InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Genuine Fake ❯ Daddy's Girl ( Chapter 2 )

Genuine Fake
by Viitoria

Chapter Two: Daddy's Girl

"What a potty mouth, we can't have you scaring away the customers." And with that, the door to another job closed in his face.

All his life, he'd been deluded. To think it had taken a week without family around to admit that his people skills were severely lacking. The hanyou sighed, wearily eyeing a newspaper dispenser; that newspaper offer was sounding better everyday. Too bad the said edition of that newspaper went out of print after the Sunday it covered.

Checking his Rolex, Inuyasha decided it was time for a coffee break. Entering a large shop rightfully labeled 'Coffee City', he dropped into the nearest seat. A short, balding waiter approached him, staring wistfully at his head full of long platinum hair. "What would you like?"

"Latte." He didn't feel up to using more than one-worded sentences.

"Would that be all?"

He nodded, checking his wallet. Two pieces of paper stared back at him. Why had he been so stupid to leave his credit cards at home? Oh yes, I wanted to show my family up. It was just too sad that he was running out of cash before he'd even gotten close to a successful interview. Maybe he should go back home with his tail between his legs...

Scanning the rest of the shop lazily, he spotted a haggard across the shop, reading an old newspaper. It might just have been his keen eyesight, but something told him it was last Sunday's edition. With renewed exuberance, he made his way over. "How much d'you want for the paper?"

The old man looked up at him in confusion. "What, you want to read it?"

"Yeah. So how much to you want?"

He gave a scratchy chuckle. "You want to pay me for this old thing?" At Inuyasha's nod, the man folded up the articles and shoved it into the young youkai's hands. "Take it; I have another at home."

The hanyou tilted his head to the side, as if trying to figure out the catch. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you giving it to me for free? And why do you have so many copies of it?"

The man shrugged. "There's an article concerning family on the second page, it's only natural I'd want to keep it; good or not." He stood up and beamed a gruff smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going now."

Inuyasha didn't even bother to see if he really left or not, so eager was he to read that article that had caught his father's attention a week ago. He frowned as he read-what kind of job came out from a law case involving a divorced couple fighting over the custody of their kid ten years after divorce? The typical kind, that's what. Well, to him, if it paid well, he was up to it. He just hoped the girl wasn't one of those flirty snobs; after all, if this was a rags to riches story, then she should be pretty nice.

Hedidn't know just how close or far off he was.

...............................

Akera had been working under her employer for five years already, and it was never a relief when he brought a woman home. Like all snobs, they treated her like dirt. When she found out about his daughter visiting, she had been skeptical. However, the girl turned out remarkably well. No attitude about money and as polite as anything.

At least for the first week.

The maid had begun to see the changes in the girl after attending the first few days of school. She'd begun to pick up that annoying better-than-thou moodiness often found in these kind of people. Akera was relieved when the girl left, that way she couldn't be stained further. But like all things turn out, they usually end up with the worst possible results.

With a long sigh, she bent down and picked up the glittering object near the garbage bin. It was a bracelet that had been given to her by one the many young men she'd picked up during the year here. When she'd first received it, she'd gone out of her way to flaunt it in front of her. Apparently, she had tossed it at the garbage the moment she reached her room.

Not for the first time, Akera wondered how corruption and money seemed to walk hand in hand with the children of this age and time.

The unmistakable sound of the suite's main door sliding open signaled Kagome's arrival. Akera took it as a sign to leave. As she did, she caught the end of a peal of laughter, most likely from the Miss's friend Eri. Or was it the Miss herself?

"So...it worked, didn't it?" The petite girl's opaque gray-blue eyes glittered with anticipation.

Her father nodded. "Of course." His mask of perfect fatherly understanding was slipping. It was fun to have a daughter during the first months or so, but a year with the demands of shopping, attention, and money was growing irritating. He hoped that this new request would satisfy the teen's growing appetite. "They're all here, waiting for you to choose."

