InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Speed Limit ❯ Give me a Hog ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Do I look like Rumiko Takahashi to you?

Speed Limit

= Give me a Hog =

A burst of applause emitted the minute she stepped through the metal sliding doors that lead into the Sengoku Jidai headquarters. She stood there paralyzed as people cheered and went up to her, congratulating her on something or other.

"Welcome back Kags!"

Kagome whirled round and saw Miroku approach her with a muffin and a lit candle on top of it. On a little paper to the side the words "Welcome to Sengoku, Kagome!" could be read, scrawled carelessly across it's white surface.

"What's all this about?" the confused girl asked as she stared at the muffin and then at the faces of the men that were crowding around her.

"Why Kags! I thought you'd know," Miroku said with a wide smile as he thrust the candle lit muffin in her face. "Blow."

"Uh?" was Kagome's intelligent question. This was all too confusing.

"Blow out the candle," Miroku commanded.

Doing as told she blew out the candle and watched as the men around her clapped and occasionally gave her a friendly pat on the back. She caught Shippou giving her the thumbs up sign and waving at her enthusiastically from the other side of the room.

Ok. There was something that she was really missing out on. Why was everybody celebrating? Who were these people? She had definitely never seen them around before. Why did they keep congratulating her? Last time she checked her birthday was 6 months away...she hadn't won any prizes...could they be pulling her leg?

No, she didn't think so.

"So how do you like our little welcome back/integration party?" Kouga asked coming up to stand beside her.

"Integration?"

"Your my new trainer, right?" Kouga asked, his eyes laughing silently as he caught her perplexed look.

"Yeah," she said slowly with a slight frown.

"That means your part of the crew now. Your a member of the Sengoku Jidai racing team!" Kouga announced grandly.

She looked back at him, shocked. She hadn't realized that. So that's why everyone had come to greet her...

A smile replaced her confusion as she looked at the muffin in her hands. The top of the candle was burnt and the dried up wax that dribbled down it's sides hinted that it had been used once before, the piece of paper that had been placed by the muffin's side was now lost somewhere underneath the sea of feet that occupied the main hall of the Sengoku garage.

"Thanks everyone!" she said waving at them all. "You're the best!"

They all cheered at that. Kagome laughed and bit into the muffin, then threw it into the air behind her as a bride would do to her bouquet of flowers on her wedding day.

She watched in amusement as someone caught the muffin and was tackled to the ground shortly afterwards.

"Kagome!"

She smiled down at Shippou who had successfully managed to get through the mob of people to where she was standing.

"I'm so glad to see you! I thought you'd never come back!" he exclaimed.

"I wasn't about to, but I changed my mind," she said patting him affectionately on the head.

He smiled back at her and then turned serious, "Sesshoumaru is waiting for you in the office."

"Sesshoumaru? What does he want?" Kagome asked the little boy.

"Beats me," Shippou shrugged. "Probably wants to talk, tell you the rules and all that crap."

"More likely he wants to remind you he's your new boss," Miroku said watching as the man who had originally caught the muffin came out triumphant from the mini battle that had been taking place.

"Yey," Kagome said flatly.

"And probably it's not long before Inuyasha comes along to remind you the same thing," Miroku added.

"Great! Double yey," Kagome said in false enthusiasm. "Remind me, why did I accepted this job?"

"Because I'm the handsomest man you've ever seen," Miroku said matter-of-factly as if it was obvious. "Come on Kags, admit it."

"Admit what?" Kagome said raising an eyebrow at him.

"That you want me," Miroku replied with a wide grin.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "That'll be the day."

Shippou cleared his throat, "Kagome, you better go before Sesshoumaru blows a fuse."

"Oh right! I'm on my way," Kagome said flashing the green-eyed boy a sheepish smile.

Trying to make her way through the mass of male bodies, members of Sengoku, she reached the corridor leading down to Sesshoumaru's office. She stopped momentarily in front of the office's door before knocking on it's wooden surface.

No answer.

Giving the door a harder more louder knock she rapped her fingers impatiently on her arm as she waited for Sesshoumaru to answer.

Still no answer.

Opening the door slightly she peeped inside.

"Sesshoumaru?"

Silence.

Slipping inside the room she looked about to find it empty.

"That's weird..." Kagome spoke into the air. "I thought he would be waiting for me."

Deciding to stay until he returned she sat down on the leather chair in front of the desk she knew was Sesshoumaru's. Looking around the room she noticed a few papers and budget plans scattered on Inuyasha's desk.

