9So the other night I had hardcore insomnia and was itching to write something to hopefully wear myself out but I wasn't sure what. Instead of grappling for hours like I was fully prepared to do, I went through my current Spotify playlist to look for inspiration from my delectable song titles.
I decided on Superposition by Young the Giant (a truly amazing song), and this story was born.
*had to repost because of formatting issue
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters. All rights to Rumiko Takahashi.
Superposition: "The combination of two distinct physical phenomena of the same type…so that they coexist as part of the same event (from Merriam-Webster website)."
Superposition
Inuyasha peered out the window as the woman walked by. Her sunglasses were covering her eyes and her black hair was pulled up in a tight bun, completely secure against the early Autumn breeze.
As usual, she was dressed in work-out clothes, but was moving no faster than a leisurely stroll. Inuyasha wondered if her trek by the library was her warm-up for a run or just part of her route to the gym on campus.
Heck, he didn't even know if she was actually a student due to the popularity of his university's public gym. Inuyasha never saw her on campus aside from when she walked past the library every night during the week, he never had any classes with her, and he honestly didn't even know what she looked like without her sunglasses on or hair down. The woman very well could have been in classes with him, but he would never know.
Inuyasha had just started his junior year of college, so he'd found himself holed up in the library nearly every evening since classes had started in late August. It was now the third week of September, and Inuyasha had seen the woman every evening as she walked by the window near which Inuyasha always sat.
She never looked in, never even glanced at the building, but she did seem to slow down when she would walk by. Inuyasha blamed it on the slight incline that began right in front of the library. It even slowed Inuyasha down sometimes, and he was one of the best students on the track team.
Whatever the reason was, the woman always slowed down. Inuyasha occasionally allowed himself to believe it was because she could feel his fascinated gaze on her, but those thoughts usually didn't last too long.
And then she would be gone and he would go back to focusing on his Psychology homework that had started piling up the moment he entered his first class of the semester.
It was like that until October during the week before midterms. It was only Tuesday, but Inuyasha was yet again holed up in the library with textbooks strewn out on the table in front of him.
His most difficult midterm was for a Biopsychology course. It was hands-down the hardest class Inuyasha had ever taken, so he was cramming to remember all of the intense terms that his professor had warned would be on the exam.
At least Inuyasha could look forward to seeing the woman walk past the window.
But she never did.
Inuyasha frowned as the usual time she would walk by came and went. Finally, he gave up and stopped staring out the window.
Just focus on studying, he chided himself. There's still the rest of the week to look forward to. Maybe she had something come up.
But the next day was the same: she didn't walk past.
By then, Inuyasha was concerned that something had happened to her. He knew nothing about her, not even what she really looked like, but there was something about her that constantly pulled him in.
Inuyasha frowned down at his textbook, trying to study it but not really processing any of the words.
"If you glare any harder at that thing, you might make it explode."
Inuyasha looked up to find the source of the unfamiliar voice.
It was a woman with a friendly smile on her face and big, bright blue eyes. She tucked a lock of long black hair behind her ear as she motioned to Inuyasha's textbook.
"That exam is gonna be tough," she continued, not waiting for a response from Inuyasha. "I haven't even learned all of the terms yet. How do you think you're gonna do?"
Confused, Inuyasha just stared at her for a moment.
"Uh, probably not well," he admitted. "But…how did you know that's the exam I was studying for?"
The girl chuckled quietly so as not to disrupt the other students in the library. "We're in that class together," she replied. "I'm a back row kind of person, though. I'm usually the last one in and the first one out, so you probably haven't seen much of me."
Inuyasha nodded. That made sense. He was a staunch middle row kind of guy, and he usually tried to be at least five minutes early to class.
"Oh," he finally said. "Yeah, sorry…I don't think I've ever seen you in there." The girl smiled again.
"I'm Kagome," she said.
"Inuyasha," he replied.
Kagome nodded to the chair across from him. "Can I sit? I'm waiting for a friend."
"Uh, sure," he replied. "Got any study tips?" Kagome shook her head as she sat down.
"I usually just wing it," she admitted as she smoothed her sundress over her knees. "But I'm a sophomore in a senior-level course, so I actually have to try this semester."
Inuyasha smiled. He was impressed; it wasn't often that a sophomore was allowed to take a 400-level course.
"You must be pretty smart then, huh?" he said.
Kagome smirked. "Smart enough, I guess," she teased. "But studying for this midterm has really thrown off my routine. Before I came over here, I'd been studying upstairs for probably a solid two hours. I've never taken an exam for a Psych class, so I'm really worried about this one."
"You've never taken a Psych exam but you're in an upper-level course?" Inuyasha asked in surprise. "How? What's your major?"
Kagome grimaced. "It used to be History," she replied. "I just changed it to Psychology, so I took some test to see if I could skip the prerequisites I missed during freshman year. I passed so here I am. But no one told me Psych would include biological crap."
