The crowded, action packed streets of Tokyo on a Friday morning were very unforgiving. This was especially true for a young girl, looking no more then seventeen years. She was sitting in the back seat of a taxi cab clenching a full cup that she didn't have the stomach to drink, which was ironic because she had purchased it hoping that the contents would untie the nervous ball of nerves settled in the pit of her belly.
The middle aged cab driver met her coffee colored eyes in his rear view mirror. She wasn't like his usual customers, they were edgy looking creeps or dressed for work with closed expressions, and sometimes the occasional frustrated mother with two or three children buckled in next to her, whining and screaming.
This girls eyes were honest and easy to read. Nervousness and a touch of fear resided in their depths, making her look younger then she was as she sat that there, her jean clad legs crossed in a subconsciously nervous position. She stood out from other females he had seen, with her raven hair that tumbled down her shoulders and midway down her back, adorned with a few soft curls. Her complexion was creamy and untouched by blemishes that most teens seemed burdened with. But, it was her eyes that were most eye-catching, with their openness. She was certainly very pretty.
But her beauty was not ideal in her condition, he thought. She was alone, bags of what he guessed to be her belongings stashed in the trunk. Was she running away? Meeting someone? He hoped it was the latter. He had a daughter close to her age, and he wouldn't want her alone in the world so early, especially in the busy, never sleeping world of Tokyo.
He decided to try and ease some of the nervousness out of her eyes, he couldn't stand it.
"Are you meeting some one here, miss..." he said in a polite tone he didn't use often.
"Oh, my name is Kagome." She started to say, mistaking the ending of his sentence as wanting to know her name. "No, sir, I'm moving here."
"Really?" He asked in a mildly surprised tone, pleased with the returned politeness. "Moving from where?"
Kagome straightened her light brown jacket. "I have lived in Tokyo all my life...but it was a much quieter part, not so..." She looked out the window at the endless supply of buildings and traffic. "Busy."
The man laughed lightly, making Kagome feel more comfortable. "Forgive my nosiness, but what are you doing all by yourself?"
She lowered her eyes. "It was just time to leave home..." Kagome said quietly.
Sensing not to push the conversation any further he kept his mouth shut, feeling bad about making things worse instead of better. They drove in silence until they reached the address she had given him. It was a rather nice apartment complex. Nothing fancy. No, nothing overdone at all, but well kept and decent.
"Thank you." Kagome said, opening the door. "How much do I owe you?"
The man shook his head, once again reminded of his daughter. "You don't owe me a thing. You just take care of yourself, ya' here?"
The look in her eyes was all the payment he needed. Kagome felt her throat tighten at his kindness. " I couldn't do that..." she argued, reaching for her small purse.
"Nonsense! You can't have that much money, and I'm sure you can think of a better use for it. Now get your bags 'outta my car, I have places to go, kid."
Giving him a rewarding smile, she quickly did as she was told, and thanked him again before he drove off. She then turned back to the place she was going to be living in now.
Kagome didn't have much to carry, but the weight of her load did make her walk slower then usual, which suited her just fine, she was a bit nervous.
In front of the complex, a rather elderly lady was bent over, sweeping with a long handled broom. Kagome approached slowly. "Excuse me." She called out hesitantly.
The old woman looked up, her eye piercing like a hawk. "Can I help you?" She asked in a gravelly voice.
"Um, yes, I have a room here..." balancing her luggage best she could, she fumbled in her pocket for the slip of paper assuring her stay here. Once she found it, she unfolded the slightly crumpled paper and held it out.
The woman reached out and took it. After studying it for a while, she looked back at Kagome, taking in her appearances. She only allowed decent, respectable looking people to stay with her.
Even dressed as plainly as she was in jeans and an unspectacular caramel colored jacket, Kagome was obviously very pretty, with wide chocolate colored eyes, and silky jet hair that clashed wonderfully with her eyes and complexion.
The old lady frowned slightly at this. She wouldn't have this girl bringing guys home...but her eyes held a certain innocence that made that scenario seem highly unlikely.
"Do you have a job. If you don't you better have the money for rent already, and you have to give a two week notice before leaving."
"I don't have a job yet, but I'll be looking for one first thing tomorrow. And I won't be leaving soon at all."