Briefly, she wondered how did a 17 year old boy get to become a manager of one of the most famous racing teams in Japan. He must be the youngest in history!

The thought of Inuyasha brought a smug grin to her face. He still hadn't gotten over the grass skirt and coconut bikini top. He had made a good job of ignoring her for what was left of the school week and it surprised her slightly that he hadn't tried to take revenge on her yet.

'I bet he's planing my demise this very instant,' she thought grimly.

After 5 minutes she grew tired of waiting and got up to stroll about the office. Pausing before a shelf full of trophies she took her time to examine them. She noticed in awe that every single one of them were prizes for 1st place.

"Wow...Kouga must be really good," Kagome murmured aloud as she lightly traced her index finger over a golden cup with a figure on top of a motorcycle.

Just when she was about to move on, a fallen sliver picture frame caught her attention. Propping it up to stand upright amidst the trophies she was able to recognize the face of a younger Miroku. Next to him stood another figure holding up one a cup in front of his face, blocking it from view. Bending down, she peered more closely at the photograph in hopes to make out who was the person behind the golden prize.

"What are you doing?"

Kagome jumped, her heart beating wildly as she whirled around to find Sesshoumaru leaning against the door frame.

"Just looking," Kagome said getting over her little scare and trying to recuperate her composure.

Sesshoumaru made a sound in his throat similar to a grunt and them crossed the room to sit behind his desk.

"Have a seat," he said indicating to the chair she had been sitting in previously.

Doing as told she sat down and folded her hands neatly in her lap, waiting for Sesshoumaru to speak.

"I see Kouga has taken the liberty to name you his trainer," Sesshoumaru started after he had accommodated a few folders to the side. "Unfortunately he already has one."

Sesshoumaru met her eyes.

"Which happens to be me."

Kagome stared straight back at him. She knew what was coming. She was going to get kicked out the very same day she'd been welcomed in. Sesshoumaru was a cruel man after all.

"But since we have already got a trainer, someone who is experienced and has enough knowledge to teach," Sesshoumaru continued oblivious to the death glares that were shot his way, "it was settled that you'd become assistant trainer."

Kagome stopped her death glare bombarding immediately and instead regarded him curiously, urging him to elaborate on what he had just finished saying.

"Therefore you will become my assistant," Sesshoumaru said and then leaned forwards in his chair to give her a piercing look. "And that means that whatever I tell you to do, you'll do it and if you're in my way, you better move aside."

"And if I don't?" Kagome said crossing her arms in defiance.

"Well then, you'll just have to put up with it. I'm your new boss and you'll be doing what I say," Sesshoumaru snapped. "Unless you want to be the cleaning lady instead..."

"Assistant trainer is fine," Kagome replied icily.

"Then stick to my rules. Have I made myself clear?" Sesshoumaru demanded leaning back into his chair knowing he had won this round.

"As clear as day," Kagome said through gritted teeth. She had to comply or else she could kiss goodbye to her bike lessons. Kouga better go through with that promise...

"Good. We shall start straight away," Sesshoumaru said finally after a long pause in which he had opened his laptop to type something down.

"Now?" Kagome asked, dazed that the whole process was going so fast.

Ignoring her question Sesshoumaru glanced at the computer screen and then turned back to face her.

"You shall start by cleaning up Sengoku's common room," he said.

"WHAT?! I thought we had settled that I wasn't going to be the cleaning lady!" Kagome yelled angrily, standing up from her chair and planting the palms of her hands on top of the desk.

"We don't have a cleaning lady so as assistant trainer you will 'assist' to clean the common room," Sesshoumaru said calmly.

"I'm not doing it, it's not what I had been promised to do," Kagome said.

"Nobody ever promised you anything. Now be a good girl and follow the rules; do whatever I tell you to do, no questions asked," Sesshoumaru said turning back to his laptop.

"Do I even get paid for this?!" Kagome exclaimed throwing her hands into the air in exasperation.

"Actually you do," Sesshouamru said still staring at the computer screen.

"Really?" Kagome questioned her anger suddenly dissipating. She hadn't thought she'd get paid for working at Sengoku, she thought her payment would be the bike lessons, but if she got some profit from all of this she wasn't about to complain. In fact, this would be her first real paid job! Babysitting her brother didn't count.

"Hmm-hmm," Sesshoumaru responded completely engrossed in what he was doing. "Come down to my office later and we'll discuss the price."

"Ok," Kagome said heading towards the door feeling much more happier then she had been feeling a few seconds ago. "The common room is that living room in the apartment upstairs, right?"

