Wednesday…
Sesshomaru sat quietly at his kitchen table. It was very early in the morning, and he was enjoying a small breakfast before he left for work. A steaming hot cup of coffee with a glass of orange Juice on the side lay in front of him.
Jaken walked into the room and set down some toast in front of Sesshomaru. The other man barely took notice as he continued looking over some papers in his hands. Jaken stepped back and waited to be acknowledged by his employer, after a minute Sesshomaru finally took notice.
"What do you need? Is it about the chef again?" Sesshomaru said slightly irritated. He lifted his cup of coffee to his face. The drink smelt delightful. He took a gulp of coffee and set it back down on the kitchen table.
"No sir. Actually, it is about that girl. That new cat-walker we hired," Jaken said as he twiddled his thumbs. That answer caught Sesshomaru off guard. His full attention was now on Jaken.
"What is it about her? Will we have to hire another one? Has she quit like the others? Or did she let the cat out again?" Sesshomaru asked, shooting questions one after the other. Jaken was startled by his employer's sudden interest. Usually, he was one only to pay attention to things of the outmost importance to him.
"No sir, she is not quitting. In fact she said she would come early today, because she has somewhere to be later this afternoon. Yet, she wanted to fill in all her hours," Jaken informed Sesshomaru. His employer nodded his head.
Sesshomaru was relieved to hear the girl didn't quit. He wasn't sure why, but he was. In his mind, he was impressed that she hadn't quit. It showed that she was able to take a bad situation and try to make the best of it.
"If it is not that she is quitting, and then what do you have to tell me about her?" Sesshomaru asked as he took another sip of coffee. Glancing at his watch, he realized he would have to leave very soon.
"She is a very strange young woman. Yesterday, she had an umbrella before entering the cat's room," Jaken said simply. Sesshomaru almost spit out his coffee. That was an amusing thought. He set down his drink.
"Interesting…"
……………………………
Kagome scurried out her apartment and down the hallway. Her bags jumbled around in her arms and she stampeded down the stairs. By the time she got to the glass doors in the front of her apartment, she realized she had free hands to open the door. Turning around she pushed her back to the door to get it open.
She spotted Miroku standing by his car and headed into his direction. A small smile was on her face. He opened the back door and she dumped her belongings in the back. A sigh of relief left Kagome. She hated carrying heavy things for too long.
"Thanks again for taking me. I promise when I find an alternative I'll reimburse you what I owe in gas money," Kagome said as she bit her lip. She hated owing people money. Miroku just waved her off.
"It's fine. I don't really care. Plus, I'm pretty sure if Sango found out you paid me back, she'd punish me," Miroku said with a visible wince. Kagome giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. She hugged Miroku.
"Awesome. Just know that I love you for doing this. Thank thank thank you!" Kagome said and pulled back before Miroku could do anything. He was a nice guy, but he could be a little handsy at times.
"Do you have everything?" Miroku asked so they wouldn't forget anything before they hit the road. Kagome cocked her head to the side as she thought about it for a moment. A smirk found its way to her face as she reached her hand back into Miroku's back-seat.
"I think the only thing I might possibly need is a new umbrella!" Kagome said laughing. She pulled the folded umbrella from the car. She pressed the button and it popped up. Miroku stared at it with complete disbelief. The whole thing was filled with holes. He laughed too.
After the umbrella joke was in the air and out of their system, they continued on their way. The drive from Kagome's apartment to Mr. Taisho's house was about twenty minutes. So the two chatted and talked about various things.
They finally stopped in front of the gate and Kagome got out. She gathered her things from the back and shut the door. Standing back from the car, she watched as Miroku drove away. Turning to the gate, she tried to think of how she was going to push the speaker button.
However, something caught Kagome's eye. She went over closer to the gate. It as a bright yellow sticky note with keys attached to it. She set some of her things down and lifted the sticky note and keys from the gate. On the sticky note it read:
Miss Higurashi,
As head servant I am a very busy person.
Today, I have many errands to attend to,
So I not able to open the gate for you
Here are the keys you need to open the gate.
You will let yourself in.
Do not lose these keys.
Signed, Jaken.
Kagome just shook her head and took the key. Taking the lock to the gate in her hands, she turned the key inside it. The lock clicked open. Kagome ran back to her things and then returned through the gate.
As she made her way to the front door she noticed a car that was not normally there. It was a small blue compact car. Kagome just shrugged her shoulders and paid no mind to it. She figured it was just one of the other worker's here.
She had made into the front hall of the house. Kagome placed the keys into her pocket. She took in a deep breath and grabbed what was left of her umbrella. Thinking for a moment, she made a last minute decision. She took the eye-liner from her purse.
She spotted a mirror in the front entryway. She walked over to it and gazed at herself in the mirror. Un-capping the eye-liner she made the typical two-black lines on each cheek. Kagome smiled at her reflection. She was ready.