Kagome gave a quick peck on his cheek and dashed down the stairs, her hips swaying just the way her new friends had taught her. Barefooted and dressed in a short black skirt, her hair curled and tossed aside to expose a delicate white neck, she was the perfect picture of synthetic innocence.

Just a weeks ago, she had convinced her father to publish the article on them to find a 'companion' for her. After all, if all her friends had cute bodyguards milling around them, why shouldn't she? "A youkai one," she had decided on earlier with Eri. "With exotic looks."

"Hmmm...silver eyes and black hair?" Eri had questioned.

"Nope. Probably red hair and black eyes."

Passing Akera, she paused. "Have Eri and Yuka come yet?" she demanded sharply.

"Yes, miss," the maid replied, clearly stifling her feelings.

Kagome ignored it and continued with her interrogation. "Well? Where are they?"

"In the parlor, miss, waiting for you." Without so much as a thanks, she turned and sped off in the direction of the said place.

"Kagome! Don't run like that; it makes you look too eager," her friend told her when she arrived.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "You coming?"

"Of course." Getting up gracefully, the two other girls followed her to the room. "I want to choose the perfect one. I don't want one of those stuffed dummies Yura's so fond of getting."

"So what do you want? It's the fashion, you know, to be calm and collected," Yuka injected. "And if you had a rowdy bodyguard, wouldn't you need to get another to protect you from the first one?"

She laughed. "Well, to hell with that fashion-I don't want some walking Popsicle following me around."

"Yeah, I guess it isn't all that great."

...............................

Waking up Sunday morning near noon, Kagome decided on a shower before proceeding with the day. Letting the water run off her, she imagined it taking all her guilt away. No sad images of her mom and Souta could dwell in her mind right now-no, that was her old life. The new life she led was much better than...she wouldn't go there.

Instead, she thought about the interviews yesterday. Her father had hired someone especially to handle the job of everything; she and her friends had only been there to check them out. She really couldn't make up her mind who she wanted. Hot, most of them were, but all seemed to be those Popsicles she'd sworn off.

She turned off the water and slipped into a bathrobe, letting her matted hair hang wet and uncombed behind her. The maids could fix it up later.

With that thought through, she flopped onto the big couch downstairs and flipped on the tv. Why didn't they have anything good on Sundays? Of all things could have watched on the big set, she settled down to watch the news in digital quality. Something about the growing amount of homeless people. For a moment, the camera had panned down towards a boy that reminded her of her younger brother.

Raised voices were floating through from the front door; she had forgotten to close the doors. But who would bother arguing with the butler? Her answer came storming up a few moments later. Silver tresses trailed to his hips, amber eyes blinking in shock as they rested on her.

She looked down. Oops. A bathrobe was not a great thing to greet Youkai visitors in first thing before lunch. "Hey." She gave her best smile, all the time thinking how fun it would be to show off someone who looked like that off. "Were you looking for something?"

"You're Higurashi?" he demanded once he had recovered from his initial surprise. At her nod he crossed his arms over his chest. "I saw the article in the newspaper."

It just got better and better didn't it? Kami must have been in a good mood. "You're looking for the job?"

"Maybe."

She took that as a yes. "You want the job?"

"Are you offering?"

"Sure." She patted the couch next to her. "Sit a bit and we can go over everything."

He saw a familiar glint in her eyes. As he had been afraid of, he'd just been hired by a horny airhead. But if she had only been that, he might have been able to handle it. Unfortunately, it ran a bit deeper than that, even if the girl herself didn't recognize it.

"Okay," she continued. "Then I'll just call the agent-he has the contract." Leaning over to pick up the phone, he couldn't help but admire her curves. Like he said, he she was only a horny airhead who he'd never met before. Too bad he remembered her humiliating him in public.

It was during the chain of parties he'd sneaked out to that got him in this whole mess. And the people up there had a wonderful sense of humor for him to end up working for this person. It stated at the beginning of the month, when he'd had a run-in with his old friend Kouga.

