InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unordinary Silver ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Um...duh. I don’t own it. If I did I wouldn’t be writing fanfiction. Lol.


“No sir,” the young woman replied, her raven head shaking slightly as she answered the other person’s questions. She mentally scoffed at herself, knowing that the other person wouldn’t be able to see her over the telephone lines, before repeating herself. “No sir, Nanigata-san-“ She paused, a calming breath released through her petal pink lips and nodded. “I do not believe it to be correct business form to call you by your first name. Again, I do not know when Endo-san will return to work.” She sighed in long suffering, her chocolate brown eyes rolling in annoyance while the voice on the other end continued to argue with her.


“I assure you,” she promised as she pushed her rolling chair toward the computer on the other side of her massive pine desk. “I will have Endo-san contact you the moment he returns. No sir, please don’t worry about it. Sayonara.” She hung up, took a deep breath and released a cleansing breath before opening her purse. She pulled out her cell phone, opened its text message feature and sent a quick message to a co-worker.


Hey Sango. You free? She reached for a manilla folder resting on her desktop, propped it up near her computer screen and began to type. She stopped when her phone rang, the small pink Nokia singing out a cutesy version of the Super Mario Brothers theme song.


Yeah Kagome. I’m free. What’s up?


Kagome smiled and punched out what she wanted. What’s going on wit the Endo brothers? Haven’t seen them in a few months Kagome sent it and continued typing. She tapped her desk thoughtfully, her eyes distant as she solved some problem in her mind. She stopped when her phone rang again.


You don’t know? Was Sango’s answer. Kagome frowned and readied to answer back when Sango sent her another message.


There was some sort of freak accident in South America. They’ve been in the hospital.


No way! Kagome replied quickly. That would’ve been all over the news. I haven’t heard a word about it.


They must not have wanted anyone to know, but I’ve got a newspaper clipping where they were in Argentina. It says that they found some sort of ruin and something happened where Sesshoumaru fell into some sort of sludge. Inuyasha went in after him.


Wait a minute. Kagome sent back, her eyes wide in shock. Inuyasha saved Sesshoumaru? Those two hate each other!


Well that’s what the paper said Sango replied.


Anyway, their excavation party lost track of them. They found them downstream of the ruin covered in this weird purple goo. They flew them back to Japan and they’ve been in a coma ever since.


Oh my goodness. Do they think they’ll be ok.


Kagome waited for her reply, a slight frown marring her pretty features once her patience began to thin. Sango, what the-


Girl, get ready. Here he comes. Sango sent before Kagome could send her message.


Here who comes?


Endo-san. He’s coming on the elevator!


‘Oh no!’ Kagome gasped as she attempted to straighten up her work area. ‘Which one’s coming?’ she wondered as she tossed her cell back into her purse. ‘Ohno-ohno-ohno-‘ “Ohayo gozaimasu Endo-san,” Kagome stood up and greeted as Inuyasha stepped off of the elevator. Kagome relaxed at the sight of him, her shoulders slightly slumped as he nodded to her in greeting. Sesshoumaru intimidated her and even though she was his secretary as well as Inuyasha’s her nervousness tended to cause her to embarrass herself in front of him.


“Eh, ohayo Kagome,” Inuyasha grumbled from underneath his hat. The gray material glistened wetly as did his trench coat as he shed them and shoved it, the hat and his umbrella in Kagome’s general direction. “What’s goin’ on?”


“There isn’t much,” Kagome said as she struggled to keep herself dry and hang up Inuyasha’s belongings. She stood on her tiptoes and placed each item on the chrome plated hall tree in the right corner of the lobby. “Nanigata-san requests that you call him as soon as possi-“


“I’m not thinking about that old bastard,” Inuyasha grumbled irritably. He reached up and rubbed the right side of his face, his brown eyes narrowed painfully.


“What’s wrong?” Kagome asked. “Do you have a headache or something Endo-san?”


