Hey look!! It isn't my birthday for a few more weeks and you got a new chapter! I'd say that's pretty good. My schedule opened up and I have a bit more time to write now. Everyone say "Yaaaay."
Characters may start to be OOC, but who cares? They're in a different time to begin with, anyway! hehe
Read, review, wait for the next chapter! I know how I want this story to go... and it'll be good.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own shit. -.-+ This holds true forever.
Oh my God. I don't know what time it is back home, but I know it's still my birthday in this place and I fully intend on celebrating as much as I possibly can... BUT I'M SO TIRED! You only turn 18 once, right? I thought I was to get a cab and go to the hotel on my own, but apparently that Sesshoumaru guy arranged to have a limo pick me up and take me to the hotel. That was awfully nice of him, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing the inside of an American taxi cab. I was fine with taking the limo, though. (ha!) I remember seeing a blonde girl, maybe around my age, I really don't know, looking at me with the most evil eyes I have ever seen. Not very many people have ever looked at me that way, but this girl, she looked like she wanted to kill me as soon as the driver came up and said something like, "Mr. Taisho requests that I personally bring you to the hotel… blah, blah, blah." (I really can't remember what else he said. I just know that this Sesshoumaru guy is giving me a bit more luxuries than the other applicants are getting. Maybe he knows it was my birthday?) Whatever the reason, that same blonde girl was at the hotel when I arrived, and she was still giving me that evil look. She kind of creeps me out.
So let me tell you about the limo ride. My first time riding in one of those, I feel I should explain a bit of it. It wasn't as great as some people describe it. The driver was rather rude and looked like a short, ugly, little toad. He went by the name Jaken. I'll be sure to remember that name and stay clear of it from now on. He just threw my luggage in the trunk, not really caring if I had anything valuable stored inside (Thank God I didn't. My poor little laptop was safely wrapped in my arms. He'd be dead right now if that broke.), he complained of how his master always sent him to do meaningless tasks, I'm assuming I was the so called task, and yelled at me not to touch anything inside. I wasn't really planning on touching anything, anyway. Stupid toad man. There was a radio inside, blue lights along a little table/counter looking thing that held a bunch of wine glasses and stuff, and black leather seats. I liked laying down on them. I bet if I hadn't put up the divider between toad man and I, he would have surely had a fit seeing my 'filthy, germ-infested, shoes' on the seats. He already got mad at me for turning down the air conditioner… and here I was thinking toads liked warmth. ::snicker::
Checking into the hotel wasn't much better. The receptionist was giving me a hard time first by talking to me like I was some kind of deaf five year old (It could have had something to do with me being from Japan…), but after I told her I knew how to speak English, she went on saying a minor like me wasn't allowed to "just check herself into a hotel like this without proper approval from a parent or guardian." It took me forever to convince her I was not only eighteen, but Kagome Higurashi, a student in the T.I.E.F. program and was to have a meeting with none other than Sesshoumaru Taisho in a few hours. "Now give me my room key, damnit!" Haha. It felt strange talking to an elder like that, but I was tired and cranky. I needed a shower, a change of clothes, and FOOD. No one treats me with disrespect like that when all I originally did was ask for my room key! Bitch brought it upon herself. Hmph.
Anyway, I made it safely to my hotel room and that's where I'm typing this now. Ugly little Jaken told me to wait here until one of the other worker people come up here to fetch me and bring me to Mr. Taisho. I swear, that ugly toad thinks I must be some kind of dog. Whatever, I want to make sure I look nice for when I actually meet this guy. I'll write about it when I come back.
Kagome turned off her laptop and took a look around her hotel room. The place was huge despite the one bed that occupied it. It looked more like a small apartment to her. One part of the room held her bed, a television, a closet where she already took the liberty of storing her clothes for the week, and a small desk complete with a complimentary fruit basket and pens and notepad papers. Another part of the room broke off to a giant white tiled bathroom, and another to what looked to be like some kind of living room area with a sofa and fireplace. The fireplace, much to her disappointment, was only a gas heater that gave off the illusion of the actual thing.
'This room is way too big for one person.' she thought to herself.
Suddenly she felt a low rumble make it's presence known from the pit of her stomach and placed a slender hand over it.
"Man, I'm so hungry." she complained. Obviously no one heard her, seeing how she was alone in the room to begin with, but saying something out loud broke a bit of the eerie silence that filled the room.
She looked around for the small fridge she saw earlier as she was wandering around getting herself familiar with the room, but found it contained no food.
