like he wasn't thinking about jumping over the counter and pounding in the face of his "customer". Instead, he tried to look almost pleasant. It was as pleasant as he could with a most venomous glare in the world, anyway. "What do you want, Kagura?"

"So...you're working in this dump now, then?" Kagura announced, not even trying to hide the disgust in her voice.

"If that's what you'd call this place, then yes. I work in this dump. I just happen to own this dump."

"Oh! Well, that's different then." She popped a chocolate Kiss into her mouth and chewed it daintily. "I suppose that it isn't that bad. All the sweets you can eat, right?"

He gave her a stony stare.

"What? Sesshoumaru, I don't like whatever it is you're thinking! It was only one little kiss!" she replied, shocked.

He looked her up and down and asked, "Wasn't that what you said before I dumped your delicate little ass?"

Kagura huffed indignantly and Sesshoumaru watched in amusement as her face started to turn several shades of pink and then red. She swiftly grabbed another chocolate but this time, it was a Hug. She popped it into her mouth and discreetly looked around for nosy customers. Nearly everyone in the little store was looking at them.

"Should I tell Mr. Hiroi of your little escapades today then? I'm positive he'd be perfectly ecstatic to hear that his loving daughter is a petty thief," Sesshoumaru spat out.

If it was possible, her face turned even redder and she fumbled through her purse before haughtily throwing a couple of dollars at him. It was all she could manage before she stormed out of the store and also before her coat got caught on the door handle.

"Thank you for coming to Bitter Sweet. Have a nice day," he called out to her in his most pleasant voice. He mentally shook out all his emotions. Only a certain few could cause all of his emotions to just burst out like that. Unfortunately, she was one of them.

Mentally sighing, he took the money from a little girl and gave her the bag of sweets. He thought about his family and that made him think about his father.

His father was having another political dinner party the next night and he was required to attend. It was just his luck that his father decided to come to the town that his son was conveniently located in. Maybe he'd pay a visit to the little place across the street after all. He needed to buy something if he was to see his stepmother and you could never go wrong with flowers. Unfortunately, everything had gone wrong with Kagura. Even beautiful flowers couldn't fix it.

Kagura had never really gotten over the fact that Sesshoumaru had broken up with her. He had done it nicely like always but she couldn't quite comprehend it at the time. She should have expected it, he thought. No one cheats on this Sesshoumaru. It was a good thing that he had never slept with her then.

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"You know, you really should collaborate with that store across the street."

"What are you talking about?"

"C'mon Kagome, surely you've noticed the hunk standing behind the register in the store across the street!"

Kagome just stared blankly ahead and blinked. "I haven't...seen him, Sango. I pay attention to my customers rather than hunky men across the street. You just happen to be one of the customers that come here to distract me every other day. Besides, you shouldn't be talking. Little miss happily married shouldn't be eyeing other men," she teased.

"I won't tell if you won't!" She winked. "Haha I'm sorry about that. I just love what you've done to this place. I used to always come here as a kid and played hide and seek. It scared the shit out of me. You've gone and made it downright homey! The colors and everything are just so...warm and inviting."

She shrugged as she started arranging the flowers into a bouquet. She sniffed each one before putting them in the order that she wanted.

"How is it that you can do that without looking at them?" Sango asked suddenly. "I mean, I've been watching you arrange flowers for the past couple of days and you can just make them look so beautiful without looking at them! You can multitask."

Kagome laughed and wrapped up the flowers with a pink bow. She tugged on her apron and yawned widely. Blinking the tears back from the yawn, she continued to stare at nothing.

Being the only person to work in the little shop, Kagome had time to socialize with the neighbors and the local townspeople. One of the people who had taken a special interest in the shop and in Kagome was none other than the woman standing beside her.

Sango Murakami was a self defense instructor across town and she was currently pregnant with her second child. She was on about her 6th month and had to take maternity leave from work. She lived about a few blocks away from "Forever Memories" and decided to visit the place on a whim one day. Her husband, Miroku Mazaki, had given the place well deserved praise and Sango had decided to visit the place more often.

At the moment, her pet project was to befriend Kagome Higurashi. It was pretty hard work too. Kagome was a very distant girl and it was hard to get any information at all from her. She'd always answer questions about herself evasively. She never slipped up even once in the whole 2 weeks that Sango had been there.

A little boy ran up to Kagome and hugged her legs tightly, signifying that he was there. He had soft orange-red hair that was piled messily on top of his head and green eyes that sparkled excitedly as he waited for the present he had gotten for his mother.

She turned her head towards him and tied another pink bow around the box that now held the flowers. "Here you go then, Shippou. I hope your mother feels better. I think it'd mean a lot more if you handwrote the card yourself, okay?"

Shippou looked confused for a second and then nodded before holding his arms out and successfully letting her legs go. He seemed to be expecting her to hand him the box but she held onto it a little longer. "So you wanted 3 purple irises, 2 yellow tulips, and one red rose, right?"

Reluctantly, the redheaded boy let his hands fall to his sides and waited for her to hand them to him. He didn't like the fact that she was teaching him good manners. "Yes, ma'am."

A lock of her dark black hair fell out of its ponytail and brushed Shippou's nose gently. He sneezed. She put her hand on his cheek and rubbed his nose with her thumb. She handed him the box and said, "Thank you for coming. I'll just put that on your tab."

He stared at her eyes and saw that she wasn't looking directly at him. Her eyes were such a pale blue that they seemed grey at times. They were very captivating and he didn't even notice that he was staring at them until the pregnant woman cleared her throat.

"Oh!" he blushed. "I'm sorry, Ms. Higurashi. I didn't mean to stare at you."

