InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Archer ❯ Worked to Death ( Chapter 2 )

The only sound breaking the silence was the occasional turning of a page. It was killing her.

"…"

"…"

"…"

…

…

…

"It's beautiful! I love it!" That was Sango.

Rin looked from the sketchbook to Kagome. "Yeah! What gave you the idea!?"

"Oh, who cares?" asked the first girl. "It's amazing! We should do it!"

Kagome nodded. "I was planning on pitching it to the team today. Maybe after we get done with the shoot."

Cringing, Sango confessed, "Oh yeah… I forgot about that. It's that time already?"

"Yeah. Actually, I really should be heading up to hair and makeup."

"Aww," Rin whined, "but we haven't even TALKED yet… I wanted to hear about your first day of school! Did you meet anyone? What's the school like? Are there any hot-"

"Bye, Rin. Bye, Sango."

"Bye!"

Kagome let out a laugh as she made her way to the elevator. Once there, she pushed the third button and braced herself for the chaos of the prep department.

She wasn't disappointed.

A pair of hands yanked her out of the elevator and into a big, cushioned chair. Allowing herself to tune it all out--they would just explain what the theme of the shoot was, but she already knew--she patiently tilted her head to accommodate the man at her back who was hurriedly styling her hair. Kagome was used to it. She went through a lesser version of it every so often when Shikon decided that the fans wanted new material. Or maybe when the company (herself included) thanked its sponsors with an ad or two. Or vice versa.

But today was big. Today, the pictures were being taken for the biannual calendar. Why do we need to release TWO calendars each year? It makes no sense. But they sold, and that was a worthy driving force. Plus, Kagome liked to think of each one as a `project'. She had six months to figure out a good direction to take the next `series'. Of the three ideas completed thus far (including this one), the current one was her favorite. However, that was always the case. Each of her ideas seemed to surpass their predecessors.

During her eighth grade-freshman year, she was a new, unknown item. Previously undiscovered, the masses fell in love with her mysterious images, and her fame blossomed. By the time the year was over, she could have conquered Japan, and its people couldn't have been happier. The year after, during which she ended her freshman year through home tutoring and began home-schooling as a sophomore, Shikon Quest had become far more powerful and organized, and the first calendar was released. It came out at the end of the year, and its theme was Feudal Japan. Each month highlighted a picture of Kagome traversing across the Warring States, bow in hand. Some photos were of her creeping through the woods, hunting for dinner. There were a few in which she faced a demon or mythical creature, arrow notched and drawn. In one, she slept on a tree branch, her quiver tucked safely across her chest. Everyone adored it. Six months later, in June, another calendar was released, this time with the theme of Feudal nobility, and the courts of the ancient lords and ladies. At this time, Kagome had just finished the tenth grade, and had moved to the Hirugashi Family Shrine with her mom, brother, and son.

Kagome sighed. Yup. It was that time again; the time to put together another calendar, just in time for the New Year sales.

"You're ready to go, darling," Jakotsu told her. He swung her chair around so that she was facing the mirrored wall. "Do you approve?" he asked jokingly. He knew that she did. He was the best, after all.

She just smiled and looked into the mirror. Archer looked back. "I love it."

He had blended this calendar's theme and Archer's image beautifully. With darkness as his target pallet, he had paled her face, neck, shoulders-basically, any visible skin. Deep crimson, almost blood-like in color, painted her lips. Her hazel eyes were lined in black, and deepened with deep blues and grays. Rather than stand out, her eyes seemed to shy away from attention. Perfect. Her hair had lost its natural wave, instead draping over her shoulders to the middle of her back in straight, silky, ink-like strands. Even her bangs hung smooth and controlled over her forehead, concealing her already shadowed eyed.

"My dear Jakotsu," she said, turning back to him with a grin, "you've made me into the walking dead!"

"I thank you for the compliment, pumpkin. Although," he added, "you've got to stop looking like that! Smiles do not befit a dark creature like you! With that makeup on, the effect is quite… chilling. I'm almost scared enough to go on the straight and narrow!" As if.

With a bubbly laugh at his ranting, Kagome leapt off the chair and headed into the closet. Ten minutes and several bruises later, she emerged, dressed in her costume.

I was black. Lots and lots of black. Black boots. Black leggings. A short, black, ragged skirt with a black double belt. And the top… the top was divine. No. It was hellish. Loose and tight, modern and medieval, it whispered of dark innocence, of morbid glory. And it was black. And she was beautiful. The closest mortal impersonation of the Angel of Death.

