DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha....Damn Sunrise Studios....wouldn't sell the rights to me...
Summary: Kagome is a successful matchmaker. Ironically though, she never seems to match herself up with the right man. When she unwittingly begins to fall for a client, she'll do whatever it takes to get him...even if it means losing everything in the process.
A/N: My friends, I have a new story! This idea has been percolating in my head for years now, but I only considered using it as the base for a fanfic a couple weeks ago. I'll now be balancing three fics- but, have no fear, "Shards of Our Memories" and "My Priest Charming" will still be moving at the same pace as always. The more I write, the more inspiration I seem to get. This story is so much fun to write- so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Review please!
"A Match Made in Heaven"
CHAPTER 1: What Are Friends For?
Why did it seem as if she always got stuck in the elevator with the blithering idiots, the homeless crazies and the jerks of the world? This morning was certainly no exception to what seemed to be a new law of the universe.
Another Monday in a large office building, and another ride up to the fifteenth floor to begin another exciting day in the world of matchmaking. Kagome decided her coffee would have tasted much better, had her ears not been assaulted by the steady stream of curses issuing from the mouth of the man beside her.
"You.....what? You fucking did what? Without my permission?"
Kagome winced, taking a hesitant sip of her coffee. God, she hoped he got off on the sixth floor. Otherwise, she might as well take the long, painful hike up nine flights of stairs. It was better than waking up to this kind of talk. The door opened and shut. Ah, to no avail. Nope. Not getting off on the sixth floor. Maybe if she shoved him out at the seventh....
"How many times do I have to tell you not to put your sticky fingers all over my personal life? It's called 'personal' for a reason, asshole!" The tall man beside her looked absolutely livid, if it could even be toned down to a simple word like that. His high cheekbones were ruddy with the redness of anger, and his tightened fist looked like it would have gladly cracked a hole in the muddy shininess of the elevator panels, had he not been afraid of being sued for the damages, and if the elevator compartment hadn't been completely packed.
"I am NOT going to think it over! This decision is final- you go and revoke it or....cancel it...or.........just DO IT!"
Kagome eyed the lit-up row of buttons on the control panel, her distorted fun-house mirror reflection in the wall beside her, and even scrutinized the in no way deceiving toupee of the middle-aged man in front of her. Inside, her mind ticked by the seconds to when she could get to her peaceful office.
"NO! I do not want to meet for drinks after work, you moron! Stop wasting my cell minutes, and go to work!" With an irritated flick, the white-haired man snapped the cell phone shut, and huffed out a growl. The inhabitants of the compartment sighed almost collectively in relief as the barrage of loud language finally ceased.
He suddenly became aware that almost everyone around him was shooting him an evil eye, and he colored slightly.
"WHAT?!" Nobody said anything.
Kagome rolled her eyes, glaring at the back of his head with venom. It was a wonder that people like him actually made it anywhere in the world, with their lack of tact. In fact, it was a wonder that anybody with his attitude and temper could actually keep a friend. A friend of his must have the patience of Buddha, she considered.
She'd had enough of mean people. She'd met far too many of them in a large city such as this. How did he sleep with himself at night?
Floor by floor, the workers began to trickle off. Ninth...then Tenth. And he still hadn't got off yet. She idly wondered why she had never seen him before, in her two years at the building. Maybe he was just a visitor. A hope beyond all hopes. Better yet, maybe he lived in Siberia and was forced to suffer through unimaginably horrible weather every day of his life.
While entertaining these thoughts, she barely noticed as he stepped off at the fourteenth floor. One flight below hers. Too close for her liking.
Bidding good riddance to him, Kagome clutched her small briefcase to her as the quaking elevator rounded up on the fifteenth floor.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
About thirty minutes before Kagome had stepped on to the elevator ride of doom, her company, MatchMake, had received their first client of the day.
He was handsome- impressively so, and enough to make a fair share of the women in the city glow under his gaze. Sitting alone in the anteroom, he was casually slumped into one of the coarse chairs. He swept his expressive eyes over the calming watercolors on the pale blue walls, at the empty reception desk on the far end of the room. Tapping his fingers lightly on this thigh, he thought about how he only had fort-five minutes to kill before he had to be at work.
He smirked to himself. But this was far more important than avoiding a small slap on the wrist for being late. This visit could be life-changing....for more than one person.
