InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Bear Witness ❯ My First Day On The Job ( Chapter 5 )

{Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, then I'm not telling. Go see chapter one.}

Kikyou Dead: 12

Kikyou Living: 1

Chapter Five: My First Day on The Job

Obsession is born of the simplest of things;

a brush of a hand, a tinkling of laughter,

A raise of a brow, a gentle smile,

all these and more are enough to sow the seed.

-Anon.-

*8:30 AM Monday*

"I'm not comfortable in this Kagome," Sango groaned as she tugged on her skirt uncomfortably. "I mean, I'm just not a suit person."

"I'm not either, but we have to wear this to fit in, remember?" Kagome said as she sat down on the nearest couch. She, Sango and Miroku were in Sesshoumaru's living room, waiting for Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru to finish dressing so they could accompany them to work. Kagome decided on a black, knee-length skirt with a small split in the back and a simple white blouse. Sango wore a navy skirt suit, and was currently grumbling about it.

Kagome sighed as she let her thoughts drift to last night's dream. "I wonder if I'm going crazy,' she asked herself as Sango slapped Miroku for trying to lift the back of her skirt up. 'I must be. Miroku's right, the dream is about the taiyoukai. But why would I dream about a youkai from so long ago? And a miko-killer at that?' Inuyasha stormed in the door, frantically trying to brush his hair and fix his tie at the same time.

He was failing miserably.

"Somebody help me," he whined. Kagome giggled slightly and stood up. Taking the brush from his hand, she slowly began to brush his hair as he struggled with the troublesome tie. When she finished she pulled it into a low ponytail at the base of his skull. Kagome stood back and surveyed her work.

"Not bad, since I'm too short to see the top of your head," she said with a smile. Inuyasha smiled back, but before he could respond someone cleared his throat. They turned to find Sesshoumaru standing in his bedroom threshold, glaring at Inuyasha coldly.

"Did you forget something?" he asked Inuyasha. Inuyasha shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Sesshoumaru nodded and walked toward the door. "Good. Let's go."

Kagome, Sango and Miroku exchanged confused glances as they followed the two to the elevator. Kagome decided that the elevator ride would be spent doing inventory.

"OK Miroku, do you have everything? Your shades, your two-way, the gumballs; everything?"

"Yes, Boss," Miroku sighed in exasperation. "There are even extra weapons inside the trunk of the limo."

"Weapons?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah, Sango's .44, my rifle and Boss' pump-action shotgun."

"Woah," Inuyasha breathed, staring in awe at Kagome. "Isn't that a rather large weapon for such a small woman?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore that comment as she turned to Sango. "And you?"

"I have everything."

"Good," Kagome praised as she hefted the attaché to her shoulder. The elevator doors slid open and they walked through the lobby to the waiting limo. Once inside, with Miroku sitting up front with the driver, Sango and Kagome decided to quiz their new 'employers'.

"So what do we do exactly?" Sango asked as the limo pulled into traffic.

"You're just an intern, so you do whatever I say," Inuyasha said with an evil grin. Sango shuddered as Sesshoumaru explained Kagome 'position'.

"You do almost the same thing, except more on a personal level."

"A personal level?" Kagome asked. Sesshoumaru nodded. "What you did for Inuyasha this morning would be considered something an assistant would do."

"Or a chambermaid," Sango whispered with a snicker, thinking no one heard it. That thought was derailed when Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement.

"I agree with your analogy. That's why you won't do it again," Sesshoumaru said, darting a icy glare at Inuyasha.

Kagome and Sango exchanged another set of confused glances as they entered the office building. It was at least forty stories, made entirely of glass.

"This branch of WCT is called 'The Glass House'," Inuyasha whispered to Kagome and Sango as they approached the building. A doorman let them in, bidding Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha a pleasant morning as they moved through the lobby to the elevators. They went to the last floor of the building, where there were only two secretaries and two offices on either side of the hallway.

"Come with me, Kagome," Sesshoumaru ordered as he walked to the secretary on the left. She glanced up and smiled pleasantly as Sesshoumaru leaned over her desk.