Inuyasha chuckled. "Psych is my major, too. If you ever need help, you know where to find me." Kagome smiled.
"Thanks," she replied. "I might have to take you up on that."
Inuyasha caught sight of another girl waving over at them. Kagome noticed as well before smiling and waving back to her.
"That's my friend," Kagome said.
Inuyasha tried to hide his disappointment at the fact that this meant Kagome was probably leaving.
"We're heading over to the gym," she explained to Inuyasha. "But I'll see you in class?"
Inuyasha smiled up at her. "Definitely," he replied.
Kagome waved as she left the library with her friend.
Inuyasha watched her out the window as she walked in the direction of the university's gym.
She was laughing at something her friend said, and Inuyasha couldn't help but admire the way her eyes lit up and the way her smile seemed to go on for miles.
Maybe I'll turn around in class for a minute tomorrow…it couldn't hurt to just give her a little wave.
The next evening, Inuyasha was in the library again, as usual. He had turned around in class that morning to find Kagome already smiling at him. He'd smiled back before turning around only to have his brain assaulted by more information that his professor promised would be on the exam.
As he entered the library to start studying again, Inuyasha found himself glancing out the window to keep an eye out for the window woman walking.
To Inuyasha's disappointment, he didn't see the woman for the second evening in a row.
He did have to admit that his disappointment diminished when Kagome approached his table again.
"Hey, stranger," she greeted as she sat down, crossing her jean-clad legs as she got comfortable in the chair. "How goes it?"
Inuyasha smiled at her. "Hey. Just studying for my exams. Are you waiting for your friend again?"
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, but she's running late as usual. I'm surprised she was actually on time last night. We normally just meet at the gym because I know she's always gonna be late so I just go ahead and start working out. I've been studying here this week instead of coming from home so I can't escape it. Once midterms are done, we probably won't have to meet here anymore."
Trying to tamper down the realization that she might not be in the library much after next week, Inuyasha only smiled. "If midterms are ever done," he teased. "I feel like they've come really fast but they're dragging out…and we haven't even started the actual week of all the tests."
Kagome laughed quietly so as not to earn a scolding from the librarian.
"Definitely," she agreed.
The two soon fell into an easy conversation, which wound up garnering a couple dirty looks from the librarian because of their constant laughter.
Kagome was funny. Inuyasha knew he probably looked like an idiot because of how much he was smiling. He wasn't a corny guy, but man.
Thirty minutes later, Kagome's friend arrived and waved her over from across the room. Kagome waved back before rising from the table.
"I'll see you in class," she said to Inuyasha.
Inuyasha smiled. "See you in class," he echoed before she left the library.
The following Friday, Inuyasha realized that he hadn't seen the window woman at all that week.
Honestly, he didn't mind too much. Kagome had come to sit with him at his usual table every night. She'd even started coming earlier and spending her study time with him instead of just the time she was waiting for her friend.
And Kagome sure did a good job of taking his mind off of his disappointment.
Kagome was kind and funny and smart. Inuyasha was shocked at how easily they could figure out the Biopsych content together. Inuyasha could explain something to her once when they first started studying and she would completely have a grasp on it after reading one paragraph in the textbook.
When her friend entered the library, instead of just waving, she walked over to their table.
"Hey, Kagome," she greeted.
Kagome smiled at her. "Hey, Sango." Sango glanced at Inuyasha with an expectant look on her face.
"This is Inuyasha," Kagome added. Sango grinned.
"So you're the mysterious library guy," Sango teased. "Who would have thought I'd actually know you."
Inuyasha frowned. How do all of these strangers know me?
"I don't think we've ever met," Inuyasha countered. Sango laughed.
"You're Miroku's roommate, right?" she asked. At Inuyasha's nod, Sango smiled. "He's my boyfriend."
"Oh," Inuyasha replied. "Sorry, Miroku has had so many girls over that I just stopped keeping track."
The murderous look that immediately came to Sango's face made Inuyasha realize that was not the correct thing to say.
"Wait, I didn't mean-" Inuyasha stuttered.
Sango held her hand up and shook her head. "It's okay. I know Miroku has a very…extensive past with women. I'll just give him a good smack later and call it even."
Inuyasha laughed. "Sounds good to me. I'll actually say hi next time you're at the apartment."
"Maybe I'll bring Kagome with me," Sango said as she looped her arm through Kagome's. "If she likes hanging out with you in the dusty library, I'm sure she'll like hanging out with you in a much less…demure place."
Inuyasha smiled and looked at Kagome. "Sure. You can come over whenever you want."
For the first time, Kagome blushed. "Thanks," she replied a bit awkwardly. The smile on her face remained, though.
Wow, she's really cute when she blushes, Inuyasha realized.
"I'll see you later," Kagome said as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. "Maybe we could have a last-minute cram session on Monday before our exam on Tuesday?"