She made her ascent up the stairs. Her steps were slow and steady. There was not a lot of time to do her duty today; she had somewhere to go after this. However, her current situation was not one to be taken lightly.
It stood in front of her now. It was the door or in her mind the portal to hell. Kagome's cerulean eyes narrowed. She opened up her tattered umbrella. It had served her well yesterday. The umbrella had been used as a shield of protection for her from the vicious attacks of the cat.
Her hand went for the door handle. A moment of reluctance flashed through Kagome's head, before she opened the door in. As soon as the door opened she pulled a mission impossible roll into the room. Lifting her head she spotted the 'beast'.
"Hello, Princess…" Kagome hissed. The cat's eyes pierced through her from its spot on the couch. Kagome did an army crawl, but a minute later decided against it. She stood up and leaned against the wall opposite of Princess. She realized lying on the floor might give Princess the chance to claw off her face.
Princess's eyes followed Kagome's movements, but that was all. It was a stare down, human against beast. The cat yawned and laid her head back down. Kagome thought at this moment that the little kitty looked cute enough to pet. However, she also knew if she tried the cute little kitty would show no remorse as it rips her arm off.
There was a long silence. Neither made a move. Kagome eyed the cat curiously. What was different about today? Kagome cautiously approached the evil feline. She managed to get three feet close to the cat. Still nothing happened…
Taking a major risk, Kagome inched her hand towards Princess. The cat watched the hand, but did nothing. Kagome rested her hand on the couch. Princess lifted her head and sniffed Kagome's hand. Suddenly the cat went back to her normal ways.
The cat reared up and bared her fangs. Kagome knew that pose well. Princess was preparing to lunge. Scrambling backwards, Kagome put her back against the wall and waited for the demon cat. Then the cat did something Kagome hadn't been expecting.
Doing what seemed to be a triple back-flip, Princess jumped off the couch. She landed on her feet with absolute perfect precision and then bottled out the open door like a bat out of hell. Kagome looked on with total disbelief.
"Nooooo!" she yelled. Why had she been stupid enough to leave the door open? This was not good at all. If Jaken caught the cat scurrying around the halls again, it would be her job!
Kagome pulled herself off the ground and headed towards the door. Before she made it completely out the door, she swung her body around and went back into the room. She picked up the tattered umbrella that had fallen out of her hands in her time of panic. With umbrella gripped in her fist, Kagome headed out of the door again.
Her eyes scanned the hallway. Where could that cat possibly be? As Kagome made her way through the house, her mind began to wander. Worse case scenarios started popping up in her head and spreading like some horrible disease.
What if she got lost in this house never to escape? What if the cat was Kagome's literal Minotaur? What if she died here? What if the cat died? That last thought actually filled Kagome with a warm happy feeling, but she was sure the owner would not have the same reaction.
"Here Princess…Where are you?" Kagome chanted as she held her umbrella high just in case the cat actually decided to show up. That is when Kagome heard a noise from behind her.
They were light taps. Kagome's eyes narrowed. It had to have been that demonic cat. Kagome gulped as she noticed the sound of foot-steps didn't stop. Taking a deep breath, Kagome whipped around.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!" Kagome screamed, and the tiny figure mimicked her as she fell on her bottom. Doey brown eyes stared up at Kagome in fear and utter confusion. Kagome lowered her umbrella and her mouth hung open in shock.
The doey eyed creature before her was no other than a little girl. The girl's brown hair appeared messy and thrown together. A tiny side pony-tail held her hair in place. After a minute or two of just staring at each-other, Kagome finally spoke up.
"Who are you?" Kagome asked curiously. The girl said nothing, but merely blinked. Kagome placed her umbrella on the ground slowly. A minute later she was sitting Indian style in front of the girl. Kagome figured she looked less threatening if she didn't have a make-shift weapon in her hand.
"My name is Rin," the little girl said bringing Kagome's attention back to her. Kagome blinked and a wry smile spread on her face. At least her and the little girl had calmed down from their little hallway freak-out.
"Um….hello Rin. My name is Kagome… and I'm the newest cat-walker," Kagome said. She had added that last part just in case. Rin smiled back at Kagome and scooted closer to the older girl.
"Hi Miss Kagome Lady. Now that we know each other, can I ask you a question?" Rin asked innocently. Kagome's wry smile turned into a real one. This girl was pretty cute.
"Sure, go for it!" Kagome said. Rin bit her lip and eyed Kagome a bit longer. Scooting closer, she stopped till her and Kagome's knees were touching. Reaching up with tiny little kid fingers she stroked the side of Kagome's cheek and then retracted her hand. Kagome blinked. What was that about?
"Why do you have black lines on your face?" Rin asked. Kagome was taken aback by the question. Then she took time to think about it. She vaguely remembered using her eye-liner as 'war-paint'.