"Any messages, Grace," he asked. Grace shook her head no. Sesshoumaru nodded in thanks then he and Kagome walked to her right down the hall to his office, leaving Sango and Inuyasha to their own devices.

Sesshoumaru unlocked the mahogany doors, and then turned one of the golden doorknobs and lead Kagome in. Kagome gawked much as she'd done when her and her friends boarded his plane. The black/white color theme was the same, with black leather chairs and white carpet and the gold-trimmed glass table beside a black chaise lounge. There were black recliners as well, with glass end tables on either side. At the other end of the office was Sesshoumaru's desk, made of mahogany with a glass top. Kagome watched Sesshoumaru as he sat down behind the desk, turned on his computer and began typing, totally forgetting her.

"Um, what am I supposed to do?" she asked. Sesshoumaru stopped typing to address her.

"Ask me what I need."

"O….k…. What do you need?"

"A cup of tea," Sesshoumaru said as he turned back to his computer. "Green, with a drop of honey. Grace will show you to the break room."

Kagome nodded and did like he asked, and with Grace's help found the break room in record time. Kagome stood outside as she waited for the water heater to go off. An older gentleman adjusted his glasses as he slowly approached her.

"Hello miss. Are you lost?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, but thanks for asking. I'm the replacement for Mr. Takamda's assistant."

"You poor thing," he said as he walked into the break room. Kagome followed him, a quizzical expression on her face.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Mr. Takamada is said to be somewhat of a slave driver. You don't look upset though. Normally the temps are near tears by now."

"Who are you?" Kagome asked. The gentleman seemed shocked by her question, then fell into quiet chuckles.

"I didn't tell you that, did I? I guess my memory is falling in my old age." He held his hand out to Kagome, who shook it eagerly.

"I'm Myouga Kirosara, Mr. Hitame's personal assistant."

"Kagome."

"My pleasure, as always," Myouga said as he returned to his coffee. "I'm glad you're so nice. Mr. Hitame's new intern seems to be a spitfire."

"What do you mean?"

Myouga sat his coffee cup into the nearby sink and said before walking out the door "They've fought all morning. Can't you hear them?"

Kagome stuck her head out the break room and listened. Sure enough, she could hear Sango and Inuyasha practically screaming at each other like a pair of escaped mental patients. Kagome sighed in long suffering, pulled her shades out of her pocket and pushed the link to Sango.

*

"Sango!"

Sango stopped waving the stack of papers in her hand suddenly, a strange look on her face as she put them down and reached inside her pocket. She drew out the shades and put them on, ignoring Inuyasha completely.

"Yeah?"

"Stop it!" Kagome hissed. "I can hear you all the way from the break room!"

"But it's not my fault!" Sango countered. Inuyasha stopped shouting to look at her uneasily. 'She's talking to herself,' he concluded. 'She's so mad she's talking to herself.'

"If he had only said what kind of ink he wanted for this stupid report-"

"Stupid report!? Wench, that was the stock quote from Tokyo. Stupid woman!"

"Wench! Who are you calling a wench?"

"Enough!" Kagome hissed, breaking through the upcoming argument. "Sango, calm down enough to listen to me. " Sango nodded as she listened to whatever it was Kagome had to say.

"We're not actual office workers, remember?"

"I said that!"

"Let me finish! As I said, we don't do this normally, so try real hard to follow his lead. Mr. Takamada has me in the break room waiting on the water heater from the stone age to heat up so he can have a frigging cup of tea the old-fashioned way, but do you hear me complaining? Noooo! Want to know why? BECAUSE I DON'T CARE ENOUGH TO COMPLAIN!!!! JUST IGNORE HIM AND SHUT THE HELL UP!!!"

"Wow," Sango breathed as she gathered the messed up stock report. "You didn't have to be so mean."

"Yes I did. Try to behave Sango. If you can't, come to Mr. Takamada's office and we'll trade."

"OK," Sango said as she took off the shades. She smiled sweetly to Inuyasha and said

"Let's start over. Would you please explain this to me again?"

