InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Movie House Hanyou ❯ Proles of the New Age ( Chapter 15 )

"I am not pleased with this!" Kagome yelled out in a low, agitated voice as she slammed the bright blue paper rectangle down onto Naraku's desk with her palm and stared at her General Manager with eyes darkened by fury.

"Now now, Kagome, no need to yell--" Naraku calmly began with a slow smile in a voice so syrupy sweet it could probably kill someone from sugar poisoning, but the fuming teenager sitting across from him interrupted him.

"This is not fair! If Jamar hadn't kept me here so late and let me leave when I asked, this wouldn't have happened!" She glared at the man sitting before her, at how he barely seemed moved at all by her outburst. With the same hand that had slammed the paper onto his desk, she slid said paper nearly to the far edge of the desk right in front of him, or as far as her arm could reach, anyway.

In an almost dainty manner Naraku lifted up a corner of the item shoved at him and held it up to his face. "All I see is a police case number and a signature from an officer Bakken--"

"He's a sergeant; he told me so."

"Whatever," Naraku continued, allowing a slight hint of menace to slip into the tone of that single word he had just uttered. "The point is, you're yelling at me over something that I had nothing to do with."

Kagome narrowed her eyes; how dare he, she silently screamed. "You're the General Manager. You are responsible for your managers' actions, right?" Without even a pause to give him a chance to answer, she continued in almost a hiss, "What I'm pissed about is that I got picked up by a cop for being out past curfew when it was Jamar's fault I had to stay at work so late in the first place. I didn't get to clock out until past quarter to two, and while walking home I got stopped by a cop car around two!"

Naraku drew his eyes away from the police report flyer in his hand and centered them on the girl he'd hired not even two months earlier. Without a single sign that he planned to respond to her statement, he set the flyer down off to the side and opened a drawer to his left. He pulled out a pack of spiced cigarettes and a lighter.

Kagome huffed and crossed her arms, silently ushering forth threats of bodily harm toward the disgustingly carefree man sitting before her. She watched him take his sweet time in lighting his cig after fitting it to a plastic mouthpiece and readjusting the high binding that kept his long black hair swept back away from his neck and shoulders.

"Ahem."

The General Manager shot his gaze back at her. "Kagome, I have no qualms about keeping employees late if it means things will get done. You are responsible for your own transportation, so it's your own fault you got picked up by a police officer for walking around Downtown at 2am." He smirked, took a long suck on his tobacco, and sat back in his chair. He pulled a Sacagawea golden dollar coin from his shirt pocket and mindlessly began fingering it in his unoccupied hand as he practically crooned out, "Perhaps you ought to drive to work." He closed his eyes peacefully for a moment.

"I can't drive," Kagome retorted. "I walk because I live close enough to work, and it's pointless to wait for a bus that comes only once an hour just to ride it for five minutes across the damn bridge."

Naraku brought his cig down to a small ashtray on his desk to tap off the bud of ash that had grown at the tip. Looking anywhere but at his annoyed employee, most particularly at the miniature sports pennants hanging along the top of the walls like a scatterbrained border, he snorted with a laugh. "Well, what is it that bothers you? Is it that you were kept late, or that you got picked up?" His thumb left a tarnished smear across Sacagawea's face.

"Both," she responded, not happy at how she was only being given half of his attention. "I had school today. And I've never gotten written up in a police report before, and quite frankly it was a waste of my time. But, that would not have happened if I had been allowed to leave much earlier--"

"Ah, but it could have, just the same," he interrupted her, finally resting his gaze back upon her. "Just being out unchaperoned anytime past midnight could get you pulled aside. I have no control over that." He paused, a faint smile flitting by. "I will speak to the managers about the lack of proper staffing, but ideally, you got yourself into this mess--"

"I what?!" She practically screeched, absolutely livid with anger now. His smile returned and grew into a smirk.