'Greeeeeeat.' "Oh well. I'll just spend my precious money on that vending machine I saw out in the hall." she told herself, fishing out her wallet and looking for some of the American currency her mother gave her before she left.
Suddenly there was a loud knock on her door, causing her to jump and forget whatever thoughts were running through her mind. Slowly, she walked up to the door and looked out the eyehole to see a young woman wearing all black waiting patiently outside. Kagome opened the door enough for her to peek out.
"May I help you?"
The woman bowed. "I am Sango Houshi. I am your translator and I am also to bring you downstairs to meet Taisho-sama. Unfortunately he is running a bit late and will be another hour. I was instructed to tell you to wear semi-formal clothing. He does not take very kindly to casual wear."
Kagome nodded. "Sorry, but I all ready know how to speak English,"
'Five years of it had better pay off this week' she growled to herself.
"but thank you. I will be ready."
Sango bowed again and left. Kagome shut her door and looked through her closet for something more appropriate than a simple pair of blue jeans and white collared shirt. She didn't know which of her garments she could consider to be semi-formal, so she opted for a long sleeved red silk blouse and a long black and grey peasant skirt. It was the best she could do. One quick look in the mirror told her she needed to get some kind of makeup on and fast.
'Make up will finish the look. It has to… I can't go out and have Mr. Taisho think I'm some kind of bum. What will the people back at home think if they find out I failed because I couldn't even look the part?'
With one swift pull, she opened the zipper of her small makeup bag and let the contents all spill out on the bathroom counter. She wasn't very experienced with eye shadow, let alone liner, and put on as little as she could, trying desperately to keep the lines on her eyelids straight. It took twenty minutes for each eye, but she finally got her face looking how she wanted it. She went back to the full body mirror and inspected her attire. Her clothing looked about as semi-formal as it could get and her face finally had a bit of texture to it. The pink eye shadow was barely visible, but enough to say she was at least wearing something.
"Take a good look at yourself because this is as pretty as you'll ever look…"
Two minutes later, another knock came banging on her door and she looked out the eyehole to see the same woman as before waiting patiently outside. She opened the door and greeted her happily.
"Hi Sango. How do I look?" she asked, twirling around.
The woman looked a bit embarrassed. "Y-you look nice." she stammered, "Are you ready?"
Kagome smiled. "Yes. We can go downstairs now."
Sango smiled and led her downstairs to a small meeting hall where they were stopped by a white haired man. Kagome thought he looked similar to the guy she met on the plane, but this guy was a bit shorter and scruffy looking and possibly a bit younger. He also didn't look very happy. He glanced over at Sango and waved her off.
"You can leave Sango. Be ready tomorrow for Orientation." he told her.
"Yes, Mr. Taisho. I will be here at 7:00 to set up the hall." she bowed and left.
The white haired man looked at Kagome. He was still frowning. "What do you want?"
"Umm… Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, a bit scared.
His anger seemed to only grow at this. "What the fuck? No! Who the hell are you?"
Kagome cringed. "Umm… sorry, I'm Kagome Higurashi." she trembled, holding out her hand for him to shake. "I was told Mr. Taisho wanted to meet me and I hea-"
"And you heard Sango call me 'Mr. Taisho,' and assumed I was the Taisho you were looking for." he interrupted her, pushing her hand aside.
She slowly nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Feh. You should be. Confusing me for that half brother of mine."
"Sorry."
"Whatever. Go back to your room."
Kagome just looked at him, confusion plainly written across her face.
"Hello??" he yelled, waving his hand across her face, "Are you deaf? I said go back to your room. Sesshoumaru doesn't need to talk to you anymore. He cancelled your meeting."
"Oh… May I ask why?" she asked, now with a bit of courage.
The man just looked at her, a bit shocked that she would even ask something like that. "He probably saw what you were wearing. Didn't Sango tell you to dress nice?? You look like you just came back from a thrift store."
That hit Kagome pretty hard. Tears threatened to leave her eyes, but she fought them back. 'I will not give this jerk the pleasure of seeing me cry. Asshole.'
"I'm sorry my clothing taste doesn't satisfy you. Please tell Mr. Taisho I am sorry for offending him as well, Mr. Tai-"
"Inuyasha." he cut her off.
"Mr. Inuyasha."
He shook his head. "No. Just call me Inuyasha."
"Alright." she bowed and left, storming off back to the elevators.
As soon as she stepped in, her stomach let out another loud growl, reminding her she still hadn't eaten yet. She got off on her floor and went straight for the vending machine down the hall trying desperately to fish out the dollar she stuffed into her shirt pocket. Two tears found their way sliding down her cheek followed by two more until she soon found herself kneeling before the humming machine, crying with long agonized sobs.