*

Kagome sighed as she returned the shades to her pocket. 'Why me?' she pondered as the water heater went off. She took one of the ornate porcelain cups from the shelf and poured the hot water into the cup. Adding a few leaves and few drops of honey, she grabbed a spoon and a saucer before returning to Sesshoumaru's office. Sesshoumaru barely glanced in her direction as she sat the cup down on one of the coasters on his desk.

He finally reached for the cup and took a sip. "Not bad," Sesshoumaru said as he sat the cup back down.

"What else?" Kagome asked. Sesshoumaru scribbled some directions on a scrap piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Take this to the 8th floor, to Mr. Sandaval's office. He'll know what you're there for. Bring it back to me."

Kagome nodded and waked out of the office to the elevator. As she pushed the button for the 8th floor, she found herself thinking about Sesshoumaru's hands. 'They look like he's actually worked in his life time,' Kagome thought as she fiddled with the piece of paper. 'Strong, yet delicate, like he might play the piano. And he's a leftie too. How interesting.'

*3:00 PM*

The rest of Kagome's day was spent running errands. She was slowly learning her way around 'The Glass House'. Plus, anytime she became lost some helpful soul turned her in the right direction. As of the moment, she was returning to Sesshoumaru's office with last week's safety report.

"I'm back," Kagome sang as she waltzed into Sesshoumaru's office, holding the vanilla envelope that held what he requested. Sesshoumaru glanced up and nodded.

"So it seems," he replied dryly as Kagome plunked the envelope in front of him. He handed her a legal pad and motioned for her to sit down.

"Can you take dictation?" Sesshoumaru asked. Kagome nodded as she reached for a pen from his desk.

"If working in a McDonald's drive-thru window for three winters counts as dictation, then yes."

Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow, trying to determine if she were serious or not. A smile graced her features, letting him know she was only kidding. Sesshoumaru brushed off the sudden urge to smile back.

"Ready?"

Kagome nodded. "Ready."

Sesshoumaru started to speak, watching Kagome as she scribbled whatever shorthand she used across the lemon yellow paper. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and she crossed her legs to brace the back of the pad on her knee. After a minute or two Sesshoumaru stopped and turned to her.

"Read it back to me."

"OK," Kagome said before she began. She read the pad, reading everything he said word for word.

Sesshoumaru nodded in approval. "It would seem your 'McDonalds' shorthand came in handy."

Kagome smiled back as he started the memo, watching in interest as Kagome wrote eagerly. A buzz on his intercom came a few minutes later.

"Mr. Takamada?" Grace said over the crackling system. Sesshoumaru motioned for Kagome to stop and answered her.

"Yes Grace?"

"Mr. Tarentino is here to see you."

Sesshoumaru groaned, his shoulders slumping slightly as he answered her. "Send him in."

Sesshoumaru restarted the memo yet again, watching the door as Mr. Tarentino came in. Dressed in a dark blue business suit, Mr. Tarentino seemed no younger than Inuyasha. His dark, shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and his light blue eyes scanned Sesshoumaru's office warily until they fell on Kagome.

Sesshoumaru could nearly feel the heat in Mr. Tarentino's gaze as he followed the flow of Kagome's legs to the split in her skirt. He finally glanced at her face, and his eyes widened in awe.

Sesshoumaru suddenly found the urge to knock Mr. Tarentino's teeth out.

Sesshoumaru stopped the memo and motioned for Mr. Tarentino to come closer. "What can I do for you, Mr. Tarentino?"

"Please," he said with a grin. "We're all friends here." He turned to Kagome and smiled, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it. "I'm Kouga. And who are you?"

"I'm Kagome," Kagome said as she tried to take her hand back. Kouga gave it one last kiss before letting go.

"What a beautiful name. It certainly matches the girl."

Kagome blushed as Sesshoumaru stood up. "I am sure you didn't come all the way up here to harass my assistant. What can I do for you?"

Kouga smiled back at Kagome before answering. "I'm up here because of the 'Employee of the Month' award."