"Kagome, you had all evening between rushes to get those tasks done. Don't try to tell me that you are unaware just how common it is for one concession employee to close the stand at night." Naraku laughed and then continued, "If you are more prepared and get… certain things done first while you have lag time, then there is less to do after closing, and you'll be out a lot quicker. The mere fact that it took you till almost 2am to get the stand clean says a lot, especially taking in the fact that other than for the screening we weren't exactly that busy.

"Furthermore," he continued on as he leaned forward to put out his half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray, still zealously smudging away the new-coin sheen of his Sacagawea, "I am fully aware that you and… someone else… are hoping for you to become a supervisor."

Kagome tried not to show any signs of intimidation or flinching; if she wanted to become one, she would have to act like she deserved it and was proud for even this simple recognition. Naraku's eyes became half-lidded as he smiled again, his form curled forward and his elbows digging into the desktop.

"Now, if you can show me that you're worthy of being one, then you will become one." His eyes narrowed, and he continued in an almost threatening tone, "But, I highly suggest you keep on your toes. Employees who want promotions," he paused to eye Kagome, "must truly earn them."

He's practically taunting me, she thought to herself. Keeping herself at ease, she spoke in a tone that was rough and yet soft, her gaze still guarded. "You'll see."

"Actually, I somewhat would like to see that," he drawled out. "You're one of the top here, you make employees who've been here for much longer look bad in comparison, and you're reliable. You just need to show me you can oversee others."

He must be baiting me. Kagome eyed him warily, then changed the subject. "All I ask is that I not be kept so late."

"I can't guarantee that. But remember, I do have cops working for me. Got problems, talk to them." He smirked.

---

That night Kagome got the stand cleaned much more quickly. She was excused to leave by 11:30pm, she got done so early. However, she was somewhat wary of being out so late after dark again. The fact that she had plenty of time to make it home before midnight did not keep her from becoming unsettled.

Thankful that Inuyasha was the primary supervisor and was nearly done with his nightly tasks, she approached him as he was about to leave the stand. The lobby ceiling lights and the neon cursive writing that labeled the concession stand and restrooms had been already shut off for the night, leaving much of the main lobby in shadows. It made his hair almost shimmer and yet look blandly grey.

"Inuyasha?" she asked him.

"What?" He didn't look too enthusiastic about talking. However, she continued on.

"Could you give me a ride home?" She listlessly tugged at her shirt's bottom hem, pulling it out from her waistband in the front, her eyes on him.

For a moment he glanced off somewhere else. I really don't want to turn her down, but I don't want to get too close to her. Not when I have to deal with all this shit right now. After arguing with himself silently a bit longer, he decided it couldn't hurt; from what he recalled, her place was somewhere along the way to Ground Zero. He turned his gaze back to her with an offhanded sigh. "Yeah, sure. Wait for me by the elevators. I need to go change," he replied offhandedly. At her nod, he walked off toward the break room.

Kagome went and stood by the elevator doors. A few minutes later he came walking up, his clothing now the same shirt she had seen him wearing on the river bank that one day, a pair of extremely short shorts with a dull shine, his now trademark bandana tied firmly in place, and tall, heavy-duty footwear, probably the same pair she saw him wearing the day he literally ran into her. And, of course, he had taken the time to put his facial jewelry back into his piercings.

"What's the occasion?" she asked with slight surprise, trying to keep from giving him lookovers, as enticing as it was.

"Thursday nights I go clubbing after work if there's enough time," Inuyasha replied nonchalantly. "Now let's go."

As soon as the elevator was called to their floor, they stepped inside and rode it down to the higher level of the underground parking ramp. Kagome followed him out into the ramp area wordlessly until they arrived at the Saturn she recognized somewhat. Once they left the ramp, she started feeling anxious. He hadn't spoken a single word since they left the third floor of the building, not even to tell her to get into the car or to ask where exactly she needed to be driven to.