He listened intently to the song playing softly on the speakers above him. Lyrics said something about true love being able to change a person...showing them new outlooks on life. How fitting. He hummed along gratefully. If this wasn't a good omen, than he didn't know what was.
A few more minutes, and a harrowed-looking girl popped into the room. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, sir! I guess we're normally not used to customers coming in this early!"
The man pulled a charming grin, and two dimples creased on his face. He pointed to the hours painted on the window. "Nine thirty." He stated, simply.
Flustered confusion was plainly written on her pretty face. "It says you don't open until nine thirty. It's nine o'clock now, so technically you have nothing to apologize about. I'm the one who should be saying sorry, for making you come out here."
She flushed, realizing her mistake as she looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh.....I guess you're right! Well, no matter- I can get you set up right now since I have the time!"
He smiled widely once again, a row of perfect white teeth peeking out. "That would be just perfect." He moved with ease behind her, gracefully. Sango felt a little puzzlement falling over her. For someone so eager to contact dating services, he certainly didn't seem the type. Self-confident, handsome, successful. In fact, he looked like a man who knew his strengths- and knew just how to use them. She shrugged it off...it wasn't so unusual that even the most high-profile people were not romantically gifted in the slightest.
Moving expertly, Sango lead the man through the door on their left, and into her warmly-furnished office. She gestured for him to sit across from her at the desk, as she took her seat in her high-backed chair. Rolling open a file drawer at the base of the desk, she pulled out a thick packet of papers.
"And, your name is Sango?" he read the name placard on her desk. She smiled at him and nodded.
"I'm Miroku." He reached across the surface to shake her hand.
"It's very nice to meet you, Miroku....So, how did you hear about MatchMake Services?"
"There was an ad in the paper. I thought- 'there's no harm in trying.' So, here I am now!" He smiled sheepishly at her.
Sango returned the smile. "I always say the same thing." Pulling out a pen for him, she fixed her eyes on his face, wanting to ask the question that had been bugging her since she had seen him in the waiting room. "Forgive me if I seem rude- but I'm surprised that someone like you would need to use our services...."
Miroku processed the thought for a moment, and then broke out into loud laughter, as if the thought was hilarious. "You thought I wanted...? I suppose I'll have to explain myself, then..."
Sango stared at him inquisitively. "You....aren't here to get help from MatchMake?" she said, slowly.
Miroku leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the desk in front of him. "See- here's the deal. There's this buddy of mine who I've known all my life. He's a great guy- smart, good-looking, talented- the works. The problem is that he's a bit...uptight....shall we say. Severe. He has trouble meeting girls and letting them get to known him."
Sango nodded, the picture becoming more focused. "So, you wanted to set him up with somebody with our help?"
Miroku nodded. "Exactly. So I came here to find out what your services offer."
Sango looked relieved. So she did have a possible client, and not just some man that had wandered in to the wrong offices. "So, does this friend of yours know you're going to all this trouble for his sake?"
Miroku laughed nervously. "Er...well.....the simple answer is no. But I'm sure he'll be fine with it.....once I explain the situation to him...and get him to calm down. You know, it's just part of his nature to be suspicious about this kind of thing...so I figured the only way to get it done is to do it myself."
Sango didn't look so convinced. "You do know that we need certain specific information to fill out the applications...i.e. credit card number, driver's license, home address, phone number....things that only the applicant would know?"
Miroku grinned once again, digging into his front jacket pocket, and coming out with a neatly-folded sheet of paper. "It's all right here." He tapped it with his index finger.
Sango lifted an eyebrow. "And....you got all that information how...?"
Miroku laughed. "Covert operations, my dear. It wasn't too hard to get these things. Besides, I'm going to pay for it. The scrooge wouldn't stand for it otherwise." He dug into his waist pocket to find his wallet.
Sango decided she didn't want to mess with the ties between friends....and dropped the question. Miroku set the page of numbers beside the application, and relaxed into his chair. "Before we start, I was hoping you could tell me exactly what MatchMake Services does for their clients."
Sango looked relaxed again. Now, this was easy. She and Kagome had designed the protocol for matching applicants, and it was her area of expertise.
"Of course," she said brightly. "First, the applicant must fill out personal information about him or herself in our in-depth survey." She pointed to the packet on the desk. "It asks all the basics, such as physical preferences, likes, dislikes. It also has a place for the applicant to specify in their own words what they search for in a match, and any special needs they have. After that, we do something that I believe makes us unique to all the other dating services. We actually match applicants by hand, instead of letting computers do the work. We've been very successful in this way."
