As usual, the standard sorry for the writer's block and disappearing applies. The reason for the very late update is because last semester, I learned that I can graduate for the spring of this year. I've been so swamped in my school work in order to make that so, pulling off 18 hours last semester and another 18 for this one. I barely had time to even try to be creative but I'm trying to take the time to do so for the sake of my sanity really. I came out of a depressed state recently thanks to trying to write again and so I finally got this chapter out that I have been typing little by little ever since last year. Not quite proud of it and it is something of filler but it will help me get the next chapter started which I hope to get started after this one is posted.
Ch. 10 A Day in the Life of a Model
Did Kagome hear right? Was she really standing in the headquarters of what will possibly be the most popular clothing line to come? She would have stood frozen in shock if it wasn't for the kitsune turned tour guide that had her hand.
"The second floor is where we pretty much do everything, the first floor is where the offices are so that paperwork could be done so there's nothing to see there... Hey, how did you get on the roof anyway?" Shippo asked as he stopped for a second.
Kagome wasn't sure how to answer that but she didn't have much of a chance as a man in colorful attire holding some fabric interrupted them. "Oh Shippy, who is your little friend?"
Shippo smiled nervously and shamefully shrunk behind Kagome. "Jakotsu, this is Kagome. Kagome, this is Jakotsu. He's our fashion coordinator."
Although still a bit nervous and somewhat shocked at her location, she just smiled and bowed to greet the man unaware of what she was about to get herself into. "Nice to meet you."
The man just looked her up and down calculatingly then his hand shot out to grab her chin before stretching her cheek with his other hand.
"My, you have a pretty smile." He turned her face from left to right, Kagome felt that she might get whiplash. "The look of pure innocence, I don't get to encounter this every day."
He leaned closer almost making Kagome fall but he held her up. "Very exotic eyes as well... I can see you're full Japanese but you probably have some European blood in you."
He stood her up into a standing position before stretching, moving and even feeling her up as if she was his own living doll. "Oh and you got quite a shape but your clothing choice is moderate to poor, shame that you choose to hide your assets."
Kagome sputtered in anger, how dare this strange man, coming up to her and touching her like that. The clothes she was wearing were perfectly fine as well. Sure they weren't brand name but they were practical and comfortable. She had never felt so violated in her life, not even Koga got that touchy feely with her like that. Before she could tell him anything, he pulled out a small notepad and pencil, his full concentration on whatever he was scribbling.
Kagome made sure to put some space between her and the strange male before saying to Shippo. "Grr, what was that all about!?"
Shippo smiled sheepishly feeling guilty that he stood aside, allowing his senior to do what he wanted to his friend.
"Jakotsu-san does that a lot. He calls himself a self-proclaimed talent scout. As strange as he is, every person he looked over like that and gave positive feedback to, tend to be great in the company. His judgments have never been wrong yet."
Kagome looked back to where the man stood still writing away, curious as to what he thought of her now that the fox explained his reasoning especially since he left off in a hurry. Why should she really care, though? She wasn't looking to model. Still... the female in her was worried about her looks.
As Shippo spoke up again, she realized that her thoughts must have been seen on her face.
"Don't worry Kagome, he really likes you. He's not the type that's afraid to tell you to your face that he doesn't." Shippo seemed to become nervous before he said his next statement. "He'll most likely want you to do a few things." Kagome almost asked if he was subject to Jakotsu's way of greeting or if he does it to everyone but held her tongue. The young boy next to her looked as if he was reliving a memory he would rather forget.
They were interrupted as Jakotsu saw a passing assistant and gave them the paper. "Take this to the art department. I want a design out a.s.a.p.!"
His attention was fully on Kagome once more and he wore a grin that made her shrink.
"Ugh, Shippo, why is he looking at me like that?" She whispered to her fox friend.
"Because, my darling, you have inspired me. Come with me." He said forcefully pulling the young girl behind him. Shippo was left trying to catch up both curious of what the fashion expert would do to his friend.
~S~D~
"Knock knock, I'm coming in now!" Jakotsu sang as he stepped into what looked like a hair salon.
A young woman with hair cut into a bob style and tight clothes spun in her chair, whatever conversation she was having on her phone ended instantly as her red eyes fell on her good friend.
"Jackie! I was wondering when you would show up here, any new gossip..." Her words fell when her eyes landed on the young male behind him. Said male muttered an "uh-oh" and took a step back.
"Shippo hun!"
The woman was in front of the fox in a flash, arms stretched wide ready to capture him in her embrace but before she could, he disappeared in a poof of smoke. The woman, however, collided with Kagome, with eyes closed in bliss while her hands and face in her hair as she unintentionally smothered Kagome in her bosom.
"Oh Shippo, I was wondering when you was going to bring that gorgeous red head of yours into my salon. Oh, it feels softer than usual, have you finally took my advice on what conditioner to use?" She said as she nuzzled the little miko's hair unknowingly pulling her into her bosom.
"Uh, I'm not Shippo." Kagome's muffled voice came through and the woman paused before holding her at arm's length.
"Oh, I apologize." She said with an embarrassed laugh. "That silly fox, always disappearing when I try to show him some affection. He's a shy one around women." She said with a wink. Somehow Kagome thought that he going M.I.A. was for a whole other reason than just the gender of a person.