Apparently, wolf-boy had managed to get a new girlfriend. Naturally, it was another rich girl. Somehow or the other, he had also found out about Inuyasha's current state of relationships, or lack thereof. In a moment of hotheaded pride, a bet had been made out with him in the worst possible stand. He had lost, naturally, and been punished to finance Kouga's train of parties for a month.

Of course, he wouldn't pay for all of these if he didn't get to go to all of them himself. He had been watching a girl the whole time, and she seemed pretty nice the one time he'd spoken to her. By the second week he had gotten to know her pretty well. She the whole package-intelligent, smart, and polite. Plus, she seemed to like him, too. So after a few dates, he began to look forward to the night parties.

Until he saw that strange news report about the construction accident where a girl was killed. The profile picture shown resembled her so much that it was uncanny. Except he knew it wasn't her because he saw her that night at the Club. Only she didn't so much as look at him; she was too busy hanging off Kouga's arm. It seemed that she'd gotten a hair-cut...

The next night (even though it was his time of the month), he approached her while she was getting a drink. He asked her about last night, but instead of apologizing politely and clearing things up, she looked at him like he was demented. When he pressed the subject, she'd called wolf-boy. What resulted burned with embarrassment on his mind.

"Sign here, here, and here." He did as he was bid mindlessly, still lost in thought. Was it really her? Why did she pretend not to recognize him? Or...

A giggle broke through his thoughts. He looked up into wide gray-blue eyes and frowned. She was supposed to have brown ones. "Ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Shopping! You're starting the job today-see?" She pointed a long manicured nail at the papers and pen in his hand. "You just signed it! So are you coming or not?"

"What? -Oh." He stared at the sheaves of paper. "Let me read through it first."

Her smile wavered. "But you've already stared at them for the last half an hour I was here." He had? "Now hurry up; you're going to make Kouga wait."

He blanched. "Kouga," he repeated. "What are you doing with that moron?"

She was beginning to look annoyed now. He may not be a Popsicle, but... "He's my boyfriend, if you don't mind. I thought you were hired help here, act like it."

"Watch it, bitch," he growled. She didn't hear, apparently, as she had already gone upstairs to retrieve some accessories or the other. Still pissed, he turned around and scanned the contract. His eyebrows rose considerably. Three month probation period? That meant he couldn't quit until after that, or he wouldn't get paid. That also meant he was stuck with that annoying bitch for the entire time. Damn Kami and everything he made.

Coming down the stairs, the said bitch was telling off her maid while she brushed the last of the knots out of her hair. "Ow. Be careful, will you?" she snapped at the poor woman. "I'm suing if I so much as find a split end." One could never do without money and snobbery, no?

"And you," she twiddled a finger his way. "We're going to the mall."

"I thought you were going to visit Kouga the moron."

"I am," she replied, as if the added name had slipped right passed her. Airhead. Figures. "And that reminds me: what's your name?" She waved the maid away as she slid her bare feet into a pair of strapless sandals. In a short golden skirt, he couldn't help but admire her legs.

"Hmm?"

"You're name," she replied. "As in the little title they give you at birth to separate you from all the other little babies born at the hospital. You know what a hospital is, right?"

"Damn right I know what a hospital is." Had the little twit just told him off in that tone? "And the name's Inuyasha, for your information, wench."

"Excuse me," she muttered. "But I was under the influence that you're the serving wench here. After all, I hired you, didn't I?"

He snarled a "Keh," and shoved past her out the door. So much for getting a dumb airhead. This one had to be able to shoot witty replies back.

Behind him, his new boss smiled to herself.

'Shopping,' as the girl had called it, was actually carousing the mall with her friends, endlessly giggling at things only other rich snobs would understand.