Miroku nodded, obviously pleased by the idea. Sango continued on, speeding right on to the best part. "But, after the application process, we try to let our matches get a good chance to know each other. They are able to correspond with each other through e-mail, instant messengers or letters, to develop a bond that isn't physical. After they have done that, they can choose to meet on a blind date and continue the relationship from there. It takes commitment and patience- but we've found that those are some of the most prevalent qualities in the most successful relationships."
"I wholeheartedly agree, and I think I may just be sold on the idea."
Sango beamed. She was getting good at the sales area of business. "Well, if you'd like, you can either let your friend fill out the application...or, if you really feel you know him, you may do it yourself. I don't make any promises though."
Miroku winked at her. "No matter how much he tries to pretend, he's a softie at heart, and he does talk about what he likes and dislikes about certain women. I think I have a feel for what he needs."
Sango still felt a little doubtful....but knew that, with this man's resolve to help out his friend, she wouldn't really be able to change his mind.
Twenty minutes later, Miroku had finished the personal statement on the application, and had handed it to Sango. "Done?" she asked. He nodded in response, then realized, with a glance at her clock, that he had fifteen minutes to haul ass ten blocks down the road. He stood up gracefully, extending his hand once more to her.
She smiled, reacting to his relaxed presence. "Thank you very much for your business- and I assure you that we'll take special care to match your friend with the right person."
"I'm sure you will. I've got to go, though....work calls me." He shook her hand firmly. "Thank you so much for your help, Sango." She followed him out the door, waving to him as he left. After a few moments of thought on her own, she retreated back to her office to file the application. She vaguely wondered if she'd ever see Miroku again.
In the hallway of the fifteenth floor, in front of the elevator stop, Miroku dialed a familiar number on his cell phone, and waited for his friend to pick up.
Boy, was Inuyasha going to blow a gasket when he heard about this.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Kagome stepped from the elevator on the fifteenth floor, and was pleasantly surprised to see a handsome man standing on the other side of the doors. He greeted her politely as they traded places, and the doors closed behind her. At least there was one nice man in the building this morning.
She breezed in to the MatchMake waiting room, automatically heading to her private office to set down her belongings. Sango greeted her cheerily from the kitchenette as she stirred cream into her coffee.
"So, who was that man out there by the elevator? A new client of ours?"
Sango giggled to herself as she joined her friend and business partner in the main room of the offices. "Kind of...." Kagome raised an eyebrow, heading to grab a bagel from the bag on the counter. "It's a rather funny story. I at first assumed he was here for himself.."
"....He didn't seem the type..."
"Exactly my thought. He actually came so that he could set his friend up on a date. Says the guy is really great, but it sounds like he has trouble opening up to girls. Of course, he thought our program sounded perfect. So, it seems as if we've got a mystery client on our hands."
Kagome grinned. "Sounds like a caring friend. This mystery guy should feel lucky that his buddy cares so much."
Sango nudged Kagome in the ribs, as she winked suggestively. "Maybe you want me to set you up with a guy? I can be caring too, you know?"
Kagome rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. "Sango....how many times do I have to tell you that I don't need your help...?"
Sango giggled. "Just kidding. Oh, by the way- Kouga called. It seems since his date with that Ayame girl didn't pan out, he thinks that you and him are destined for each other."
Kagome sighed, defeated. "What'd you tell him this time?"
"What did you think I told him? The truth- clients and employees don't date. He should know that by now."
Kagome looked grateful. "Thank goodness for the company rules that we wrote..." She took a bite of her bagel, chewing heavily. "So..." her tone lightened. "Since that guy's not a client, want me to set you up with him?"
Sango growled playfully, as she walked back into her office. "I have work to do! Let's agree not to meddle anymore....okay?"
Kagome grinned. "I will if you will!"
After a long moment of thought, Sango smiled sneakily, and, without an answer, slammed the office door shut behind her.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
A/N: Some of you may think you can smell this plot from a mile away- but, I think you may be surprised. I plan to throw in couple twists, as well as some handsome men, romantic moments, humor, and a dash of misunderstanding to spice things up. Chapter 2, titled "No Thank You, and Good Night!" should be up shortly.
Review please!