Kagome rarely looked surprised but this was just one of those moments. "Were you? Well, that's alright. I don't mind at all. Later when your mother opens the box, she'll get a surprise." She winked at his general direction. "I won't charge you any extra. Just tell her that she's welcome here at any time and that I think you're a really great kid."

The emerald green eyes of his shone even brighter and he quickly rushed out of the store with a "Thank You".

Sango watched his retreating back and turned towards Kagome again. She was talking to a pair of tourists, assuring them that the flowers were fresh and that they'd last at least a week. She laughingly told them that she hadn't been in the town very long but she was growing into it. It was interesting how well she related to all her customers, no matter what age.

As soon as the pair left –not without a couple of souvenirs, of course- Sango spoke mischievously, "Well! It's obvious that that little redhead kid has a crush on you!"

Currently, her eyes were a pale blue and they blinked rapidly in confusion. "W-what?"

"That kid," she said while absently rubbing her stomach, "has got the hots for you."

"Who? Shippou?" Her brows were furrowed in utter confusion.

"Who else? Girl, you can see it in his eyes!"

Her face was saddened for a bit but she brightened quickly. She had no idea if Sango had caught it or not but it didn't matter. "I bet that's how you could tell Miroku loved you too."

Caught unexpectedly, Sango blushed. "Way to change the subject, Higurashi."

Kagome just smiled knowingly and went back to work. She walked towards the counter and lightly kicked it before carefully walking behind it. She located the stool and sat down cautiously. She knew the little shop like the back of hand but you could never be too careful. "Sango?" she called out. "What time is it?"

Sango looked at her watch and yelped, "Oh gosh! I've been here way too long! Haha, sorry Kags, but I gotta jet. You know how it is! Don't wanna make the husband panic!"

The last comment had made Kagome shake with laughter. Honestly, she wouldn't know how it was since she had never been married but she didn't mind if Sango thought she was. At some point, Sango's nagging and questioning had become more amusing rather than annoying.

There was a little ringing noise and then her pocket started vibrating. She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. "Hello? Jakotsu?"

"Kag, baby, does it sound like I'm Jakotsu?"

Kagome rolled her eyes vaguely and said into the phone, "Hey, Bankotsu. I was hoping you were Jakotsu. I'm expecting him to come pick me up. I still need to find something to wear for the stupid party."

"Ah, you wound me!" She could practically hear him holding his hand over his heart over the phone. "Little brother isn't going to make it tonight. I'm going to pick you up in his place. Don't you think that I'd pick something better for you to wear rather than Jakotsu?"

"Knowing you, you'd have me dressed in lingerie and try to tell me it's only my imagination when I tell you it doesn't feel right," she said wryly.

"Well! Then you know me too well! I'll see you in five."

"Hn."

The last customer of the day walked up to Kagome and asked, "How much will this little charm cost?"

She reached over and felt the edges and curves of the little bauble and replied, "Oh, it isn't very much. If you like, you can get it for free if you buy a couple of flowers and request the charm to be with it."

"How quaint...I'll do that then."

It was really quite easy doing what she did. In a matter of moments, she had the flowers and the little trinket all wrapped up and boxed.

"Would you mind getting me a bag?"

"No problem." She reached under the counter and felt around for the bag while she smiled. "Here you go. Have a nice night."

"You too. You better be getting home soon, wherever it is you live. It can get pretty dangerous around this time. You don't want young hoodlums coming in and all that nonsense!"

"No, I don't," Kagome agreed good-naturedly. "I'm just waiting for a friend to come and pick me up and then I'll be on my way."

The tourist/customer nodded and winked at Kagome before leaving. "He must be a nice one to have gotten you!"

Kagome didn't notice the meaning until after the door closed and she blushed. "Crazy old bat..." She was muttering to herself and her back was turned to the door when it opened.

"Bankotsu? Is that you?" she asked, without even bothering to turn around. "I need you to do something for me before we leave..."

"I'm afraid that I'm not your Bankotsu," a deep voice replied. It sent shivers down her spine.

"I-I'm sorry, but we're closed."

"I've seen you take in some last minute customers over the last couple of days. I don't see why you shouldn't make an exception now."

It was hard to stay calm but she tried. She forced herself to relax and somehow, it worked. It would have been much scarier if she could have turned around and looked at him but she couldn't. Thank God for that.

"Is there anything you'd like in particular?"

"It's considered rude to some if you talk without looking at them."

Annoyed and a little frustrated, she whirled around, faced his direction, and glared as hard as she could at where she had heard his voice come from. "And it's also considered rude to ask the impossible."

She didn't know why in the world she had just blurted it out but he had just made her so angry. With that cool tone of his and his obvious reluctance to be there in the first place, he got on her nerves. She had never told anyone other than her close relations and even then, they had had to find out on their own. She never told anyone willingly. She knew they'd treat her differently. They always did.

He didn't understand what she had meant. What was so impossible about his request? He watched her impatience build up and he felt just as impatient. He refused to admit it but she had quite a nice place. It was very fragrant and the flowers seemed extremely fresh. There were colors and varieties of all kinds. They were placed expertly and the counters and shelves were also color-coordinated. There were a couple of wind chimes and the woman in the middle of it all just seemed to fit perfectly.

It suddenly hit him then. She was putting all her heart and soul into the glare that was supposedly aimed at him but he could see some uncertainty in her eyes. She seemed to be glaring at everything in his direction like...like she couldn't see him. That was it then.

"You...are you blind?"

--tsuzuku--

So how did you all like it? Was that a good enough start? I think I'm writing weirdly but oh well. I hope you liked it and hopefully I like it enough to continue! Luv ya!