With her as the Grim Reaper, any man would follow her into the underworld. Gladly. Eagerly. Heck, they would probably beg for the honor of following her to their doom.

She was to die for.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The last shot of the day.

Kagome stood, leaning against a dark grey, grubby brick wall. Her body faced the cameras, one knee bent, her head tilted at an angle. A genuine (of course!) longbow was propped against the side of her leg, its white wood contrasting beautifully with the black that was her. She held an arrow made of the same material in her hand, angling it across her chest. Shaking her head a bit, she let her bangs fall more completely over her eyes, causing them to fade into the shadows of her hair. Just take the darned picture… does this look comfortable to you? Do you think I LIKE standing in awkward positions for long periods of time? Do you- Wait! No! Do NOT get a drink of water! Take the picture! What are you doing!? Come back, you jerk!

A click and a flash, and it was over. "Finally!!!" she moaned.

"You were amazing!"

"Breathtaking!"

"Stunning!"

"Absolutely fabulous!"

"Argh! You guys! Stop trying to kiss up, and get out of my way! Do you have ANY idea how hot those lights are? And I'm wearing BLACK from head to toe! Inconsiderate dorks!"

"Sorry, Kagome."

"Yeah, sorry."

"…They're right, you know."

The girl gasped and spun around. She knew that voice! "Kouga!" Kagome launched herself into his arms without a though, and he caught her just as swiftly. "How have you been?! I haven't seen you in so long!"

"Did you miss me?" There was an all too familiar twinkle in his eyes.

"Umm… of course. You are a friend." She emphasized `friend' and hoped he took the hint. He had been after her since she had first started her career in modeling, but she just couldn't find it in her heart to outright deny that twinkle. "How was the tour? Did you like Europe?"

"It was nice. But," he smirked, "it would have been amazing if you had been there to donate you luster."

She shook her head. "I couldn't. I'm sorry I had to cancel, but I told you: my family moved, and Grandpa needed all of us there."

"Oh, that's right! Wait a minute… so are you still home-schooling?"

Again, she shook her head, her flat-ironed hair brushing against the exposed skin of her back. She really had to change. "Nope. I'm going to Tama High."

"What!?!"

"It's not so bad… what's with the face?" He had a look of horror and disgust painted on his features.

"You didn't happen to run into a silver-haired FREAK by the name of Inuy-"

"YOU KNOW INUYASHA!?"

"YOU KNOW MY COUSIN!?!?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hours later, after a change of clothes, a vigorous face-washing, a quick meeting (to present her ideas for the next project), and a car ride home, Kagome felt like a new person. She was totally ready to fall into bed and pass out. I'm gonna have to talk to my manager. I can't be doing things like this on school nights anymore. Ugh. She had school tomorrow. With Inuyasha. She winced, and thought back to her earlier conversation with Kouga.

:::::Flashback:::::

"You know Inuyasha!?"

"You know my cousin!?!?"

"INUYASHA'S YOUR COUSIN!?!?!?!" Kagome stared in shock. Kouga and Inuyasha? REALTED?

Kouga nodded, looking around to make sure no one was within hearing range. "I'm not proud to admit it, but yes."

"But… you look nothing alike!"

"Thank the gods!" He shuddered. "You know, we hate each other's guts. We have since we were little."

"Really now? Well, I can see why… he's such a jerk!" She paused guiltily. "But I guess its really not fair for me to say that. I've barely met him…"

Grasping her shoulders, he leaned in closer, looking her dead in the eyes. "Wait a minute… he didn't try anything with you, did he?"

She gasped, her eyes widening, and quickly corrected him, "What!? Of course not! On the contrary, he made sure I understood that he didn't like me!"

"What!? Did he insult you!?" With a growl, he asked, "Did he bully you?"

"No, no, nothing like that!" She was getting nervous. Was Inuyasha the type of guy that would push her around if she got on his bad side?

Suddenly, Kouga stepped back, a thoughtful look on his face. "Kouga?"

He smiled, and bowed his head in apology. "Sorry Kags… there's something I just realized I should do. Would you mind if I cut our little conversation short?"

"Uhh… of course not…" What was with the sudden change in attitude?

"Cool. I'll see you later then!" Before she even had to chance to agree, he was off.

"…Bye?"

:::::End flashback:::::

"Whatever." She was too tired to care. All she wanted was to snuggle up under the covers of her bed and slip into dreamland, but there were more important things to be done at the moment.

