Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do not profit from this story.

Elevator Music

Not Even Close

(Light)

In Inuyasha's mind, there was nothing wrong with today.

He woke up at the usual time, hitting the snooze over and over again until thirty minutes had passed and he really had to get up. He had showered and got dressed, throwing on whatever was pressed and ready for a day of hard work and decisions.

He arrived at the building at his normal time: 7:03 am. The secretary winked at him and he spent a good few minutes sweet talking her until he bid his goodbye and headed for the elevator. It was then five-after, giving him just enough time to ride the trip up and be at his desk by 7:09. Sango was normally there, stacks of papers in her hands that she insisted needed signing. He would sign them and then listen to his assistant ramble on about his day. Meeting at ten. Client call at eleven. Lunch. Meeting at one-thirty. Meeting at three. Snack. Compliant call at three-thirty-three. Bitching out Sesshomaru at four. Meeting at four-fifteen. Bitching out Sesshomaru at four-fifty. Down the elevator, past the secretary and out the door by five.

Inuyasha was nothing if not predictable.

But this...was something unpredictable, unplanned, thrilling. He was trapped in an elevator with a really hot female and honestly, who gave a shit about paperwork? Sesshomaru could be the tight-ass. While he was stuck on what he considered his mini-cruise, Inuyasha was planning on relaxing.

Until the hot female started hyperventilating, then things got a little complicated. Inuyasha wasn't claustrophobic. Crowds didn't bother him and tight spaces usually made him feel safer. However, this chick was the opposite.

Oh yeah and she was his half-brother's assistant.

Okay, so Inuyasha knew her more than just the 'really hot female'. He saw her every single fucking day with the exception of most weekends. She had even been to his apartment once when Sesshomaru nearly broke down the door and killed him with his glare of ice shards. The man has serious social issues but was extremely dangerous when the business was at stake.

Anyways, back to the girl: Kagome Higurashi. Sango blabbed about her constantly, saying that 'Kagome did this' or 'Kagome did that'. Apparently Kagome was one hell of a friend because she punched out a guy that had been bothering Sango for days. Sango had returned the favour two days later when a drunk grabbed her boob.

The problem with female assistants? Knowledge that you didn't care about.

Still, Inuyasha would've been lying if he said he wasn't interested. The woman was hot, like he said, and she had to be talented to be working at his company. While they never talked, Kagome had seemed like a nice person. Sango always praised her friend. Sesshomaru never complained. There had never been any reports against her.

About three months back, Sango had once gone on a rant about the horror of men and their perverted-like tendencies. Inuyasha wasn't dumb; she was talking about Miroku. Regardless, he rolled his eyes and listened to her blabber on anyways. He didn't have anything better to do and he had just bitched Sesshomaru out moments ago at the time. So, with nothing to do, Inuyasha listened.

At first, Sango squinted her eyes, worried that something had overcome her boss. The man never listened, which was why she typically ranted to him. She just needed to vent and Inuyasha was convenient because a) he was always there and b) he didn't give a shit anyways so if he heard her, he wouldn't say anything and if he didn't, well he sure as hell wouldn't say anything. But then, when she realized that no, her boss wasn't high or drunk or both she talked.

It was probably the weirdest conversation ever and Inuyasha could safely say that he'd had many odd talks. Sango just kept reaming men and their stupidity while she praised Kagome like a fucking saint. The woman had a glow to her, a light that shone down from heaven above...

Okay, so not even close.

Okay, so maybe he hadn't really been listening.

No matter what though, Inuyasha had envisioned this sort of goodness about the woman even without thinking much about it. It was just a natural idea about his half-brother's assistant that rode the elevator with him every day.

And now, trapped in the same device with her, he saw very little of that. She was tense and tired and breathing far too shallow for her own good. Every time she looked to be getting a little closer to deathly white, he moved over and touched her – on the shoulder, arm, cheek... It hadn't really mattered at first, but the more he did it, the more he was drawn to do so.

What stupid fucking idiot idea was that?

"Kagome, you're starting to breathe fast again," Inuyasha said, turning his head to see hers not a foot away from his own. She was beautiful, he realized. Not just hot. Her eyes were dark, the brown deepening with the low lighting. He could still see the faint blush across his skin, the way her chest rose up and down quickly. "Relax," he whispered, resting the side of his hand on her thigh.

Kagome frowned, looking down at his hand. "Um, what did you say?"

Quickly pulling back his hand, he startled himself at the loss of warmth. "Slow your breathing down."

"Oh," the woman said quietly, still staring at her leg. "Sorry, I start thinking and even if I try to think about something else eventually it'll lead back up to the whole being trapped in an elevator thing and I'm just not that good with these sorts of situations, I mean–"

"Shh," Inuyasha said firmly, glaring at her. "Relax. We're going to get out of here."

"I want to believe you," she whispered, the frown still on her face.

Inuyasha closed his eyes, wondering what it would be like to see her smiling again.

"I really want to."

A little bit of Inuyasha for you. Happiness to be updated this weekend. I've also started writing a new series - Fallen Among Thieves. So tons more on the way!

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