"Yeah," the Sengoku manager replied detachedly.

Reaching for the door handle Kagome hesitated and looked back.

"Thank you," she said simply.

Sesshoumaru's head shot up to meet her gaze and soft smile.

"For my Mom's car," she explained when she saw that the silver haired man had no idea of what she was talking about. "You paid for the damages when it really wasn't necessary. Thank you."

He nodded not knowing what else to do and watched her as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

"You've got mail," the laptop informed him.

Sesshoumaru shook his head and with a sigh he focused on the computer in front of him. He just couldn't figure that girl out. One minute she is screaming her head off at him and the next she is thanking him.

Opening his inbox he got back to work, pushing his previous thoughts aside for the time being.

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Stepping back to admire her work, she noticed in satisfaction that the common room was now speckles, the empty candy wrappers and chip bags that had once littered the floor had been swiped away, letting one able to move around freely.

"-install a new pipe and get Yoshi to do the rejetting," Miroku was saying as he entered the room. "Then we can-...wow."

He stopped as he took a good look at his surroundings. The person whom he was talking to, a young man with a punk hairstyle by the name of Ginta, looked over his shoulder to see what was so interesting.

"It's clean..." Ginta said in wonderment.

Kagome laughed.

"You two make good interpretations of a fish, you know that?" Kagome said with a giggle.

Miroku came out of his gaping stupor and pointed at the tidy common room. "Do you know how long it's been since this place has gotten a good clean?"

"Years?" Kagome guessed.

Miroku shook his head, "It's never been cleaned."

"Ewww! So you mean that decayed tuna sandwich that I had to pick up was..." Kagome said her face twisted in disgust.

"That's right. It was most likely about 5 years old," Miroku said cheerfully. "It must be antique, a fortune by now."

"Yeah, the first tuna sandwich to have survived in the time span of 5 years," Ginta said and then looked down at his stomach. "I doubt it would have lasted that long if I had found it."

"Oh GROSS!" screeched Kagome hands flinging to her throat as if to stop her from gagging. "Now I understand why you have no cleaning ladies...Who'd want to clean such a pigsty?"

"Well, you for instance," Miroku pointed out.

"I was obliged," Kagome said scrunching up her nose in annoyance.

"By Sesshoumaru?" Miroku asked heading for the mini-fridge.

"The one and only," Kagome said with a scowl.

"Hey, Ginta! Catch!" Miroku said throwing over a can of soda to his colleague and then turning back to Kagome. "I would figure that much. He probably wanted you out of the way."

"Hmmm..." Kagome agreed her mind lost in thought.

"You know, he isn't used to working with others, as a team I mean. He likes to handle things by himself," Miroku said catching her expression. "It's already incredible that he accepted to make you his assistant."

Ginta nodded his head, "Everyone thinks the same thing. I remember the last time when-"

"WHERE IS HE?!"

Three heads whirled towards the doorway to discover one very infuriated black haired, purple eyed young man.

"And hello to you too, Inuyasha," Miroku said taking a sip of his soda.

"Sesshoumaru. Where IS he?!" Inuyasha asked again, his eyes fixed on Miroku.

"Not here," the mechanic answered nonchalantly. "He went to the track with Kouga to supervise his daily jog and will be coming back later."

"I'm going to tear him apart!" Inuyasha yelled causing Ginta to back away one step.

Kagome was thinking along similar lines. She was Sesshoumaru's assistant, was she not? She was supposed to be training Kouga too, not cleaning out some room that had never seen a duster in all of it's existence.

But what would she do anyway? Hold the stop watch? She had no experience in coaching. With a sigh she realized how useless she was. At least by cleaning the common room she was helping out...

Miroku went over to his friend and offered him his can of soda.

"So what's biting you?" Miroku asked.

"The wench, that's what," Inuyasha said taking the offering and promptly chugging it down.

"Which wench?" Miroku asked taking the empty container from Inuyasha after he had downed it.

"The annoying bitch that you picked off the highway and goes to the same school that I go to," Inuyasha explained with a growl.

"Bitch?!" shrieked an outraged Kagome who had kept silent up till then. "Who are you calling bitch you arrogant jerk?!"

Inuyasha looked at her in surprise, only then having realized that she was there. But his surprised face quickly turned into one of anger, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

"You don't belong here," he hissed lowly. "You were not supposed to be a member of this team."

His eyes penetrated into Kagome's own and they stood there, silently glaring at each other.