"Mama!!!!!" It was the only warning she got before a blur of red hurled itself into her arms, the force behind the impact enough to throw her into the door at her back. It wiggled a little, latching a pair of stubby legs around her waist for support. "How was your day?"

Kagome looked into her sons big, open eyes and smiled. "It was long." The pair laughed. She untangled herself from his hold and put him down, locking the front door of the shrine and making her way to the kitchen. "Did you have a good day with grandma?"

"Yeah, it was lost of fun," was her distracted reply. "Can I have Pocky?" He let out a triumphant squeal when she reached into the pantry and grabbed a box off of the top shelf, and quickly grabbed it out of her hands and ripped the box open. Satisfied that his mouth was as full as comfortably possible, he again turned to his mother. "-hi -huz -ur -ay -ong?" (`why was you day long?')

She giggled and chided, "Don't talk with your mouth full, baby."

"A-ver ma ge-kun…" (`answer my question')

Kagome shook her head to show that she wasn't happy with his obviously bad manners, but she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up. "Well… where should I begin?"

"At the beginning!" cried Shippo, finally swallowing the chocolate covered goodness.

"Okay… first, I woke up late, and I couldn't find my books. On the way home, I tripped over a curb (Shippo: "Are you sure it was a curb?"), and I ran into this totally obnoxious guy, who ended up making me even MORE late! And THEN, I find out that he and I have EVERY SINGLE CLASS together!!!"

Seeing her son yawn, she continued with her story, grabbing his hand and slowly maneuvering him through the dark house and up the stairs, finishing with a quick summary of her work day as he brushed his teeth and climbed into bed. "So how was your day? Was it fun spending the night at your friend's house? Did Grandma take you shopping?"

"Yeah, it was fun. Gran'ma picked me up this morning and took me to breakfast, and then she took me to the mall, and then she made me try on all sorts of funny clothes, and then she took me to the bookstore, and then she tried to teach me to read, but I already know how to read, and then…"

"Really now? And did you play with Uncle Souta?"

"Mama! I was GETTING to that! After I told Gran'ma that I knew how to read already, she gave up on trying to make me sound out small words, and took me to Souta's school and we picked him up." He paused. "Uncle Souta's school is a lot bigger that before."

"Yes, it is. You know, you'll be going there yourself in a few years."

"Mama! Stop interrupting!"

"I'm sorry, baby," she said, amused. "Please, finish your story."

"Okay… well, after that we took Uncle Souta home, and he said he didn't have `homework', so he played with me! It was so much fun! We were pirates, and I got to be the captain, and there was a storm with thunder and lightning and everything!"

"Really now?"

"You bet. You prolly would have been scared."

"I think you're right. So where is he now?" She looked at her watch. It was barely ten.

"Gran'ma told him and me to go to bed, because he's got more school tomorrow, and because I'm just a kid."

Playfully, Kagome frowned and pointed her finger at his nose. "Hey there! If Grandma told you to go to bed, what are you doing wide awake and talking to me!? You know how I feel about you breaking the rules! It IS way past your bedtime…"

He looked at her with big, shiny, irresistibly cute eyes. "I wanted to wait for you, Mama…"

She groaned. She was SOOO wrapped around his little finger. It was kind of embarrassing. "So my mom and brother are asleep?"

A nod.

"And you stayed awake all by yourself, and didn't get in trouble or wake anyone up?"

"Nope." He pointed a small hand towards the side table. "See? I read a book!"

A sigh. "Okay then."

"So it's okay? Souta said that you had a shoot today, and I KNOW how long those take (remember that time you took me along?), so I decided to wait for you." She still looked kinda unhappy about him not listening to Grandma. "I though you'd want to see me." There it was. He could see it. She was starting to crack. With a knowing inner grin, he pulled out the big guns. "I love you…"

"Argh!" Kagome wanted to smush him. She narrowed her eyes and hissed, "That was low."

"But you love me, right?"

Another sigh. "Yes…"

"So then you're not mad!"

Again, she sighed. "No, I'm not. But you better go to bed! I don't want to hear any complaining when I wake you up tomorrow for breakfast!"

"Deal!" In a matter of moments, he was snugly tucked under his blankets. "Night, Mama…"

"Good night, Shippo. Sleep tight?"

His voice was already beginning to slur. "Don't let the be' bugs bite…"

"I love you, kit…" Slowly, silently, she turned off his light and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind her.

Already fantasizing about her soft bed and warm sheets, she padded down the hallway to her room, careful to not disturb her sleeping family.

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