The question that had been pestering her for quite a while finally sprang forth. "Hey, why do you always wear a hat or a bandana?" The roads were only semi-busy at that time of night, so traffic was particularly light, even for a Thursday.

Without looking over at her, he promptly and curtly replied, "Personal preference," overskirting the real reason; she had no need to know all his secrets just yet. He took a quick glance at her as they passed 5th Street. "I thought I told you I find it extremely irritating when people ask me every single goddamn question about my appearance under the sun."

"But I haven't asked you anything like that for quite some time, geez! You don't have to get so touchy about it," she snappingly responded in defense, her brow scrunching up. They were almost to the bridge, the Federal Reserve Building now in view a block up on the left side. She turned her attention to the window on her side of the car. They had now reached the same spot where that sergeant had picked her up; she flinched for a moment.

He tensed his arms and hands, careful not to break the steering wheel from too much pressure. "Look, it's just how I am, you got that?" His voice became stern. "It may seem like not a lot bothers me, but in truth, a lot does, no matter who's behind it, even people who are my friends."

She didn't respond, and he caught an unpleasant change in her scent. He sighed, hoping he wasn't sounding too harsh. He had a habit of having his feet for dinner on quite numerous occasions due to being careless about what he said and how he said it.

"So don't take it personally. It's not you. I'm just… very easily irritated, okay?" And unfortunately, just being in the car with you is making me go hard, he grumbled to himself silently. Damn, I'm really going to need my therapy session tonight.

He readjusted the tightened fabric of his hot pants before chancing another glance at the girl sitting in the passenger seat of his car. The last time they had been in the same vehicle together, he had been anxious to tease her and even had prodded her temper to get her in the mood for using that crop on him. Hell, that crop was still in the car, somewhere in the back on the floor, and after the events of the previous week, it made him feel uneasy. Somehow, being in a confined space with the temptation that she was… it just didn't sit well with him.

She sat by the window, focusing her attention on the waters of the river that passed below the bridge they were now crossing. Softly, she spoke again, "Thanks for the ride, anyway."

"Damnit, Kagome, get out of that funk. Shit happens, and we gotta deal with it. Now," Inuyasha said as he took one hand off the steering wheel and placed it on her shoulder in a firm, twice-done grip before bringing it back to its previous designated spot, "I promise you we can do as much talking and discussion as you want later on, say, sometime next week or the next. Just, not now. Most especially since…" he trailed off for a moment before sidetracking himself boredly, "hey, we're across the bridge, where do I go from here?"

Kagome turned to look at him, her own unease drifting away, and she gave him easy directions to the block where her townhouse was. Within a couple minutes he had pulled up at her house. She waited for the car to come to a complete stop before she undid her seatbelt, opened her door and got ready to exit the car. Before she did, though, she turned and scooted as close to him as she could.

Puzzled by her behavior, Inuyasha's expression grew confused. He looked her way to find that she was practically staring at him. Damnit all to hell if she…. "What?!"

"Most especially since what? You never finished your sentence earlier," she questioned insistently as she made almost creepy eye contact with him.

It took him a moment before he could answer her. "Since if you don't get the fuck out of my car right now and go inside, I might lose control again," he finally answered in an unsure voice, shutting his eyes and averting his gaze as he spoke. You couldn't begin to understand the affect you have on me. He wanted to say that, but there was no way in hell he ever would. Beneath his bandana, his dog ears drooped. Maybe driving her home had been a bad idea.

Kagome bristled with hurt for a moment, then glanced up and down at his seated figure before turning back to leave the car with an averted gaze and a sigh. Not sure if he could hear her, she whispered an apology as she was about to close the car door.

"Don't apologize. I'm the one with the problems, bitch."

She paused with the car door, almost glaring at him. "Ass."

"Yours is nicer," he promptly replied with a smirk. It never failed him to resort to such petty retorts, even if all it did was give him a flighting bout of self-amusement.

"Why you--" Kagome couldn't even finish her sentence, she was so annoyed.