“Yeah, I think I do,” Inuyasha ground out as the throbbing refused to go away. Kagome frowned sympathetically and helped him into his office and behind his desk.


“Is there anything I can get you?” Kagome asked. Inuyasha groaned something unintelligible and dropped his head to his desk. “Would you like an aspirin?” she offered as she reached over the desk’s surface to lightly scratch the back of his head.


“Do you have one the size of a manhole cover?” was his pained response. Kagome giggled lightly and quit the room but not before promising to return with his pain medication and something to wash it down. Inuyasha groaned when she closed the door. He sat up and rubbed at his temples, then pushed his fingers from ear to ear over the top of his head. ‘Where did this come from?’ he wondered silently. ‘I wasn’t like this when I left the hospital yesterday.’


Inuyasha remembered waking from the coma rather well, with little more than a clearing of his dark brown eyes as the moonlight shone through a nearby window. Sesshoumaru remained as he was, his older brother’s form still as death while the nurses fluttered around them. Their doctor deemed it necessary for Inuyasha to remain in the hospital for another week (after already spending two) during which they drew blood, skin and hair samples. International Affairs were awaiting him as well, the stout older man demanding answers as to what happened to cause the accident. Inuyasha remembered little after jumping into that deep purple sludge, his only thoughts at the time were to get to his overbearing ass of a brother and haul them both to shore. As far as anything else, the IA agent had to fill in the blanks for him.


He and Sesshoumaru had been found by their excavation party (‘The deserters! No way are they getting paid!’) some fifteen miles down river, coated in a thick purple powder. Some of whatever it was they managed to fall into managed to make it inside one of Sesshoumaru’s specimen jars, including samples of the Andos flower, and through some miracle made it through Japanese customs.


Inuyasha felt great after his release from the hospital, so great in fact he promised to come back to see Sesshoumaru the next day after work. He returned home bright, bushy-tailed and with loads of energy to spare. He cleaned his kitchen (something it was in sore need of after so long out of use), did a little grocery shopping and even picked out and pressed his suit before going to bed. The headache that tormented now had greeted him with the first new rays of the sun, the cheerful yellow light connecting harshly with his ill-used pupils and blinding him. The headache only continued to get worse and Inuyasha groaned again when the telephone rang.


“Kagome,” he groaned at the closed door, his eyes screwed shut in agony.


“Kagome?!”


Inuyasha sighed painfully and sat up, his stiff neck screaming in protest, and stopped the accursed ringing. “This had better be good,” he growled irritably, his teeth bared in a menacing sneer.


“Oh, but it is Endo-san,” said the voice on the other end. Inuyasha groaned again. “I don’t want to talk to you Nanigata.”


“Now why not?” he pouted slightly. “Surely you didn’t think I wouldn’t call and check up on you Inuyasha. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”


“You were Pop’s friend you old jackass,” Inuyasha grumbled back. “So don’t start that crap. I’ve got stuff to do so-“


“No, don’t hang up on me yet,” Nanigata said before Inuyasha could hang up. “I really just wanted to know what happened to you two. You’re secretary wouldn’t give me your home phone number so-“


“And she shouldn’t have,” Inuyasha retorted with a grin. “Kagome’s just doin’ what we ask her to do so you can hang it up. Don’t give her any shit for not listening to you either.”


“Now who said I was going to?” was the reply from the other end. “I know how protective you are of the young lady. I say, one would think you had a crush on her.”


“No, it’s nothing like that,” Inuyasha quickly replied. “Kagome’s the only secretary we’ve had that seems to work with the both of us! Don’t do anything to her to make her quit!”


“I’m not! What’s going on-“


Inuyasha hung up without another word, a satisfied smirk on his pained features. ‘I can imagine how he’s acting right now,’ he said to himself as he leaned back in his chair. ‘He’s probably cussing up a cool breeze. Haha! Toutousai’s so easy to rile up!’ He looked up when the automatic door popped open to allow Kagome into the room, a cup of warm tea in one hand, a bottle of aspirin in the other, and a concerned smile on her lips.


