Tango In Tokyo
Chapter 2: Deja Vu
Kagome rushed into work with her gallon of coffee one minute to clock-in time, looking the epitome of a woman who'd just spent the night in someone's bed: tousled hair, wrinkled clothes, and a secret smile that said I can't believe it was that good. The moment Sango spotted her, she threw her bagel down onto her plate, dropped it in the trash, and stomped over to Kagome's desk.
"Where the hell did you go last night?" she hissed at her.
Kagome looked up at her with big eyes as she set her bag inside her desk drawer. "Uh..."
"You promised me you wouldn't leave me for a Brad Pitt lookalike!"
"Okay, one, I didn't even say I left with anyone; two, he was more of a Brad Pitt dipped in Antonio Banderres sauce; and three, I was slightly intoxicated, what did you expect?"
Sango made an exaggeration motion of rolling her eyes.
"Why are you even upset? It's not like I left you alone. You were with your man-friend, remember?"
"That...That's not the point."
Kagome raised an amused brow and gave her friend a once-over. "Oh really now? Cause it seems to me I wasn't the only one who gave as good she got last night."
Sango flushed red and tried hiding her smile through balled lips. "Don't even go there," she said, pointing an accusing finger at her.
"So how was he?" Kagome asked sweetly.
Sango took a moment to pretend to fume and pressed her lips together. Then, she sat on Kagome's desk and leaned forward. "Oh my god," she whispered and nearly exploded into a fit of teenage giggles. "He is amazing."
Kagome smiled and nodded. "See? I knew it."
"No, no, we didn't sleep together, but god I wanted to when we went back to my place. He said he wanted to go slow though, which made me like him even more. Ugh. A perfect guy like him seems too good to be true. Makes me wonder if he has anything up his sleeve."
"Like what?"
She shrugged. "I dunno. But we're supposed to be going to this really snazzy restaurant tonight." She jumped up. "Oh! That reminds me, you sneaky bitch. He paid for your seven martinis last night when the bartender said something about your bill."
"Oh." Kagome couldn't help but laugh. "I was so distracted last night. I'll pay him back."
Sango waved her hand. "Whatever. So, tell me about the guy you left with."
Kagome rested her chin her hand. "All I know is that he's rich and godly at sex. Other than that..." She shrugged. "I left before he woke up this morning."
"Oh, too bad."
"At least I gave him a night to remember." Kagome grinned. "He was sitting at the same bar we were."
"Oh gag me with a spoon. Don't tell me he was that blonde at the other end giving you naughty glances?"
"You noticed him?"
"Just a little. I noticed him once while I was talking to Taiji and again when he was heading out." Sango thought of his face for a second and then gave a low whistle. "He has that kind of face that belongs on billboards instead of bars."
Kagome yawned and gave a little stretch. "Yeah, well, hopefully I won't see him on any billboards anytime soon. Now, shoo, I have to finish up this damn Nakayami article."
"Oh puke, the leaching bimbo of the century. Have a blast," Sango teased as she walked away.
Kagome muttered and placed her fingers on her temple. She felt the throbbing pressure of an oncoming migraine.
–
Inuyasha completely, unconditionally, wholeheartedly hated city buses. Almost to phobia degree. It was probably a mutual thing, too.
That damn woman had taken his keys and wallet, and whether or not it had been intentional was irrelevant. He would hunter her down and demand that she return his possessions to him. Never mind she had been the sexiest thing with legs last night. Never mind that he wished she had left something for him to contact her again. He was riding the city bus, damn it. Heirs of billion-dollar conglomerates did not ride city buses.
Ever.
With a screeching halt, the bus stopped in front of his destination. He none-too-politely pardoned himself off the bus of ogling strangers and walked up to the building with shiny, metallic letters of Taisho Communications, Inc. engraved to the front. He jogged up the stairs and into the lobby where he stepped inside the elevators. Pressing for the fourteenth floor more times than necessary, he tapped his foot impatiently against the floor as he waited. When the doors finally slid open with a cheery ding, the receptionist gave one glance at him and immediately jumped up from her seat.
"Mr. Taisho, sir!" she hurried towards him and bowed politely. "It's so good to see you. The Chairman has been expecting you. Right this way, please – "
"I can manage," he said quickly, brushing past the woman. He barged through the doors of the conference room. "Brother!" he exclaimed, sweeping his arms out.
Hunched over the table with the latest financial reports, Sesshoumaru Taisho glanced up at his brother from beneath his brows. "Wipe that smile off your face, Inuyasha. You're late."