"Oh, it's not really that important. I put it on earlier when I was preparing to face the cat of death," Kagome said with distaste. Rin giggled and tried to stifle her laughter with her tiny hands. Kagome found the attempt to be adorable.
"I know what you mean. I don't like daddy's cat very much either. Princess is mean to me too," Rin said smiling. Kagome laughed. Finally, someone that despised the cat as much as she did. Then Kagome registered what the little girl had fully said.
"Wait, Mr. Taisho is your father?" Kagome asked in disbelief. During this whole conversation, she never did take the time to contemplate why a random little was wandering around the guy's house. Then again the two girls hadn't met each other till this afternoon, and Rin's father failed to mention the little girl's existence.
"Yes," Rin said plainly as she smiled. Kagome then took notice of a nearby room. The door was cracked open. Kagome heard the muffled noise of the television and saw a figure sitting on the couch. It appeared to be a woman a little older than she was.
"Oh. Is that your mother?" Kagome asked. She felt disappointed for some reason. She had no idea why. Rin turned to where Kagome was looking and her smile smell. A look of disgust covered the little girl's face now.
"No. That's my babysitter Kagura. She's about as nice as the cat…" Rin said sticking out her tongue for effect. Kagome couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up inside her. She couldn't imagine a person as evil as that cat.
"I'm sorry to hear that about your babysitter. So, where is your mother?" Kagome asked. Rin looked back up at Kagome with a sad expression. Kagome's stomach clenched, she didn't realize that this might be a sore subject for Rin.
"Rin doesn't have a mommy. Rin was an orphan. She was adopted by daddy. He made everything better. Rin is happier now…" Rin said with a sad smile. Kagome found it odd that the girl had reverted to using third person, but she figured it had something to do with the situation.
There was nothing but silence for a while. Rin glanced at Kagome with that same sad smile. Kagome was almost crushed by it. Cautiously the older girl reached her hand over and grasped the little girl's hand. Rin's eyes sparkled.
"What you up to brat and who the hell is with you?" griped a feminine voice. The woman that had been in the other room made her presence known. She had smooth ebony hair tied up in a bun, piercing red eyes, and ruby red lips. She clicked her tongue.
"Um, I'm the Cat-walker. Speaking of which, I need to go find that darn cat," Kagome said standing up. She was slightly embarrassed. This woman just seemed to intimidate her as much as Sesshomaru had. Rin followed Kagome's movements with her eyes.
"Whatever…come on kid, we're going to watch some more America's Top Model," Kagura said whipping her head around and walking back into the other room. Rin sighed as she stood up. When the little girl was standing up right she smiled over at Kagome before following after Kagura.
Kagome smiled brightly. Rin was such a sweet little girl. Kagome was surprised by this, because she had no idea who could have taught her to be so sweet. There weren't a lot of very good influences for that specific trait. As far as she could tell Jaken, Sesshomaru, Rin's babysitter, and as a matter of fact Princess didn't have that nice trait…
"Speaking of which…Where in the world is that cat?" Kagome thought aloud as she once again scooped up her umbrella. She began walking down the hall and turned the corner. The hunt was on again.
It took about fifteen minutes to track down the demonic cat, and another fifteen to get it back in its lair. Kagome was panting as she shut Princess's door. The girl had gained one ore two new scratches and gained a layer of sweat. However, she had the wondrous feeling that she was still alive.
Kagome checked her watch and realized that she had finished just in time. Miroku would be pulling his car beside the gate any minute now. Taking her hands off the door, Kagome made her way to the stairs.
Once she made it downstairs, she collected her things and left through the front door. She made it down a couple of front porch steps when the front door opened. Kagome turned back to see a tiny head peeking out from behind the door.
"You're leaving?" Rin asked sadly. Kagome shifted some of her things, because they were beginning to become heavy. Giving up after a minute of shuffling around uncomfortably, she set her things down.
"Yes. I have someone to be. I'm sorry Rin…" Kagome said. She really was sorry. She had a strong urge to not leave the poor little girl in the hands of that seemingly evil babysitter. Rin stepped a bit more out of the doorway.
"Will you be back tomorrow?" Rin asked. Kagome noticed that the girl's hands clutched the door frame tightly when she asked. Her tiny finger were beginning to turn a pale white. Kagome never would have known she was this important to the girl she had just met today.
"Yes Rin, I will back here tomorrow. I promise," Kagome answered. Kagome watched as Rin broke out into a big smile. Kagome found the little girl's antics to be completely precious.
"YAY! I'm so happy! Bye Kagome! See you tomorrow!" Rin said excitedly before slamming the door closed again. Kagome just blinked and then shook her head. A smile came to her face. She had always loved little kids.
Picking up her things from the porch, Kagome headed off again. She hoped Miroku hadn't been waiting too long. Kagome's mind then began to wander to her current job. She had managed to survive another day.
"Only four more to go…"