Kagome felt like the old woman was looking right through her, and she had a funny feeling in the middle of her chest, as if someone was sticking something sharp there. She squirmed but held eye contact. She had a sixth sense that, that was what she was supposed to do.
And the elderly lady was only looking at her with one eye. The other was covered by a patch right out of a pirate movie.
Only slightly odd...Kagome thought.
Then the woman's sharp look shattered as she smiled warmly at Kagome, as one would smile at their own grandchild. She handed the sheet back to Kagome and pointed to the nearest building. Door C on the second level. I'll call you over soon to discuss rules and regulations with you, dear."
Kagome felt a little pressure leave her. She now had a place to call home once again. "Thank you!" She said happily. "Are you Kaede-san?" she inquired, remembering the name of the owner of the complex.
" Yes, I am..If you have any questions there is a contact list on your refrigerator." Kaede said, pulling a ring of key's from her pants pocket.
Handy...
Kagome collected her things, trying to ignore the sharp bite of pain that her bags was bringing to her shoulder, and followed Kaede up the stairs and into her new home.
"Hey Miroku! How about you get off your lazy bum and help out a bit?" A young woman of about eighteen paused in the doorway she had opened. Her long brown hair was pulled out of her face and into a smooth ponytail set high on her head. The look on her attractive face was a little less then mad, and a little more then annoyed. She left as abruptly as she came.
Miroku, seated in a black leather chair behind a glossy oak desk, piled with what he had hoped looked important documents. Maybe not important enough, Sango was still bugging him. Or maybe the rebus cube gave it away...
What was the world coming too when you still had to do work you hired people to do for you? Sure, tonight his rather popular restaurant, which was also a sought after nightclub, was busier then usual. Being the owner, this was supposed to be a good thing. But his employees had different ideas. It was always about them. Miroku though, setting down the black cube that had different colored squares stuck to it.
Where was all the respect? Well, maybe Sango could get away with it, since he had a soft spot for her. But the others shouldn't treat him as such! Well, then again it was mainly a female staff, and Miroku had a soft spot for anything capable of wearing a skirt.
He ran a hand through his dark, nearly shoulder length hair that he had pulled back at the nape of his neck. Dressed mostly in black tonight, he managed to look both professional, and capable of being a guest here. He shmoozed through the crowds with impossible ease, his azure eyes catching a few woman who took a instant interest in him.
He made it out of the thick of the crowd, the live music, energetic, and loud in his ears. A small smile tugged at his lips as he felt a kind of accomplishment. It was always nice to have a full house.
A strong hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his proud thoughts. He turned and met shocking yellow eyes, level with his own height, all six foot of it.
"Ah, good to see you, Inuyasha." Miroku greeted, not bothering to raise his voice over the music. He knew Inuyasha could hear him. "Found the band a pleasure to your senses?"
Inuyasha, disguised somewhat, in a black ensemble (my black was popular tonight) and a hat covering the top of his head.
Inuyasha dropped his hand from Miroku, now that he had his attention, and smirked, just revealing the point of sharp teeth. "More like an assault on my senses." He scoffed. "This has all been done before."
Miroku's neutral look turned to mild surprise. The band's beat was something you could dance hard too, and the lead singer sounded good to him. But then again, Inuyasha was a professional, and on music manners, his word was law.
"If you so."
"Well, I say so."
Inuyasha followed Miroku to the entrance and out the doors. From out there, you could faintly hear the music. Inuyasha could, anyway.
"How have you been, my friend?" Miroku asked, plopping down on a wooden bench.
"Could be worse." The silver haired man answered with a shrug.
"Still dating Kikyo?"
"Yeah..."
"That's why."
Inuyasha sighed heavily. "Shut up about her, will you?"
"I'm just trying to be a good friend." Miroku replied evenly.
"You suck."
Miroku smiled and gave a quick chortle. "Your as brash as ever."
Inuyasha returned the smile with half a one of his own and moved to take up the other side of the bench. His laugh was more of a "feh!"
"The crowd seemed to like the band." Miroku stated, switching topics.
"Half the crowd was also drunk." Inuyasha argued.
"Well, the sober half seemed to like them too."
"Drop it, man. Their not what I'm looking for."
Their discussion was cut short by the sound of a slamming.
They turned to see Sango walking towards them with a big cup of what Inuyasha identified to be a very strong coffee in her hands.