“Are you feeling any better?” she asked as she sat down the tea and opened the bottle. She shook out two pills, grasped his hand and frowned when he clenched it closed. “Inuyasha,” she sang out in warning. “Open.”


“No.”


“Op en now Inuyasha.”


“No and stop screeching at me. My head is ki-“ Kagome popped the tablets into his mouth before he could protest, pushed his chin up and held his mouth closed. He struggled against her, his dark eyes snapping angrily when she refused to release him. She smiled once he swallowed, the determination in her sparkling brown orbs fading to amusement at his expense.


“I don’t know why you even bother,” she said as she handed him the tea. “You know I win every time.”


“Yeah well,” Inuyasha croaked out. “I wish you’d treat my brother like this. I’m tired of the abuse.”


“Yeah, yeah,” Kagome replied. “If you need me, I’ll be at my desk.”


“You’d better be,” Inuyasha called out as she left the room. “And don’t gossip with the lobby secretary! You don’t focus enough as it is!” She laughed, and he shook his head when the door closed behind her. “Stupid woman,” he said to himself before leaning back in his seat. He raised the styrofoam cup to his nose and inhaled, the abrupt scent of mint instantly assaulting his senses. He wrinkled his nose and held the cup to the side, then sat it down and frowned. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get away from the mint smell and the farther away it moved the stronger it became. He held his nose and tried again. The scent was blocked to his satisfaction and the flavor of the tea became what he remembered.


‘That was weird,’ Inuyasha said to himself as he set the cup down again. He put a small desk calender over the cup and backed away, his brow furrowed as he took a hesitant breath. He sighed in relief when he found the air clean -well sort of clean- and with only a few traces of mint. ‘Whew,’ he sighed. ‘I wonder what that wa-‘ Pine needles, various astringents and wood polish overwhelmed him and continued to do so well after he covered his nose. He stopped and whimpered as the scents of cleaning supplies assaulted him. He fell from his chair and gagged, his face turning a deathly white as he struggled to breathe.


“Ka-“ he croaked out as he attempted to drag himself back into his chair. “Kag-“ He reached up for the intercom button, his fingertips frantically dragging across his desk. His eyes closed before he found it, his breath coming out in a great woosh before he lost consciousness.


(I)


Kagome shook her head as she walked out, her smile never wavering as she returned to her desk and sat down. ‘He should be better by the end of the hour,’ Kagome said to herself before she sat down and began typing. She worked until noon, when Sango called her and invited her to lunch.


“Gladly!” Kagome chirped happily, her fingers already working to shut down her computer. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.” She turned off the computer, picked up her purse and knocked on Inuyasha’s door.


“Endo-san,” she called as she knocked again. She frowned when the automatic door refused to open. She pressed her thumb against a small scanner next to the door and knocked again.


“Endo-san? Inuyasha, are you-“


“Go on Kagome,” he finally grumbled out. “I’m not hungry.”


“Um, ok,” Kagome replied back, her tone unsure as she stared at the door. “Do you need anything else though? I could-“


“Go eat,” was his snappy reply. “I can hear your stomach growling from here.”


Kagome huffed and flounced away, insulted. ‘Well I never,’ she griped to herself as she boarded the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby. ‘He’s such a-a-‘ “A jerk!” she vented to the empty cab. She groaned and leaned against the back of the cab when it stopped. She groaned again, this time silently, when a familiar face appeared between the open elevator doors.


“Hey!” he greeted with a wide grin. “How’s my woman doing?”


“Konnichi wa Williams-san-“


“I told you to call me Kouga,” he interrupted as he stepped into the elevator. He reached back and wheeled in a cart with a large glass jar on top. The pink material inside jiggled like Jell-o and the smaller glasses on the cart’s lower shelf clicked against each other with each lurch of the cart’s wheels.


“What’s that?” Kagome asked as she pointed to the cart.


“Oh, it’s something the Endo brothers brought back from South America.” Kouga held up one of the smaller glass jars and tapped the side of the jar. “This is that Andos flower they were looking for.”