"You don't need me for that. You're the head of employee services. I think you came up here to waste time."

Kouga raised his hands in defeat. "Alright. You caught me. I really came up here to see the pretty vixen you have working for you. Everyone in the building is talking about her."

He stooped down and brushed a stray strand from Kagome's face. "I wonder: are you as beautiful without the bun as you are with it?"

Before Sesshoumaru could berate him for such an insolent remark, Kagome smiled and said

"Isn't sexual harassment grounds for a lawsuit?"

Sesshoumaru inwardly smirked as Kouga paled. He stood back up quickly, apologizing to Kagome as she continued to smile.

"I'm sorry, Kagome! I didn't mean it like that! It's just that-"

"I think you'd better leave," Sesshoumaru replied as he opened the door. Kouga nodded earnestly and left, giving Kagome a last-minute wave before Sesshoumaru shut the door. Kagome instantly burst into giggles, dropping the notepad in the process.

Sesshoumaru picked up the notepad and handed it to her, motioning for her to get herself under control. He couldn't very well tell her that Kouga was a wolf youkai, and that he could probably hear her, could he?

"Come on. We'll finish this as I show you to the cafeteria."

He walked out the door as Kagome struggled to gather her things. She jogged up beside him, the notepad and pen in hand as they walked along.

"How am I supposed to see?" Kagome asked when they walked into the elevator.

"I will be your eyes," Sesshoumaru answered as the elevator stopped on the 5th floor. He started the memo again, and again Kagome took notes as she followed him. Sesshoumaru glanced around him as they entered the cafeteria, noticing the admiring stares from the males inside.

"Wow, look at her!"

"She's a hottie!"

"Yeah man, Mr. Takamada's so lucky! I'd love to have her at my beck and call!"

"Me too! I know of a few things she could do to 'assist' me!"

Sesshoumaru nearly growled at this as Kagome trudged behind him, unaware of the comments sent her way. Sesshoumaru decided he'd had enough of the cafeteria and headed for the stairway to the next floor. He stopped a few inches from the stairs, contemplating his reaction in the cafeteria.

'Why would I care what some horny human male says about her?' he asked himself as he continued the memo. 'I mean, Kouga was one thing, but this is another. I should want to wipe her from the face of the planet for the potential danger she might be, but instead I'm acting like a jealous teenager. I'm 1,400 years old for God's sake!'

Sesshoumaru glanced up when Kagome walked past him, still taking notes. Trusting Sesshoumaru when he said he'd be her eyes, she wasn't aware of the steps as she approached them. Sesshoumaru watched as she stepped on the top stair. One more step and she'd fall down the entire flight.

Sesshoumaru darted forward quickly, grasped Kagome's waist and caught her. Kagome abruptly stopped writing, blinking owlishly as she stared ahead. She gasped as she understood what Sesshoumaru stopped her from doing.

In a way, he'd just saved her life.

Sesshoumaru tugged her away from the stairs, enfolding his arms around her waist as he whispered "Are you alright?"

Kagome nodded absently, not noticing how close they were for the fall she nearly had. Sesshoumaru decided to use her distraction to study her. Pale, creamy skin seemed to contrast deliciously with the dark, silky tresses that were always pulled up in a ponytail or bun. He suddenly wondered something akin to what Kouga said earlier as he rested his chin on Kagome's shoulder and inhaled deeply. A mix of apple blossoms and thunderstorms flooded his nose, surprising him.

'Humans normally smell disgusting. Why doesn't she?' he asked himself as he inhaled again. Sesshoumaru noticed that Kagome was slowly coming out of her stupor. He released her gently before turning and opening the door to the previous floor.

"Let's go back to my office. We can finish the memo there."

Kagome nodded in agreement as she and Sesshoumaru returned to the elevator.

--------

SF: That was so nice of you Sesshou.

Sesshou: Whatever. I didn't want to hear her crying the entire time.

SF: Whatever yourself. You know you care. I see it in you.

Sesshou: You won't be able to see at all if you keep it up.