"I couldn't help it. My keys and wallet were stolen," he said irritably as he dropped into one of the leather chairs. "I had to ride the city bus here."
Dropping his pen onto the table, Sesshoumaru leaned back in his chair and smoldered the man in front of him with a glare. "Let me guess – you met a woman, were stupid enough to let her back in your hotel room so you could fuck her, and now, because she realized all the money you freely prance around with, she stole your keys and wallet while you were asleep."
Inuyasha stared a his brother for a moment and then shrugged. "Probably not completely accurate but whatever."
"Do I need to remind you," Sesshoumaru snapped, "that you are here in Japan on official business? That this is not another one of your ridiculous vacations?"
"I know that, but my car is still parked at the fucking bar and my credit cards are probably being maxed out at the moment. Excuse me if I seem a little frustrated."
"You can search for your keys and wallet another time. Right now, you are to meet with the board for your new position as director of the magazine department."
–
Arriving home after work, Kagome threw her things somewhere in the living room and plopped down onto her bed.
"Uggghhhhmmmmm..." she groaned, stretching her cramped body. "Come here, Stick." She plucked her white cat from off her pillow and placed him on her chest. When he tried to scamper away, she threw her arms over him and held him down. He flattened his ears and glared at her. "Oh don't be like that," she told him. "I keep you alive. Appreciate me."
He glared more.
She hugged him to her chest and rolled over onto her stomach. When she slid off the bed and stood, he scrambled down from her arms and nicked her skin. "Oow!" she squealed and inspected the blood on her arm. She glared at the cat as he sprung to his favorite place on the windowsill. He ignored her and began licking his paw.
"Stupid, good for nothing..." she mumbled. and sighed when she heard her phone ringing. Sango flashed in the screen. "Hey, what's up?"
"Be ready in an hour," Sango said.
Kagome's brows rose. "For?"
"Taiji invited you to dinner. He's such a sweetheart, isn't he?"
"O...kay. Are we meeting or...?"
"Yeah, meet us at La Calle de Rosa. See ya there."
Kagome placed the phone back in its cradle and just as she turned to go, the phone rang again. Assuming it was Sango, she picked up and said, "I'm not going to be la—"
"Higurashi? It's Henry."
She blinked. "Oh...hey, Henry," she said uncertainly. "What can I do for you?"
"I need you to run a hard copy of your article by my office. I know its a little late, but my computer just went blank on me and I can't access your article until tomorrow morning when the techies come in."
Kagome inwardly groaned. Great. "I'll be right there."
Kagome got ready in a rush and hailed a taxi all the way into the heart of Tokyo. Inside the Taisho Com building, the place bustled with activity. It was odd because of the unusual hour of the evening. She made her way to Henry's office on the fifth floor and tapped lightly on the door.
"Come in," came the muffled invitation.
She stepped inside and placed the copy of her article on his desk.
"Thanks. You look nice. A date?"
"Dinner with Sango," she said distractedly as she watched three men barrel past the glass windows with bulky boxes. "Say, what's all this commotion going on?"
He glanced towards the windows. "Oh, that. A new director for our magazine department."
"Oh?" She looked at him with raised brows.
"Yeah. Roger was transferred to the entertainment and syndication department. Supposedly, a young and highly-important figure is going to be replacing him. His words exactly."
"How come they haven't made any announcements on this?" she asked.
"They probably will come Monday."
"Hm." Kagome glanced at her wrist watch. "Jeez, I should be going. Sango is gunna kill me."
Henry chuckled. "Appreciated this, Higurashi."
"Yeah, no problem!" she said as she closed the door behind her and took off running towards the elevator. "Hold the door!" she yelled to the man who just stepped inside. A thick, long arm shot out and held the door open as she rushed inside.
"Thank you so..." She faltered as she looked at the man, who looked so eerily familiar. "...much," she finished uncertainly. She frowned at him. "Do I...know you?"
The tall, stoic man looked at her without the slightest recognition. With a small, brief movement of his large shoulders, he shrugged. "Perhaps you have seen my face in the press," he said.
She studied his face blatantly and thought hard. Billboards, window panes, newspapers, magazines, news programs... "Oh, Chairman! Forgive my manners," she said quickly, bowing, "I didn't recognize you. You look so much different on television, and I – "
He held up his hand to quiet her rambling and smiled politely. "It's alright. It's not everyday I travel here from Osaka headquarters. First floor?"