And suddenly it struck her. Maybe she had gone too far with that prank at school. She had deflated his pride like one would when they prick a balloon with a needle. She had embarrassed him in front of the whole student body and now he took her as a threat, not wanting her to do the same in front of the Sengoku members, where he was boss, were he ruled.

She felt guilty. Real guilty.

"You're fired."

Or maybe she didn't.

Anger welled up inside of her.

Sengoku was an opportunity of a lifetime and she wasn't about to let it go. She had been waiting too long for this to happen!

"You wouldn't dare," Kagome said in a low voice.

"Try me," Inuyasha challenged.

"Inuyasha, you can't fire Kagome!" Miroku protested.

"Why the hell not?! I'm manager here," he said breaking the eye contact with the girl in front of him to confront Miroku.

"Because Sesshoumaru was the one who hired her and he is the only one who can decide if she stays or not," reasoned the Sengoku mechanic. "Right, Ginta?"

The punk hairstyled young man gulped before giving a small nod. Not that anyone noticed.

"Keh!"

With that simple word said Inuyasha left the room in a huff, slamming the door behind him in his wake.

Nobody spoke for a while until Kagome shifted uncomfortably and sighed heavily.

"He really hates me, doesn't he?" Kagome asked no one in particular.

Miroku shook his head. "No, I don't think it's that."

Kagome smiled at the mechanic at her side. It was amazing how quickly she had befriended the young playboy, she just seemed to get along with him.

"No need to make up an excuse for him. The feeling is mutual," Kagome said and then she giggled.

Miroku looked at her questionably.

"Nakamura really has to expand his vocabulary," Kagome answered Miroku's unspoken question.

They looked at each other and laughed. Inuyasha definitively needed another word other than 'Keh!'

******************************************************

"Mama! I'm home!" Kagome called from the front door.

Mrs Hirugashi's head peaked around the corner.

"Hello dear," she said walking up to her daughter to give her a peck on the cheek. She had her business suit on underneath her apron and a dish cloth was slung over her shoulder. "How was your day at Sengoku?"

"Fine," Kagome said hanging her coat up in the hallway cupboard and slipping into her slippers. "I was made assistant trainer and Sesshoumaru, my manager, said I'll even get paid!"

"That great Kagome!" her mother congratulated as she gave her oldest child a quick hug. "Why don't you come with me to the kitchen and tell me all about it?"

"Is that Kagome?" came a boy's voice from the living room.

"No, it's the boogie man coming to get you," joked Kagome with a little laugh. "Of course it's me, squirt!"

"Nee-chan!"

A little boy by the age of 13 came dashing out of the living room, ramming into her stomach, causing her to stumble back into the wall.

"Umph!" Kagome grunted as her little brother crashed into her.

Mrs Hirugashi watched with a smile and then headed back into the kitchen to start dinner.

"So what's up?" Kagome asked as she gently untangled the boy's arms from her waist, taking advantage to push herself from the wall.

"What was it like?" Souta asked breathlessly.

"What was what like?" Kagome said knowing only too well what he was referring to. Though who said an older sister couldn't torture her little brother? She liked leaving him in suspense.

"Sengoku Jidai!" Souta exclaimed waving his hands about over his head in exasperation. "Did you get to see the motorbikes? Did you talk to Kouga?"

"Sengoku Jidai? Motorbikes? Kouga...? What are you talking about Souta?" Kagome asked as she headed towards the kitchen hiding the teasing grin that had appeared on her face as best as she could.

"Ka-go-me! You know what I'm talking about! Tell me!" said Souta with a little stomp of his foot.

Kagome laughed at her little brother's frustration and sat down at the kitchen counter.

"I did see the motorbikes and I did talk to Kouga. He was the one who offered me the job in the first place remember?" she said.

"I want details!" Souta said sitting down beside her. "So spill!"

With a grin Kagome settled down, recalling the day's events at Sengoku and relating them to her family.

"Just wait till I tell all the kids at school that my sister is a member of the Sengoku Jidai motorbike racing team!" Souta said excitedly.

Suddenly he turned to Kagome with pleading eyes.

"Oh no you don't," Kagome said. She knew that look on her brother's face and she didn't like it one bit.

"Please! Take me with you!" Souta cried clasping his hands together and falling to his knees at her feet.

"Nuh-huh. No way," Kagome said with a shake of her head.

"I'll do your chores for a whole week if you take me!" Souta begged latching onto her legs.

"No," said Kagome trying to free herself from her brother's grip.

"Two weeks?" Souta pleaded.