Inuyasha went on, using his so-called charm and twisted humor as a cover-up. "Gomen, but my head and my dick are always fighting over who gets to do the thinking, and I think it's pretty clear who won this time. Can you ever forgive him for speaking his mind?" It was so difficult to make himself laugh, but it was necessary to keep himself from dropping into a bout of self-loathing. Plus, it would distract him from the hardness forming at his crotch. He began to repeat the phrase 'therapy session' over and over in his head like a mantra.

Kagome blinked twice in shock before sending herself into a laughing, snickering mess. "Dear gods, you are simply incorrigible, Inuyasha. You crack me up," she managed to squeak out in between gasping breaths, most of her annoyance and anger drifting away.

"And I hope that's a good thing. Good night, bishoujo."

Upon hearing that, she looked back at him through the open door to see that he was no longer smirking, but smiling ever so slightly, faintly. Most would not have noticed any difference between it and a normal, so-hard-to-smile-that-it's-painful smile, but she could barely see it. She also saw a strange glint in his eyes that may have just been her imagination due to their odd natural color and the surrounding moonlight. Somehow, it made her feel warm, in a nice way. He was one confusing, contradicting bastard, and it was part of why he was so appealing, strangely. She nodded and tried to smile.

Inuyasha pulled the car away as soon as she shut the door and walked up to her front doorstep.

---

Past the crowded and sweltering dance floor that was merely a sea of darkly clothed dancers, he climbed the stairwell that led to the upper level. The tail-end of a Seabound song gracefully transitioned into something he didn't recognize, even after attending this club for more than seven years. Beneath his bandana, his dog ears flattened against his head, and he visibly winced due to the high volume of the current song playing. The irritating thing about the second level was that he was much closer to the speakers for the PA system than if he were to remain on the dance floor like usual.

As he neared the Cage, he glanced around and then put his hair in a binder at the neckline, watching for Jakotsu to finish with his most recent client. Seating himself at the booth in the corner where the other week he had first made discussions concerning the set-up of the… arrangement, Inuyasha patiently watched the session finish in the Cage.

The Cage door swung open as the dom lifted the latch and out walked he and his finished client, a young, well-figured woman. As she went toward the other booth near Inuyasha's, Jakotsu averted his eyes with disinterest, his face practically drooping while he scanned the area for other potential clients. When his eyes landed on Inuyasha, his spirits lifted and he smiled mischievously, walking over and stopping mere feet in front of him.

Without speaking, Inuyasha closed his eyes with a sigh, stood up, and readjusted his hot pants. He wished he had worn a belt, just to cinch them a little bit tighter. They weren't the most comfortable to wear when he sported a mokkori like he had been since he'd left work. Lately, it had been becoming more and more difficult to last a work day alongside Kagome without getting one by the end of the night. Ever since he'd gotten a taste of her for himself….

The song overhead began to taper off and blended in with the beginning measures of "Corporate Slave," by Snog. Great, such impeccably annoying timing, the disgruntled hanyou thought to himself. Jakotsu was squealing over seeing him, but he filtered out the words and non-word sounds, suddenly paying attention to the lyrics that began to growl out over the traipsy trip-hop industrial beat:

I'm just a hard working corporate slave
my mind does hate what my body does crave

If it weren't for the current situation at hand, he would be downstairs in the mob of dancers grooving slowly to the song and any that followed. Jakotsu was still talking to him, and he finally turned his attention to the overexcited dom.

"--totally wasn't expecting you this early in the evening!" Jakotsu jabbered on, not quite noticing the lack of attention that had been turned to him earlier. Inuyasha merely grunted and flared his nostrils, his eyes mostly blank.

Placing his hands on his hips and tapping the claw of each hand's pointer finger in annoyance, he glared directly into Jakotsu's eyes, as with his boots he was actually somewhat at eyelevel with the taller man. "Listen, before I do anything, put anything on, or go anywhere, you are to repeat to me my absolute rules. And this will occur each and every single fucking time I go through with this." He narrowed his eyes to almost a squint. "Do you understand?" he finished off with a growl, making sure his fangs were showing from between his pulled back lips.