"What? Oh, yes." She laughed nervously and studied him from the side as they descended.
Although he made certain to keep his personal life out of the own media he produced, other media conglomerates didn't hesitate to elaborate on his cold, aloof personality. But standing right next to him seemed to put him in a different light; he stood in such a open, regal manner that it seemed hard to mistake it as cold and aloof. And there was something else about him that bothered her, something or someone –
"Ladies first," he said.
What? She blinked and looked at the open doors."Oh, right," she said before darting out. Slightly embarrassed, she turned and looked at him. "To be frank, seeing you in person is a bit...uh, fazing."
His laughter quietly rumbled behind his smile. "That's understandable, Miss...?" he prompted.
"Kagome Higurashi," she informed, "a journalist of Grandeur."
"It's been a pleasure, Miss Higurashi. I've got a flight to Osaka to catch. Perhaps we will encounter each other again."
She bowed politely. "It's been a pleasure meeting you, Chairman." She watched as he walked away with brisk strides. In her pocket, her cellphone vibrated. She fished it out and flipped it open. "Sango! So sorry, I'm on my way."
–
Mondays at work was like biting into a lemon first thing in the morning. Nothing short of entirely unpleasant. Not to mention the insane buzz blowing around Kagome like wild fire. As Henry had predicted, an official announcement of the magazine department's new director had been released Sunday morning. Inuyasha Taisho, youngest son of the recently deceased Ken Taisho and brother to Taisho Communication's current CEO, Sesshoumaru Taisho, was currently in his newly furnished office.
Inuyasha Taisho had spent the past eleven years in the United States for some unapparent reason of "vacationing." Rumors of this supposed vacationing were vicious. Some speculated that he really had been hiding from Japanese authority over legal matters; other say he was hiding from some random woman he impregnated after a wild party and several drinks. Rumors had him as quite the drinker. How or why Sesshoumaru Taisho would appoint a drunk or convict as the new head of the magazine department didn't make sense, which led Kagome to believe that all the rumors were hideously false. As per usual.
But something wouldn't stop bothering Kagome. In an attempt to ignore it, she kept her mind heavily focused on outlining ideas for next month's magazine articles. The theme was "Coming Clean" in accordance with Spring season. This meant confessions from readers, public exploit stories, novels of the like, the whole nine yards. Maybe she could –
The phone on her desk rang.
"Kagome speaking," she answered.
"Come see me in my office." It was Henry.
"Be right there," she said and promptly headed towards his office. She stuck her head inside. "You needed to see me?"
He rose from his chair with a folder tucked under his arm. "Yes, but walk with me to get some coffee."
"O...kay," she said hesitantly.
"I was impressed by your Nakayami article," he told her as they walked towards the elevators.
"You were?" When he looked at her, she said, "I mean...Haha! You were. Thank you."
"Now, I know it's not exactly my job to do this, but I wanted to suggest an idea for your next month's article. I think our readers would love it."
She didn't particularly like suggestions or requests of any kind, but just to humor him, she asked, "What is it?"
He handed her the folder. "As you know, next month's magazine will include an exclusive on Kouga Fukimori – "
"Who?"
He gave her a look. "The famous actor? I mentioned him in yesterday's meeting."
Yesterday...meeting...long speech...tears of boredom... "Oh, right, I remember!" she tittered. "Silly me."
"I've set up an interview with him for the fourth of Feburary. That's in three days." They stopped in front of the elevators. He looked at her. "I want you to do the interview."
"Me?" she said weakly.
"Yes. Inside the folder is just about all the information my assistant could dig up on up on him. So what do you say?"
The elevator whirred to a stop and the doors prepared to open.
Kagome looked down at the folder, scanning all of the clippings that had Kouga Takahashi all over it. "I honestly don't know what to say. I haven't even watched any of his movies, and I know I'm going to have to watch all of them before the interview. From the looks of these article, he has a pretty big female fanbase all over the world and everyone knows those are a bitch to upset and I'll have a huge mass of rabid fans coming after me with pitchforks and torches ohmygod!"
Kagome froze at the threshold of the elevator at the same time the doors began to close. It collided into her and nearly sent her sprawling to the floor. Henry grabbed her arm to steady her as she pushed the elevator door away and stared in shock at the man inside the elevator.
Inuyasha Taisho bent down to pick up the scattered papers and handed them back to a flustered Kagome.
Her eyes fluttered against the deja vu. "What the hell...!"