“What’s it supposed to do?” Kagome asked as she stared at the strange looking plant.


“I dunno,” Kouga admitted with a shrug. “I’m not worried about the flowers though. Its this pink stuff that concerns me.”


“Well what do you think it is?” Kagome asked.


“Again, I dunno,” Kouga repeated. “But I’m going to lab 5 to figure it out. Do you...wanna come with me?”


“Um, no, not really,” Kagome replied with a quick shake of her head. “Besides, I’m going to lunch. Would you like for me to bring you back anything?”


“Yeah, as a matter of fact I would. Bring me back one of those sushi plates.”


Kagome laughed and nodded as the elevator doors opened. “Haven’t you tried anything else since you moved here?” she asked as Kouga wheeled the cart out of the elevator.


“No, not really,” Kouga responded. “We had sushi in California so that’s what I’m used to.”


“Let me pick you out something different,” Kagome offered. “I promise it’ll be just as good.”


“Alright then.” He reached inside the elevator, grasped her hands and gave her a rakish grin. “I’ll trust your judgement Kagome. After all, anything you like must taste like heaven.”


“Eheh, thanks,” Kagome giggled nervously. “The elevator door’s closing Williams-san.”


“It’s Kouga!” Kouga shouted as the doors closed. Kagome rolled her eyes, shook her head, and placed the money she gave him in her wallet.


“Hey!” Sango called once Kagome stepped onto the lobby floor. “What took you so long? Come on, let’s go!”


“OK!” Kagome laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm and allowed Sango to drag her out of the building into the bustling streets beyond.


(II)


Kagome laughed as Sango described her latest date, the dismay on her friend’s face hilarious as she huffed and threw up her hands.


“I just don’t understand it,” she said as she and Kagome stepped off of the bus. “Why do I always end up with the psychos? What is it about me that just attracts them to me like flies to honey?”


“Sango it can’t be that bad,” Kagome promised and held open the lobby’s glass door. “I mean, at least you can get a date.”


“Now Kagome, don’t be that way,” Sango replied with an encouraging pat to Kagome’s shoulder. “What about Kouga? He likes you.”


“I don’t know.” Kagome shook her head. “He’s too pushy for me. I feel like I’m territory, staked and claimed. I don’t like it.”


“Then why did you pick up his lunch today?” Sango asked, her eyebrows wagging suggestively as she returned to her desk.


“I don’t know,” she answered while Sango signed onto her computer. “He’s just a friend though.”


“Well go be ‘friendly’ and get the man his food!”


Kagome laughed as she shooed her toward the elevator, her purse bouncing against her side and the little white box of take-out clutched tightly in her small hands. “Wait Sango,” she said hurriedly. “I don’t even know what floor he’s on!”


“The fifth, where the labs are,” Sango shook her head and pressed the elevator’s call button. “That’s where all the scientists are. Duh!”


“Alright, alright.” Kagome ‘eep!’ed in fright when Sango shoved her through the open elevator doors. ‘Jeez, that Sango,’ Kagome laughed and shook her head. She sat the box down by her feet and straightened the sleeves of her navy blue blouse, then returned her hair to it’s bun before bending over to grab the box.


“Man, do you get this show with every ride?”


Kagome looked up -confused- as Kouga smiled down at her, then looked down, blushed and held the collar of her shirt closed. “Not normally Williams-san,” she said and stepped to the side while he rolled his cart onto the elevator. The small jars of flowers were replaced by more small jars, these filled with the pink substance he held in a larger container earlier. Kagome flushed again when he winked and grinned at her.


“Here you go by the way,” she said as she practically shoved the white box at him. Kouga accepted it gratefully, his fingers lingering on Kagome’s a bit longer than was necessary. Kagome’s hands immediately dove into her purse, her fumbling near frantic until she touched what she was looking for. Kouga watched, disappointed, as she pulled out a heart pin and fastened her shirt closed, her cleavage hidden much to Kouga’s disappointment.


