Disclaimer: I do not own either the InuYasha characters or those from Iron Man.
Kagome nervously smoothed out her pencil skirt and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. It had been five full years since she had left the feudal era for good. Five years since she had said goodbye to her friends and the adventures in the past, and said hello to the dull life of being a normal teenager in the future.
Surprisingly, to both her family and her school, she had managed to finish her remaining years with a top grade – she even got a diploma for having a great comeback from being sick from various – and highly ridiculous – diseases.
Thereafter Kagome had taken classes for both economy and world trade, and it weren't long before she was offered a small job at an office. It wasn't something big like being a personal assistant; it was merely a job where Kagome got to deliver letters and packages to the workers, and sometimes she got to answer the phone.
Then one day on her way home after a tiring, but gratifying, day at work she had run into someone she hadn't dared to imagine; Sesshomaru. Who certainly didn't look like Sesshomaru should; his markings, his hair, even his eye color was totally different from the lord she knew. He had closely cropped black hair and his normally golden eyes – that resembled InuYasha's so much, she remembered sadly – were dyed a dark brown, almost black, color.
He also sported a discreet business suit, which amused her when she thought of the delicate and noticeable battle armor. She had schooled her amusement however when a very familiar and very icy glare was sent her way.
Instead of sneering at her and calling her miko, woman or simply human, he had been eerily polite – if she didn't count that little glare of course. He had simply taken her hand and greeted her as though they were acquaintances meeting on a daily basis. What happened thereafter, she didn't know, but soon Kagome found herself sitting at a café with a coffecup in her hand, Sesshomaru on the other side of the table and a job offer – a real job – being passed over to her.
"It is for one of my acquaintances; his personal assistant quit suddenly and he needs help with maintaining his schedule," Sesshomaru had said as he sipped an herb tea delicately. "The man can be grating on the nerves as he is both irritating and, as you would say, a 'playboy'. But I cannot sense any ill intent from him and he has some intelligence which makes him an important business partner of mine."
That was as close to praise as anyone could come, Kagome figured dumbly; Sesshomaru was practically oozing respect for the man she didn't even know the name of.
They had talked for an hour, with questions being answered and asked, before Kagome had readily accepted the offer. A purr of excitement had wrestled in her stomach as Sesshomaru had said, as in passing, that the job – as well as the man – was located in New York City and that Sesshomaru himself would see to it that Kagome could get there.
When Kagome had asked why he would do that he had answered mysteriously, "I owe you." What she had done to get the lord Sesshomaru's favor, she had no idea. Nonetheless, she was grateful.
It was bittersweet to take her leave from the work she had grown to love along with the people involved in it. It got worse the day she was leaving to the U.S.; her whole family, including her, were exchanging several bone crushing hugs, crying crocodile tears as well as sobbing loud enough to attract other travelers curious eyes. Sesshomaru had chosen to accompany her to her new residence in the states and had stood patiently some ways off as the spectacle unfolded around him; every bit the stoic demon lord Kagome remembered.
On the plane she had sat with wide eyes and bounced on her seat like a little child as they left ground; she had cooed and gasped occasionally as she watched Tokyo (flygplats) grow smaller and smaller before land became sea.
At some point she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew they had landed. She hadn't gotten the time to look around before Sesshomaru whisked her away and dumped her at her new apartment with strict orders of being ready the next day for her interview.
"Miss Higurashi?" Kagome jumped as the voice of the receptionist called her name. The woman smiled politely at her before pointing to an elevator at the far end of the corridor. "You can go in now for your interview; it's the highest floor."
Kagome stood hastily, bowed deeply to the receptionist before she walked into the elevator. When the doors closed Kagome let out a nervous sigh and smoothed out her skirt once more.
'Come on, Kagome: you can do this!' she coached herself, clenching her fists as though she were preparing for battle. 'You've battled several demons, traveled across feudal Japan and have nearly lost your soul more than once – you can do this!'
But her newly formed nerves failed her as the elevator stopped with a loud ding and the doors slowly opened, thus revealing a small space on the other side with a door at the end. Kagome let out a shaky breath, raised her head and walked straight-backed the small space. She knocked softly on the door and waited.
"Yes , yes, come in," she heard a male voice say aloofly. He sounded really bored, Kagome realized and it was as though that fact helped her nerves gain battleground in her body as she opened the door and walked into the giant office behind it.
She examined the office briefly, noting the professional but cold atmosphere in the room, before she stared at the chair behind the desk… where she presumed her, hopefully, future boss were sitting. It was rather hard to tell when the object wasn't facing her.
Kagome cleared her throat. "Good day, sir. My name is Kagome Higurashi and I'm here about the job as a personal assistant." Here she would have bowed politely, but it felt rather ridiculous to bow to a chair – which may or may not house an individual.
An eerie and uncomfortable silence followed. Kagome bit her lip nervously.
"Kagome, was it?" She jumped and looked over at the chair. It had yet to move, but she was sure that the voice had come from there.
"Yes, sir," she said softly.
Quiet again. Then suddenly the chair swiveled around and a male jumped out of it before he stomped over to Kagome and took her hand. "You're hired!" he chirped, brown eyes twinkling at her.
"Wh- huh?" Kagome stared at him as he pumped her fist up and down. When he let go she stood for a while, just staring at him incredulously. Then she narrowed her gaze. "Sesshomaru threatened you, didn't he, Mr. Stark?"
Tony Stark smiled innocently and dragged a hand through unruly dark brown hair. "I can't imagine what you mean, miss Higurashi." He blinked and seemed just now to take in her appearance as he looked at her from head to toe. "But even so, I would have hired you immediately. Do you know that those are some very attractive calves you have?"
"Excuse me?"
"No, no, believe me; I mean it. Very nice, really pleasantly shaped too. Travelling a lot by foot, I believe," Tony mumbled seemingly to himself. A dark look came over his face but were gone as soon as it appeared. Kagome blinked, unsure if she had really seen it. "Right!" Tony declared brightly as he clapped his hands together. "Judith will tell you all you need to know about this job; the pros, the cons, what to do, what not to do and so on, and so forth. Now, I need to be home right-" he looked at his watch and sighed theoretically "-now, so I will leave you to it."
"But, Mr. Stark-"
"And very welcome to the company, Kagome Higurashi – I hope we will both find this an interesting experience." And so he was out the door, so fast that Kagome was left standing with her mouth open and a hand reaching out for the male.
A second later the door opened again and Tony peeked in. "Lest you forget, have tomorrows schedule done and ready tonight; we've a hectic week before us." Once more he was gone and Kagome left standing like a question mark.
Either he really was busy and was hurrying to a meeting of some sort, or she had just been dismissed in a rather rude way. She cursed silently as she hurried out of the office to find this Judith – Kagome hoped that the female would have some inkling to what Tony Stark's schedule looked like, otherwise she was screwed. And it wasn't even her first day!
As the elevator brought her down she couldn't for the life of her remember anything about the male she had just met other than that shadow that passed his face and bright brown eyes.
Hmm. Some sort of beginning. I hope it wasn't all too confusing, but are there any questions do ask.