SF: Alright fine, jerk. Be like that if you want to but I know I'm right. You'll see. Well, the summary for chapter six is below.

Chapter Six: What Dreams May Come

Sesshoumaru dreams of what could be, Kagome stops an argument and her dreams live to haunt her.

Responses:

Fanfiction:

Mistress Fluffy: Don't worry girl. I got you covered. I just posted the news on my bio page. Sorry to hear that though. I hate it when FF freaks out. Try MM. They love lemons there. I've never read Nora Roberts. I'm a Steven King, Anne Rice and Dean Koonts fan myself. You know, scare the hell out of me. I like that kind of thing. Sesshou: Really? {::grabs SF's waist::} SF: {::smacks Sesshou away::} Not like that pervert! You poor thing! I'm sorry you sprained your ankle. Don't worry, I'm sending Sesshou in a butler outfit to do your every beck and call. If he acts up, you know how to make him sit *down* ^.^

Tiffany: Not a problem. It's what I'm here for.

Miss Phoenix: Sesshou's not going to be exactly like Kouga, but he might get a little close, especially in the next few chapters.

Del_Kaidin: Just for you, I'm updating this story on Saturday too. One more vote for Kikyou dead.

Bikutorai: Maybe I should. I don't know, though. Someone might get tired of that. I'll try anyway. Yup, you're right! The brothers have had a weird relationship, and its really different from the one that's in the anime. You'll be surprised, that's for sure!

Nataku: I'm coming as soon as possible, but it's hard with an unfinished story. I totally respect those that post unfinished stories now. It's hard.

Soudesuka-Shurikens: Thanks so much! I'm surprised at how much people like this fic! Maybe it not being finished is a good thing!

Michi-Chan6: Thanks so much and I'll update as soon as possible!

Dark Whispers: I do too! They're so hard to write, and keep everyone in character at the same time! That's one more vote for a dead Kikyou! I can't stand the slut anyway.

LediShae: Thanks! Another vote for Kikyou dead!

Alex: Sorry, but Inu-chan won't be in the competition for our dear Kagome. I think its Naraku and Kouga, but I can't remember. Inu-chan does get a little mad at Sesshou though, but you'll see what I mean later.

Flambeau-Willow: Thanks so much! I never get tired of hearing that!

AkxTp: You suggested it to me. Um, Ah-Un won't even be mentioned until chapter ten (?) or so. Sorry for the confusion about the recipes. None of mine are very complicated. I totally believe in quick and good, and thank God my teacher does too.

Sesshyangel: I know, isn't Miroku great? You missed me too?! {::glomps Sesshyangel::}

Nymph Demon: Thanks for the love! I'm glad you think it works! I worry about it.

Kitsune Princess: Thanks so much! My update schedule is on my bio page!

MoonGoddess 7876: I am, but it won't be on Fanfiction. See, I've already been locked out once, and I do believe they'll kick me off completely if I try it again. Don't worry, this story is an NC-17 on mediaminer. One more vote for a dead Kikyou.

Forgotten Bard: Anything for one of the people who started my S/K obsession! If you don't have it by the time this chapter posts, then email me again and I'll email it to you again.

Vegito044: Sesshou and Inu-chan do have a masking spell, and it not only hides their youkai features, it hides their youki, or demon auras as well. Thanks so much for the love!

Animegirl11: Thanks so much! There's a small bruise on my back from where I fell. Bad Inu-chan! Inu-chan: What? I didn't see you! SF: {::sigh::} Brute.

Inu Yokai: Ooooo...pocky! {::jumps IY:} Must have pocky!

Mediaminer:

Lady Sesshoumaru: Yeah, Sesshou will have dreams but not the kind you're thinking. I'm sure you see what I mean. There is another driver, but Miroku can pilot or drive anything. He's kinda like an emergency stunt driver. Kagome and Sango found a book about the Taiyoukai when they were younger and the book said that the mikos tried to exterminate him...you know what? I think I'll write that into one of the chapters. Thanks for the idea!