"What the hell did I do to receive this treatment?? I hate New York!"
"Kagome?" a familiar voice called out.
'That voice…' She looked up to see the man from the plane standing across from her. He was wearing what appeared to be lounging clothes and could only assume his room was on the same floor as hers. Not allowing another moment to pass, she shot herself up and ran into his arms, clinging desperately onto him for some kind of comfort. He quickly responded, expecting some kind of reaction like that from the girl, and wrapped his arms protectively around her as she continued crying.
"Shh." he said, "Its all right." Although he wasn't exactly sure what happened. He rubbed the back of her head as she continued crying, which was beginning to draw a bit of attention from the other guests as some emerged from their rooms to see what all the annoying racket was about. He told them in English that everything was fine and sent them back to their rooms.
"Kagome," he softly said, looking down at her, "can you tell me what happened?"
Her sobs became silent sniffles as she tried to recollect everything that had happened the past couple hours.
"I was supposed to meet Mr. Taisho… and the lady said to dress nice, so I did… and that guy… Inuyasha, he said… he said I looked like I came out of a thrift store. I tried to look nice, I really did. I even tried to put on makeup! But he made fun of me… and Mr. Taisho cancelled the meeting. Everything I did was for nothing… and I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten… I need… I…" she never got to finish her sentence because she found herself stumbling down. Her legs gave out on her and her body was begging for nothing more than to lay down.
The man quickly pulled her up and took her away from the vending machine. "Which room is yours?" he asked as he held her bridal style.
"1121." she mumbled, her head nestled on his shoulder.
He carried her over to the room and placed her softly on her bed as she curled over.
"Do you have any food in here with you?" he softly asked her.
She shook her head. "I was going to buy a bag of chips from the machine."
He sighed. "I'll be right back."
He quickly left the room, leaving the door wide open and came back a few minutes later holding a tray with a plate of some kind of sandwich and a glass of water.
"Here." he said, "I bought this earlier from the kitchen. You need the nourishment more than I do."
She looked up at him. "What is it?"
"Turkey sandwich and some water."
She looked at him and began crying again. He set the tray down and rushed to her side holding her small form in his strong arms.
"I'm sorry," she sniffed, "I normally don't cry… but you're the only person who's actually been nice to me my whole time here. The American's are very rude and scary… and that stupid Sesshoumaru Taisho didn't even want to meet me. First he runs late, and then he decides to just cancel the whole thing! I could have at least made it to dinner to grab a quick bite or something… anything." She held her stomach as it made another low growl. If she didn't eat something soon, she was afraid she might pass out.
He felt a pang of guilt hit him as she said that. Respect was something he demanded of his staff and expected from the ones in this hotel. That was the only reason he continued to be a faithful patron each year. He would have a talk with both staff personnel and would find a way to make up his rude behavior to her.
"I just feel so tired." she whimpered, her voice becoming more slurred.
"Its all right." he said, slightly rocking her, "You've just had a long day. I'm sure tomorrow will be a lot better."
"How can it?" she shot at him. "The nicest clothes I have are the ones I'm wearing… and I look like shit."
He pulled her away from him and looked at her attire. Her makeup was smeared because of all her crying, but it wasn't much to begin with. She was partially true. Her clothes were a bit on the unconventional side, but that was to be expected by someone who was practically a starving artist. He knew she had something special about her if she was able to make it this far in the program, and the last thing he wanted was to see her give up just because of something as trivial as clothing.
'I can't believe I'm doing this.' he sighed to himself. "You look like anything but 'shit'." he told her. "Your makeup may be a bit smeared, but who's wouldn't be at midnight? Compared to many other women I've seen in this hotel, you are a late night vision, and believe me when I say this: coming from me, that's a lot."
His words only made her blush. As he wiped away a tear from her cheek, he couldn't help but feel overcome with a new feeling. Something he hadn't felt in a long time, and it was beginning to scare him.
'Is this the change I've been waiting for?'
Kagome hugged the man. "Thank you." she whispered.
He held her tighter and rested his head over hers. After he was sure she dozed off, he let her go and rested her head against one of the hotel pillows. He left a note by the tray of food, sure she would wake up within the hour and left her room, but not before quickly looking in her closet to check the size of one of her jackets.
Awe. Bad birthday, huh? I gotta learn to stop torturing the poor characters. (Yeah, try telling that to my sadist.)
remember to review! give me inspiration or something.
:P
Ja ne!
-VG-