Inuyasha nodded. "Sounds good to me. I'll see you then."
Inuyasha didn't stop smiling until long after Kagome was gone.
During the week of midterms, Inuyasha didn't see the woman outside the window at all.
Honestly, though, he didn't even think much of it. Despite the fact that their exam was over, Kagome still met him in the library every evening before she and Sango went to the gym. Inuyasha still had a couple more exams to get through, so Kagome definitely made his study time a lot less boring.
On Thursday night of midterms week, Inuyasha and Kagome were quietly laughing about some embarrassing antic Kagome had done in high school. Inuyasha couldn't even remember how they'd gotten onto the topic; all he knew was that it was hilarious.
Then the librarian came over to their table to kick them out. It wasn't so hilarious after that.
When they exited the library, Kagome started laughing again.
"I can't believe we just got kicked out of the library," she said between fits of laughter. "I feel like I'm in middle school."
Inuyasha chuckled. "Same."
"I might head over to the gym now," she said after her laughter had died down. "I'll just see if Sango can meet me there." She pulled out her phone, most likely to text Sango.
Inuyasha hesitated, not wanting their time together to end.
"I'll walk you there?" he offered. Kagome nodded and smiled as she slipped her phone back in her pocket.
"Sure," she replied. They set off in the direction of the gym. As they came up on the window through which Inuyasha would always see the woman, he pointed to it.
"There's our table," he said. Kagome looked over and seemed surprised.
"Cool," she replied as they walked past. "I walk past this window every night. I can't believe I never noticed a silver-haired guy sitting there."
Inuyasha barely kept his jaw from dropping.
"Wait, what?" he asked. "You walk past every night? Like…just this week every night?"
Kagome laughed and shook her head.
"No, actually every night," she replied. "I walk past to meet Sango at the gym. Same time every evening. It's like my little routine."
Inuyasha tried to hide his absolute shock.
Was Kagome the woman he always saw through the window?
Superposition…
Inuyasha mentally chided himself. There was no way. That was too much of a coincidence.
But then she started to pull her hair up as they got closer to the gym. She did it as she talked, as if it were just another part of her routine instead of a shock to Inuyasha's system.
She tossed her hair up into the bun he'd seen every night for a month-and-a-half, and that's when Inuyasha knew.
Kagome was the woman on the other side of the window.
He smiled to himself as she finished putting her hair up.
They soon reached the entrance to the gym. Kagome paused for a few moments as Inuyasha lingered next to her at the door.
Kagome smiled. "So where are we gonna hang out now? I don't think the librarian will want us to come back anytime soon."
Inuyasha shrugged. "Well, we could just go on a date, I guess." He tried to sound smooth, coy, nonchalant, but he wasn't sure how well it went over. He'd been trying to figure out a good time to ask her out, and now that he found out she was the woman he'd seen every night, he didn't want to miss his opportunity.
Kagome blushed. "That sounds good to me," she replied. "I can give you my number."
They swapped numbers, and then Kagome started laughing again. "Can I tell you something really stupid?"
Perplexed, Inuyasha nodded.
Kagome seemed to hesitate, her embarrassment evident on her face.
"Well," she began sheepishly, "I actually did always notice you through the window. I hadn't just seen you in class. I always thought you were cute when I would walk by every night, but I was too embarrassed to wave or talk to you or anything until last week when I was actually in the library studying. I always wore sunglasses when I walked by so you wouldn't be able to tell that I was…well, checking you out."
Inuyasha's eyes widened at her confession.
Superposition…
It was like a knee-jerk reaction.
One moment, he was looking at her and the next, he was pulling her to him and kissing her.
She wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and enthusiastically reciprocating the kiss.
Inuyasha briefly allowed himself to wonder what it would feel like to run his hands through her hair when it was flowing free from the bun.
Somehow, he knew he'd get to find out.
When they pulled away, Kagome smiled at him.
"What was that for?" she asked, her voice a little shaky.
"I always saw you through the window, too," he replied. "But I actually didn't know it was you."
Kagome laughed. "Well, now I'm embarrassed." Inuyasha ran a hand up and down her back.
"Don't be," he assured her. "It's a pretty good story, huh? Maybe we should just embrace it."
Kagome smiled before leaning up to kiss him again.
When she pulled away, a blush lingered on her face.
"I'll talk to you later?" she asked.
Inuyasha nodded and smiled at her. "Absolutely."
With a parting wave, Kagome entered the gym and disappeared within the women's locker room.
Inuyasha smiled and shook his head as he headed to where he'd parked his car.
Years later, they would fondly remember secretly admiring each other from opposite sides of the same window until fate had taken over.
Superposition.
FIN.
This story was written at 2am BUT I edited and revised it after I actually slept and was coherent enough to make corrections :) I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot that accidentally fell out of my brain and onto my keyboard.
Much love.