The dom merely batted his eyelashes and smirked before answering, "Anything to keep you as my submissive, Inuyasha--"

"I am not your anything, fucktard! I'm just…" he paused in exasperation, "bottoming for you. And that's it. Now repeat my goddamn rules."

Jakotsu sighed and set his head back with an eye roll before looking the hanyou in the eyes again. "Number one: no touching your cute little ears." He made sure to include the word cute just to see Inuyasha squirm about it because, well, they were cute, and it was just too bad that the guy wouldn't flaunt their cuteness. "Number two, your pants don't come off, and I only touch you with my hands or with toys. Number three, you're here for punishment, not enjoyment, and I'm merely helping you out with that."

"Thank you," Inuyasha curtly replied. His hands smoothly went to the hem of his shirt as he quickly shrugged himself out of the upper clothing he had decided to wear clubbing that night. He couldn't really care less that he was giving Jakotsu a partial strip-tease, his well-developed torso muscles flexing as he removed his top over his head, careful not to disturb the bandana tied tightly around his scalp to hold down and hide the very obvious sign of his demon heritage.

---

A week and a half later, it was the middle of June. That very Monday, Naraku held his concession employees meeting in the early morning, well before the theater would open for business that day. Again it was held in screen 12, but this time he made everyone sit in the floor section of chairs, in front of a very long table and a large pad of paper that sat upon an easel. All employees who spent the majority of their work hours in the concession stand were present.

The managers themselves were seated in chairs on the other side of the table so that they faced the floor staff. Naraku stood by the easel with a dark marker, glancing at the staff seated at the table with their notebooks open for taking meeting notes. He narrowed his eyes at Allen Schultz, who sat on the end closest to the easel, and lifted his eyebrow almost threateningly. "Allen, what the fuck are you doing in my chair?" His voice, ironically, sounded quite jovial.

As everyone watched and listened with superficial amusement, the junior manager looked from Naraku to the other higher level staff members seated to his left before quickly and defensively stating, "But there are no other chairs up here!"

His statement, however, merely set him up for the next turn of events.

"Allen, either you can get your ass outta my chair willingly, or," Naraku trailed off with a whimsical expression as he set down the marker on the easel ledge. He kept everyone intensely awaiting his next words while he practically strolled toward the black dust curtain that covered up the area just below the screen itself. Going down on his haunches in an unprofessional looking pose, he pulled up the edge of the heavy curtain and reached underneath for something.

Or what? Kagome wasn't sure she wanted to know. She began to feel nervous. She looked over to where Tanaya was seated directly next to her and saw that even she looked a bit uneasy.

What none of the managers, except for Kagura maybe, and none of the supervisors and floor staff employees truly expected to be in their General Manager's hands when the man stood up again and returned toward the panel of management, was a baseball bat.

From her seat in the back row of the floor section, Kagome froze. Holy shit! She didn't dare speak.

Allen's eyes widened as Naraku waltzed his way up to him and held the bat in a readying stance. "As I was saying, get the fuck outta my chair willingly or I'll play baseball with your big, fat head." His grin grew in a Grinch-like manner with malice and ill intentions.

We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work

The sun shines bright from the arse of the boss man
We're moving right ahead, yes we're moving right along

We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
Sing happy, happy, love love, sleep sleep sleep
Sing happy, happy, love love, sleep sleep sleep

Microwave oven, economic rationalism
compassionless capitalism, fraudulent wargasm

We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work

We live a lie and we keep ourselves clean
We don't know what it is & we don't know what it means

We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
Sing happy, happy, love love, sleep sleep sleep
Sing happy, happy, love love, sleep sleep sleep

Microwave oven, economic rationalism
compassionless capitalism, fraudulent wargasm

We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
(we want you... we want you... we want you as a new recruit)
We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
(we want you... we want you... we want you as a new recruit)
We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work
We're happy little proles and we're on our way to work

Allen was out of his chair as fast as he could get. Even then, he was unable to avoid a mad swipe of the bat at his upper forearm while Naraku laughed with a sneering grin. With his outcry, the junior manager crumpled to the carpeted floor clasping onto his arm where he was hit, trying not to howl in pain. Kagura rolled her eyes, her expression grumpy.