"Kagome!" One of them had called to her when they first entered the large mass of buildings. He had frowned, confused at who she was calling to before he realized it was the girl's name. But wasn't her name originally something else? It was only then that he fully took in and understood that she wasn't the same girl he'd met the first night at the party. So Kikyo really died?

Not wanting to dwell on the new information, he focused on the conversation the four girls had begun. "So this is him?" A wavy-haired brunette gave him a once over. "Sort of broody, don't you think?"

"Is he?" Kagome turned around and glanced at him. "Oh, he's probably just pissed about earlier."

Eyes narrowing, he opened his mouth to speak. "You know, not everything revolves around you bitch."

One of the girl gasped. "You let him talk to you like that?"

She just shrugged and smiled even wider. "I know that," she told him brightly, winking flirtatiously. "Unfortunately, you seem to think so. After all, you've been staring at me the whole time, haven't you Inuyasha?"

"Nice one. I see why you don't want Popsicles now."

"You got that right, Eri. Now Ayumi, come look at this dress." Apparently, his 'mistress's' attention had already been spent and captured by some worthless item. However, he didn't see her watching him carefully out of the corner of her eye.

"-wait," the one called Eri pulled her back. "Yuka, you were talking about the Takagi family the other day, right?" Inuyasha paled. "Didn't they have a son called Inuyasha?"

The remaining girl nodded. "Yeah, and they have trademark platinum hair and Inuyasha's supposed to be a hanyou." She looked towards him. "You're a hanyou, aren't you."

It seemed as if he had gotten caught. Why oh why did his dad have to get himself so well known and rich? Instead of replying with an excuse, he said the best thing that one could say in situations like these. "Keh."

"That would be a 'yes,'" Kagome clarified. "Or a 'whatever', depending on what you said."

He turned on her then. "You think you know me all that well, wen-bitch," he corrected himself, remembering her last comeback. She just laughed at him.

Yuka spoke up again. "Uh, Kags, just letting you know, the Takagi family are-"

"I know what they are," she interrupted. "But Inuyasha signed the contract papers, so he's going to be under my thumb for at least three months." She turned back to the store window she had been looking at. "And," she continued, as if trying to rub salt in his wound, "If he had to look for a job, that must mean he's gotten in some kind of trouble. Rich parents don't just abandon their kids like that." Except mine, she added to herself.

Inuyasha couldn't help notice that she had taken a sad undertone at the last sentence. Keeping it in mind to get revenge at a later date, he approached her. If she wanted to play dirty, then so would he. "Well you would be one to know, wouldn't you? Being a daddy's girl and all-after all, that's all you can be."

"Are you implying that I don't have a mother?" she asked defiantly.

He smirked; it had gotten her. "Well, I haven't caught a shadow of anyone resembling one, unless she was the maid," he responded coolly.

Her mouth twitched, as if she was ready to lash out at him with all her anger. To his surprise, however, she stopped and caught something over her shoulder. Mouthing something quickly, she returned to glare at him.

"What were you staring at?" he demanded.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Takagi, huh? What are you doing with my girl?" Kagome bristled slightly at the last sentence, but turned with her friends to see group of young men. The speaker was a boy a few years older than her, his ebony hair pulled back and caught neatly in a piece of twine. The newest fashion, Inuyasha recognized. To use animal accessories, be it fur, leather, or twine.

"Wimpy wolf, what a pleasant surprise."

Second chapter out...don't you love summer? I actually have the time to do these kind of things for fun! And remember that if you leave your email, I'll be able to reply to your reviews. Anyway, I plan to make this a short story, with about 6 chapter; 8 at the most. Now I want to get started on that other plot bunny I have.

And if you're wondering why Kagome is acting so out of character, that will be explained in the next chapter. After all, her acting like this a big part in the plot...actually, I think it basically makes up the plot.

Don't forget to review and visit my site! If you're interested in being a judge, just tell me and leave your email in a review or go to the site. Don't add www. in front of it.

protege.just-in-dreams.com

-Vii