"Give Souta a chance, Kagome," Mrs Hirugashi said looking up from the pot she was stirring.

"But Mom..." Kagome whined.

"I only said, give him a chance. It doesn't mean you have to say yes, just think about it," Mrs Hirugashi said as she reached over for the chopped carrots and added them to the stew.

Kagome pouted. She didn't want to bring her little brother to Sengoku, though the idea of Souta doing her chores for two weeks sounded tempting...

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Kagome said jumping up from her seat and racing out of the kitchen to the front door. At least she could delay the conversation until she had a better argument to present.

"Hello?" Kagome said opening the door.

Her eyes fell on the abandoned box lying on the doormat with her name written on top of it. Quirking up an eyebrow she reached down to pick it up and take it inside.

"Geez, this thing is heavy!" Kagome said as she struggled with the box's weight.

Pushing the door shut with her foot she let the box drop to the floor with a thud and a squeal.

Wait just a minute. A squeal?

The box moved and emitted another sound similar to a snort. Kagome stood there, looking at the box with wide eyes.

"Hey Kagome! Who was it?" Souta said coming down the hallway and stopped to look at the box curiously. "What's in there?"

"Don't know and don't want to know either," Kagome answered watching as the box moved again.

"It's alive!" shouted Souta jumping away from it to hide behind his sister.

"What's alive?" Mrs. Hirugashi asked appearing beside her daughter.

Both Hirugashi children pointed at the box wordlessly. Bending down, Mrs. Hirugashi opened the top only to jump back in surprise as the box toppled over and a little black blur dashed out of it.

"It's a piggy!" exclaimed Souta as he watched the black pig disappear down the hallway into the living room.

"After it!" Kagome shouted taking after the piglet followed closely behind by her mother and brother.

They found the pig cowering underneath the coffee table, it's eyes wide with fear, having no idea were it was.

"Come here piggy, we're not going to hurt you," Kagome coaxed making her movements as slow as possible as not to startle the frightened animal. Getting down on all fours she reached out her hand slowly, her finger tips just inches away from the black pig's hoof.

The kettle screamed from the kitchen and the pig shot away from Kagome's reaching hand.

"Damn," Kagome grumbled as she raced after the pig.

Souta threw himself onto the floor in a desperate attempt to grab the squealing creature, his hands catching hold of it around it's belly. Though it only took one wiggle for it to slip easily out of his grasp and run in a different direction.

"Souta, why didn't you catch it?!" Kagome yelled at her little brother as he looked after the pig disappearing into the study.

"It slipped," Souta answered and held up his hands to her face. "It's covered in grease."

"Grease?!" Kagome cried in disbelief taking a look at her brother's shinny hands.

Hearing a squeal coming from the study Kagome ran towards it and skidded to a halt in front of the study doorway, her mother not far behind. Both watched as one of Mrs. Hirugashi's favorite vases crashed to the floor, having been knocked over when the pig bumped into the table that was supporting it.

"My vase!" Mrs Hirugashi cried out in dismay as she stared at the broken pieces of crystal scattered around on the floor.

"Souta, bring a towel, a blanket, anything!" Kagome desperately ordered her brother as she watched the pig knock down a stool and another table sending the lamp that rested upon it to the ground.

Souta rushed into his bedroom, yanking his blanket off his bed and ran back into the kitchen were he could hear the squeals of the pig and the shouts of his sister.

"Kagome!" Souta yelled hurling the blanket at her for her to catch.

Taking the blanket she quickly threw it over the escaping pig as if it was a net.

"Gotcha!" Kagome cried as she pounced on top of the wiggling bundle underneath the sheet.

The pig squealed and struggled as Kagome gathered it up in her arms. Pulling the blanket down to reveal the little greased pig's head she noticed for the first time a little note was attached to a string that circled it's neck.

Ripping it off she read:

Just returning this little bundle of greased joy to where he belongs. After all a pig should be with another pig, right?

Hogs and kisses

~ Inuyasha.

The piglet in her arms jerked and fell to the ground before he promptly scrambled up and dashed towards the living room again. A terrified meow from her chubby cat Buyo was heard followed along by a crash.

"He'll pay," seethed Kagome as she crumpled up the note and headed towards the living room on another wild chase. "His death contract has just been signed."

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A/N: Phew! Done! Sorry for the delay but I just had a week full of exams and pop up quizzes and I had no time to dedicate myself to the story. Anyway, I whipped this chapter up out of the blue so I hope it's all right. Pigs rule ^_^ v.