Of the employees in the floor section, half of them reacted in a silent manner similar to Kagome's initial one, while the other half laughed at their doormat of a junior manager's predicament.

Allen slowly scrambled up onto his knees and steadied himself without the use of his arms. He tried to walk toward the table where his notebook and pen were, but Naraku had already sat down and flung both items at him practically over his shoulder. "Sit the fuck down with the rest of the staff in the floor section. Or, if you prefer, go ahead and sit on the floor itself."

Rather than argue and risk more bodily harm, Allen simply said, "Fine, you know what? Fine!" and, with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, threw his hands up in the air, though quite gingerly as his right arm still throbbed and stung from when the bat had connected with his upper forearm just inches below the shoulder. He sat himself in the front row between Callie and Dennis, both of whom looked at him with what could be interpreted as pity were it not for the fact that both employees thought the spineless man should have quit long ago.

Once everything was settled and people shut up, as they had started murmuring after Allen's comments, Kagura glanced to her right at Naraku and stared at him. "You know, I think Allen rolled his eyes at you," she mentioned in a quiet tone, yet loud enough for everyone to clearly hear what she had said.

In his seat, Naraku's favorite object of ridicule drooped his head and rested it in his upheld left hand, murmuring to himself, "Just leave me alone, for once." Why must he always do this every single time we have a meeting?

The General Manager, in a highly amused manner, folded his hands, his fingers intertwined neatly. Grinning with a glint in his eyes, he promptly asked Allen to repeat what he'd just said. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you from way over here. Did you say something important, Mr. Allen Shitz?"

Someone behind Allen laughed for a quick moment before stifling himself as the junior manager chanced a glance up and over at his taunter before quickly mumbling, "No, nothing" in a defeated tone.

"Good. Now we can get on with our lovely little meeting," Naraku promptly responded, feeling mockingly rambunctious. "Right, my Bitches of Eastwick?" Kagura, Merle, and the others seated at the table, whether male or female, glared at him for the comment but said nothing. "Okay, then, let's start."

The meeting proceeded as he had planned. He ordered employee after employee to come up to the easel and write out the Seven Steps of Service, always sending for someone else once the current attemptee failed at correctly listing them all. He even made sure to call upon Allen, not only because he knew Allen could never remember all seven steps but also so that he could mock the twentysomething's lack of spelling skills and poor handwriting in front of everyone.

"Kagome," he called out, "your turn." As she silently and expressionlessly made her way over to the easel, he added, "If you can get all seven in the correct order, I'm going to make you a supervisor right here and now."

Several of her coworkers made "oooh" sounds with rising intonations, like she was in trouble. Clint sniggered a bit before going into that horribly annoying laugh that irritated Kagome to the bone.

Right. Like Naraku would really promote someone. He hadn't promoted anyone since he first started working there, preferring to bring in his own upper level employees himself. The man preferred, instead, to mock his promotion-thirsty employees in front of everyone, leading them along with a string of empty promises and false hopes.

Kagome ignored everyone's comments and pretended like they didn't bother her at all. She took the marker from where it sat on the ledge of the easel, lifted the used sheet of paper up and over the top of the pad so that she had a clean one to write on, and uncapped the marker.

After a couple minutes of writing her list, she stepped away from the pad off to her left and turned around so that everyone could read it:

1. Greet the customer
2. Listen to the order in full
3. Upsell
4. Suggestive sell
5. Prepare the order
6. Accept payment
7. Thank the customer

And don't forget - SMILE

She met eyes with Naraku. He smiled with almost complete approval. Almost.

