Kissing the Big Guy's Ass

"Here at Taisho Unlimited, we treat all of our staff the same." Sesshomaru was pointing out various offices with different titles on the door plaques, like copy room or conference room. Naraku was hardly listening to him until he stopped in front of a very expansive office. "Being the former CEO of your own company, you're probably used to having the best, hm?" Naraku barely nodded. He was too mesmerized with the room. It had a very large window in back that showed the entire front of the building and its beautiful gardens.

Then there was the perfect office chair, the kind that every executive deserved. And the computer! Newest technology, state of the art, absolutely perfect. The carpet was the softest he'd ever seen, the kind that made you sink in an inch or two. He loved it all.

"You like?" Sesshomaru asked. Naraku nodded again. "Well, that's nice. But this is perhaps a little big for you. Let me show you something more appropriate for your...status." Leading him down a hall, he entered a part of the floor that was filled with about thirty cubicles. Going to the very back corner of the room, Sesshomaru stopped. "Here you go! Quite cozy, don't you think?" The cubicle was hardly big enough for the old, small Apple computer that sat on the desk. His chair didn't have wheels, but rather was one of the kind of chair a student might sit in at school. And why was there a coffee machine on the desk too?

"How's this for you?" Sesshomaru asked Naraku. He was about to reply, but Sesshomaru cut him off. "Now, now. Don't waste mine and your time talking about it. Go ahead, try it out!"

Naraku casted him a look, then sat down. The desk was too small. His legs barely fit underneath it. The only way to sit somewhat comfortably was by stretching out his legs in front of him. He felt like a twelfth-grader trying to sit at a pre-school desk.

"Well?" Sesshomaru asked expectantly.

"It's a little small, don't you think?"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you talking about? There are employees here who would die to have this spot! I saved it especially for you and that's the thanks I get? Onigumo, considering your business history, you should be glad I'm risking the future of my company for you. You should be more grateful." And with that, he walked away.

Naraku sighed. If this wasn't the only place that would hire him, he'd have told Sesshomaru exactly what he thought of him and his cramped-ass cubicle. But instead, he swallowed the words and looked around. His eyes landed on someone who was peaking over the side of the low wall that separated his work place from anyone else.

"Hi!" The guy said. Actually, he was nothing more than a boy, perhaps only seventeen or eighteen. "I'm Kohanu!" He stuck out his hand. When he noticed that Naraku was just going to stare bitterly at it, he pulled it back. "I know, it seems bad at first, but after a while, you get used to it! Like me, for example. When I first came here, Mr. Taisho was real hard on me. But now I know he was only like that to help me reach my full potential."

Naraku had been watching the bouncing ball from his screen saver, but at those words, he looked up. "Your full potential? What exactly did Sesshomaru have you do when you first came here?"

"Oh, I had to do things like, make copies of memo's and type up business letters, stuff like that."

Naraku stared at him. "So, in other words you were his secretary."

"Oh, no! Far from it! Don't you see how much I helped out the company? Anyone can do a secretary's job. But I did so much more! My work was actually rewarded!"

Naraku took on a dry, sarcastic tone. "Oh, really? How's that?"

"Mr. Taisho gave me a promotion!"

Here, Naraku sat up fully. "A promotion?"

"Yeah, new jobs, more money, everything!"

The boy had caught his attention. "So, what's your new job?"

"I run errands for Mr. Taisho himself. I help him by bringing him coffee and picking up his dry cleaning, those types of things."

Now Naraku narrowed his eyes at him in disgust. "So you went from being a male secretary, to being Sesshomaru's personal ass-kisser. Great move."

Kohanu frowned for a moment, as though he'd never stopped to consider this. "No, I don't kiss Mr. Taisho's ass. I just do favors for him. He can't trust many people, you know. He says I'm about the only one he can."

Naraku nearly gagged. "Yeah, I bet he says that to all his employees."

"Actually, it's true," a girl across Kohanu's cubicle said. She had dark hair with streaks of red at front. "I'm Ayamuri," she said, not bothering to extend her hand as Kohanu had done. "Sesshomaru told that to me when I came here, and Sango in the communications department said that he had said it to her. Kagome too."

Naraku was shocked at the names she'd mentioned. So it looks like that damn hanyou and friends are also slaves to Sesshomaru's tyranny.

Naraku withdrew from the conversation, letting Kohanu and Ayamuri battle their views out. Kohanu, being the dumb-ass faithful employee that he was, argued that Sesshomaru was sincere in saying that he was the only one he could trust. Ayamuri said that it was all bull and that he trusted no one but his money and himself. Silently, Naraku agreed with her.

Since he hadn't been given instructions on what to do exactly, and not being able to stand being near the two teenagers bickering much longer, Naraku simply went on home to his small apartment. Sesshomaru had his number; he could call and inform him on what to do later. He just hoped that he didn't end up as another ass-kisser. Seemed that he already had enough of them.