“What’s this?” Kouga asked as he weighed the box.


“It’s something I thought you’d appreciate,” Kagome said and watched with a smile when he opened it.


“A cheeseburger?” he grinned. “And fries? Where’d you get this?”


“We have burger shops in Tokyo Williams-san,” Kagome replied with a soft laugh. “As a matter of fact, there’s one down the block. I hope it’s to your liking.”


“It is,” Kouga said as he pushed the box onto the bottom row of his cart. “Thank you very much Kagome.”


“You’re welcome William-san,” Kagome said. She sidetracked his attempt to hug her with a polite cough, then waved when he pushed his cart off of the elevator. She sighed in relief when the doors closed behind him, the shiny steel panels a comfort from the kind-hearted scientist’s advances.


‘He means well, I guess,’ she said to herself and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. ‘He’s just too forward for me. It’s harder, I guess, for me to just go out with someone than it is Sango. She’s always been the confidant one, the feisty one out of the both of us. I’ve always been so...mousey. I guess-hey, what’s that?’ Kagome kneeled down, her dark wide legged pants shifting underneath her as she stooped down and reached for a small glass jar.


“Kouga must have dropped it,” Kagome whispered to herself and picked up the jar. The pink fluid inside moved sluggishly, like molasses or cooling tar, but shimmered in the light like pink crystal. The glass around it was cool yet the odd substance inside gave off a heat in her palm that was comforting. “How weird,” Kagome muttered to herself. ‘I should get this back to Kouga but...what floor did he get off on? I was in such a hurry for him to leave I totally didn’t pay attention!’ She groaned and slapped her forehead. ‘I’m almost to my floor now. I’ll just call Sango and ask what floor his office is on.’


Kagome nodded and stood up at the tiny bell that signaled the elevator’s stop. The doors slid open and Kagome gaped as a waiting room full of people rounded on her. Angry eyes snapped and the yelling began the moment Kagome stepped off the elevator.


“We know Senor Endo is in the building,” one man said as Kagome attempted to wade through the crowd. “We demand to see him!”


“I’m sorry sir,” Kagome replied, abandoning her Japanese for the man’s native language. “But Senor Endo isn’t seeing anyone at this time-“


“We don’t care for your excuses!” a woman interrupted furiously. “Tell them that they can’t hide from us! We have reports that demand their attention!”


“Projects must be approved!”


“Budgeting must be-“


“Por favor!” Kagome exclaimed over the demanding voices. She was shoved toward the front of the crowd, a small gasp passing her petal pink lips when her elbow collided painfully with her desktop. “Please, stop! Senor Endo isn’t feeling well today! If you would all please-“


“What in the hell is going on out here?!”


Kagome and the others gasped and turned, the eyes of the offenders round with worry as Inuyasha leaned against the doorframe leading to his office. He glared at the people around Kagome, his dark eyes narrowed dangerously as he stepped forward. Kagome paled, her purse forgotten as it fell over her desk and clunked into an open drawer on the other side.


Inuyasha leaned against Kagome’s desk, his steady hand and sure footing belying the sudden dizziness he felt when he opened his office door. He woke up a few moments before Kagome went to lunch, his secretary’s pure, concerned voice calling to him from the darkness that was the recesses of his mind. His head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, his ears rang and his eyes smarted from the light. He turned off all of the lights in his office except for a small desk lamp and waited for his headache to recede.


It was doing just that when the yelling started and above it all Kagome’s pleas for patience and quiet on his behalf. He somehow heard her pained gasp above their shouting and the idea of his sweet little secretary getting hurt by the angry mob enraged him.


“Now,” he growled softly, the sound guttural and strange to his sensitive ears. “Who’s going to answer me?”


“Endo-san,” Kagome began and squeaked when Inuyasha’s hand flew up.


“No, I don’t want an explanation from you,” he told her. He gave her a reassuring smile and watched as she returned it. She nodded her head in understanding and moved around the desk, past him, to her seat where she sat down and watched the show.