"Kagome, I like the almost complete conciseness of your list, and especially the last little item you added." He smiled enthusiastically, and she allowed herself to smile, glad of his approval. His next comment completely blew her away, though. "However, you missed one and split another into two different ones. Nice try, though. Sherelle?" Several people laughed at Kagome's failure. Kagome glared at no one in particular and huffed with a flare of her nostrils as she grumblingly made her way back to her seat. FatGirl uneasily waddled up to the easel.

When she finally stood away from the easel with a finished list of her own, she had the following on display for everyone to read:

1. Greet the customer
2. Listen to entire order
3. Upsell/suggestive sell
4. Prepare the order
5. Present the order
6. Accept the payment
7. Thank the customer

"Sherelle, you are the first of about eight people I've called up here to get the damn list right."

"Does this mean that I get promoted to supervisor?" the light-skinned black teenager asked with a small speck of hope. She'd worked as hard as she could since she'd been hired back in December, hoping to catch his attentions, hoping that the physical labor she'd put in even as the months made it more and more difficult for her to complete certain tasks due to her quickly approaching due date would still prove to him that she was an able-bodied, worthy employee.

"Um, let me think about that," Naraku playfully and condescendingly mused to himself aloud for everyone to hear, a pointer finger tapping against his lip and his eyes glancing upward for a moment of feigned deep thought. "Hm, that would be a no, Sherelle. Now sit down."

The meeting moved onward with much of the same antics. Naraku went over proper cleaning procedures, called out his bitchings and qualms over how things were currently being skimped on and whatnot, and further mocked the floor staff for their inadequacies and shortcomings.

Sometime around half past ten, he called upon JR, or Mouse, as Kagura preferred to call him, to step up to the easel and write out the managerial hierarchy. The young man sauntered up from his seat to write out what seemed at first glance to be a proper yet often, and purposefully, misspelled plot-out of each level of management and who answers to whom, until he jokingly added his own name at the very top of the list, right above the General Manager and Corporal Stenton, the chief of security, turning around and smirking at everyone from his spot right between the easel and Naraku himself.

"A clown as always, JR?" the General Manager uttered through gritted teeth before grabbing for the baseball bat he'd left in its spot on the ground at his feet and smashing his weapon straight into the 19 year old boy's slender hip. The crunching impact quickly sent Mouse back into the easel with a long string of painfully yelled curse words. Mouse landed on the carpeted floor on top of the easel in a position uncomfortable not only due to the bruising pain in his hip but also the way he was sprawled on top of the toppled stand. "Always fucking around?"

"Goddamn, you fucking ass, can't you take a fucking joke?" the injured employee managed to sneer out from where he lay on the floor with his eyes shut and his face in a grimace, not sure if he should try to get up. The connection between the bat and his hip had definitely caused more than just a bruise, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to walk very far or at all without someone or something to stabilize him. "You know, fuck this, I fucking quit, you goddamn cockpanther!" His voice, though laced with anger and vehemence, was now high-pitched as he wincingly began to succumb to the blinding ache in his side.

It was then that Naraku laughed from his seat at the table, ignoring everyone's reactions to what he had just done to Mouse; he had filtered them all out. "Then shut the fuck up and leave. Even if you don't quit, you're fired. Get the fuck out of my sight, you stupid little ass!"

------------

A/N: damn, gonna cut this short again. Had 2 more scenes planned for chapter 15, but those are pushed back. I want this damn thing posted as soon as possible, and the chapter is long enough as it is. Review responses next time! Song lyrics from during the meeting are from "The Prole Song" by Snog. For those who do not know, prole is short for proletariat. Lastly, go check out sublimetrickster's latest fanart from chapter 11:

http : // www . deviantart . com / deviation / 8637897

http : // www . deviantart . com / deviation / 8752326