Her hands went back into Kagome's hair, nearly making said girl scream from the action.
"Oh kami, I am in love with your hair, what products do you use?" The woman asked with excitement. Before Kagome could reply, the strange woman started up again. "Oh, I must style it, can I? Can I please? It's rare for me to come upon a female with hair like yours, all curly and wavy and full of volume instead of straight as a pin... Not that I have anything against any one's hair that might be like that."
Jakotsu snickered. "I was hoping you would ask. I would like to try something with her if she would allow me to."
Kagome looked from one set of eyes to the other. What to do? Did she want to even know what this crazy man had planned for her? For some unknown reason, her intuition was telling her to go for it. Besides it would be nice to get a touch up. It's been so long since she actually got it done that she couldn't even remember if she ever really did go to a solon. "I-I guess-"
"Fantastic! Come, come sit!" Yura said guiding Kagome down to a seat. Her hands were back in her hair before she knew it. "By the way, I'm Yura, a hair demon. I'm the lead hair stylist for the models here, what's your name?"
"I'm um... Kagome." she replied meekly.
"Well Kagome, I'm gonna make sure I do you right. If Jakotsu want me to style you it's for a good reason." She said with a smile as she got started.
~S~D~
The entire time that Kagome was with the older woman, she kept talking about random things which were fine with her. It wasn't like she knew how to start a conversation with her anyway. If anything, she was content with the way Yura massaged her scalp. Yura was almost finished when an elegant looking woman walked through the doorway.
"Jak told me that he needed me dress a new comer for some test shots."
Yura smiled. "Just in time Kagura. I just finished up with her. She's all yours."
The woman known as Kagura led Kagome away before she had a chance to see what the hair demoness done. As she walked Kagome elsewhere, she introduced herself. "As you've heard, my name is Kagura. I'm one of the tailors here. I'm gonna dress you for your shoot and I think I have the perfect thing for you to try out. First we have to make sure it'll fit you.
Kagome found herself in what looked like a giant closet/dressing room area. As she walked behind the demoness who was trying to find an outfit for Kagome to wear, the younger girl looked at what was on the racks and dummy models. Some of the clothes, she recognized in the store, others ranged from beautiful and elegant to simple but unique. She was so engrossed in her surroundings that she ended up walking right into Kagura.
"Oops sorry." Kagome smiled nervously as she took a tentative step back. Kagura smiled as she held what looked like a heap of feathers. Kagome pointed to the mass in Kagura's arms as she asked what it was.
"Jak asked me to find something with an innocent theme and nothing's more innocent than an angel. It even comes with its own pair of wings." Kagura replied as she held it up better, the wings were under her arm. The feathers turned out to be the skirt of the dress. It was short in the front knowing that her thighs would show but the back of it would reach the back of her knees. The top was something like a corset in a metallic white and silver. The dress was very pretty but one thing was bothering her.
"Don't look at the dress like that, what's wrong?" Kagura asked.
"It's not that I don't like it. One thing it makes me think about is when I used to sleep on feather pillows and how the feathers would prick my face."
The wind sorceress chuckled. "Not to worry, I took care of that, it has layers under it to keep the feathers from touching the wearer's skin... that and the actual feathers are very soft."
She gave the dress to Kagome to feel and the raven had to agree.
"It's my job to work out the kinks of any outfit we produce and this is one of my more favorite creations. Now, try that on, we've got to hurry or else Jak would start to get impatient."
Kagome did as told and after the dress was modified to fit her figure, Kagome was given silver strappy shoes and jewelry to use for the shoot.
After the fitting of the dress, everything seemed like a whirlwind to the young girl. Somewhere along the line, she did get a touch of makeup and was then brought to the studio where the photo shoot would take place. The stage was set up to look like ruins of a spiritual temple or sacred place. As she stood in front of Jakotsu, Naraku, who was setting up a camera, other staff members and lights, she started to feel butterflies in her stomach. Just why was she here again? Why was she in this dress, on a stage? What was she supposed to do?
Jakotsu chose this time to give her a little advice on how she was supposed to act and posed her in different positions until it seemed natural then after that, the camera clicking and flashing lights began. She listened to when she was directed to look at some direction, what expression was to be on her face, and how to move her body. Despite the fact that she never done anything like this before, it didn't seem so hard and the worse that happened was when she couldn't figure out how she was supposed to pose or look, Jakotsu would move her or show her what he wanted. She was so wrapped up in what was happening at the moment that she didn't notice that someone new came into the studio.
"She's quite the beauty right Sesshomaru?"
Hearing that name caused her to look directly at the voice that spoke it and there in the doorway was none other than Saito (look at a/n below for explanation and Sesshomaru. Her eyes locked with the younger of the two before he crossed the room in long strides, grabbed her by the hand, and quickly rushed out while growling.
A deviant smirk stretched across Saito's lips as he watched the two disappear from the hall and into a room far enough away from prying ears.
I felt the need to change his name. When I first began the story, I didn't really know what to call him and just used the first name that popped up in my head. Really the beginning of the story was iffy anyway and didn't seem to have much of a plot until I took a break from it before. I hope that this clears up some confusion you might have had when you saw Saito instead of Omar. I will change the name in the chapters that mention him and since that's not a lot, it won't be a big change since he's not in many of the chapters anyway.