"Hey Inuyasha. Long time no see." Sango greeted.
"Yeah."
"Oh, and your vocabulary has extended so!" Sango exclaimed with mock awe.
Miroku started laughing, and found himself shoved rudely off the bench and on the ground. Now it was Sango's turn to laugh.
"Now really. I have a half a mind to call security." Miroku grunted, giving Inuyasha an abashed look as he stood and wiped his clothes off with his hands.
"Now theirs a threat." Inuyasha smirked, making half an effort to roll his amber orbs.
"I have a great security team."
"You have a great band of future ballerinas'."
"How crude." Miroku sniffed over Sango's laughter.
The trio sat in silence for a moment that was broken by Sango. "I really shouldn't be out here. It's so busy in there. You need to seriously think about hiring some more people."
"I have a great staff."
"Do it, or I'll quit."
Inuyasha was bemused. Sango was forever threatening to quit. But everyone knew she would never do it. Not until her leg healed completely, anyways. She was much to fond of Miroku, fond being an understatement.
He done what he had came to do, and now he was feeling restless and out of place. "See you guys around, I'll stop by lin a few days."
Miroku and Sango stopped their argument long enough to give Inuyasha a questioning look.
"You sure you don't want a drink or something? I'm sure we can find a lovely lady friend for you to dance with." Miroku winked.
"Nah. I'm good."
Miroku and Sango watched as he walked towards the parking lot. "He seems...different." Sango said, looking worriedly at Miroku.
Miroku nodded and looked solemnly at Sango, moving to walk with her back inside. "He's still with Kikyo."
Sango winced. "For this long? I was hoping he would move on to someone new. She's not good for him..." Sango let her words trail off as she felt a hand caress her bottom, making her give vent a strangled noise.
Putting all of her force into her right hand, she spun on her heel and smacked Miroku as hard as she could. A rosy blush colored her face as she snarled at Miroku. "That is sexual harassment, Miroku! Harassment! I am so gonna sue your ass."
"As long as I get to touch yours." Miroku smiled innocently holding a hand to angry red mark on his cheek. Sango took her apron off so that she could use it as a murder weapon, upon seeing that he was in danger of being strangled outside his own business, he quickly jumped to his feet and made a dash for the door, calling out playful banter to Sango who was chasing him, intent on seeing him as a corpse.
Kagome lay awake in her bed. She hadn't gotten used to sleeping in a new place, and she felt lonely and uneasy in the unfamiliar apartment. The rooms were lovely and well kept. They even seemed a little homey. But it just wasn't the home she had left and grew up in.
She peeled the covers off and got out of bed, her socked feet making little to no noise on the floor as she made her way to the small kitchen that was connected to the living room. A little further down there was a bathroom. Other then those three rooms, was her quaint little bedroom. It was fairly small, but that suited her just fine. She would have felt even more uncomfortable in a big house.
Yawning, she made her way to the fridge and opened up, sticking her only slightly ruffled bed head into the cold chamber. Scanning through the goods, she began singing a chorus to a song she had heard on the way over. The beat was quick, with beautiful lyrics that she nearly had memorized. Singing made her feel better, and her clear voice soon grew in volume and clarity until it filled the small apartment.
Falling into the beat she sang with more confidence and energy. A smile found it's way to her face as it always did when she was singing. Feeling good, she ended the song on a strong note that resounded in the quiet of the room.
Still humming, she selected a bottled water, and shut the door which closed off the cold mist. She started to open the bottle when a light, nearly shy voice said, "Wow. You sing really good..."
To startled to scream Kagome whirled around and met two emerald eyes close to the ground gleaming by the silver disk in the sky that was the only means of light.
A/N:
Am I crazy to be starting another story? Yes. Yes, I am. I just couldn't help it. The idea would not go away and I couldn't work on my other fics until I got this out
Anyways, I apologize for such a short chapter, it was just the intro after all. I plan on making the rest of the story filled with much more detail. Just better then what this offers you at the moment. I'm hoping to hear from you, dear reader, the good and the bad. Does this interest you? Or did you have to force yourself to finish the chapter? My ears are willing and able.
As always, reviews are loved, appreciated, and doted upon. Thank you for reading.
SilverSqueakyInuEars.