“Senor Endo,” the man from earlier began. “We heard you were in the building so-“


“For one, I don’t handle the Madrid account. Sesshoumaru does and he’s not here. For anyone that gives a damn, he’s still in ICU.” He frowned when the group began to mutter, the gossip that was sure to spread through the company already beginning. “If this is the way you people behave,” he called out above the muttering, his commanding voice silencing those around him. “Then it’s no wonder the Madrid offices are so screwed up. Your budgeting is for shit and I know Sesshoumaru’s frustrated as hell by your incompetence.”


“Senor Endo, we’re so so-“


“Maybe we should shut the Madrid office down completely,” Inuyasha continued as if he didn’t hear them. “Think of the money we’d save if we didn’t have to deal with you people. I’ll certainly have to talk to him about it when he comes to. I bet he’d even be willing to entertain the idea once he finds out about how you’ve abused our secretary here.” Inuyasha smirked when they began to fidget, his nose twitching slightly at something in the air.


“Senor Endo, we’re terribly sorry,” one woman said as she approached him. She bowed stiffly and sighed. “Forgive us, but we were in a rush to see either of you.”


“Don’t apologize to me,” Inuyasha said before tapping the wood in front of Kagome. “Apologize to her. Our decision will be based on her forgiveness.”


“Huh?” Kagome couldn’t help but say. “Now wait a second Endo-san. I’m alright. I just-“


“Please forgive us Senora Higurashi,” the woman said and gestured for everyone to bow. “We didn’t mean to disrespect you so.”


“It’s fine, really,” Kagome replied quickly, her hands quickly motioning for them to rise. “You guys are fine. Its ok!”


“Hm.”


Kagome looked up and found Inuyasha smiling at her, his elbow propped up on her desk and his index finger bent against his chin. She scowled at him when he laughed, the Madrid businessmen glancing up in what could have been horror at his sudden jovial mood.


“You people are lucky,” he remarked. “Kagome’s a very forgiving person.” His smile disappeared quickly, leaving behind his former anger. “I’m not so forgiving. I don’t want to see, smell or hear you people until Sesshoumaru is better. If I do you won’t have to worry about your jobs ‘cause they won’t exist. And don’t think I won’t let Sesshoumaru know of this little incident. I’m positive that he’ll be less than pleased.” He frowned one last time, then jerked his chin toward the elevator.


“Now disappear. I’m sure you have work to do.”


The lobby cleared out almost instantly, the apologies of the crowd falling on deaf ears as they boarded the elevator. Kagome sighed when the doors closed, the second today as relief once again coursed through her veins once again. “That was pretty good Endo-sa-.” She turned and blinked, surprised to find him gone. ‘Oh well,’ Kagome shrugged as she logged onto her computer. ‘Back to work I suppose.’ She returned to a report she had been working on before lunch, then worked on a call list tacked to a small board next to her computer. She was soon too absorbed in her work to remember the tiny glass jar in her purse, nor notice the long scratch embedded in the hard wood of her desk.

(End chapter)


SF: OK, that’s chapter two for this wonderful story. Someone asked me if I thought that maybe I was getting the summary to this story and the chapter one for another story mixed up since the summary and chapter one are NOTHING alike. I admit, they’re not but once this story get’s rolling you’ll come to realize that it fits.


Kagome: (::flipping through the script::) Hey, this story is weird.


Inu-chan: What now?


Kagome: (::holding out her script to him::) Look. See, you and Sesshoumaru sorta get along, I’m...well, different and there’s so many new people. It’s amazing but it’s weird.


SF: That’s me. Amazing but weird. Lol. Anyway, that’s this chapter. The preview for the next chapter is next.



Chapter three

-Kagome remembers the jar
-Sesshoumaru wakes up
-An unknown arrives in Japan.


SF: Oh! I nearly forgot! If anyone’s noticed, I don’t have any chapter names for this story. I’m having a hard time figuring out what to name them.