Sango
Sesshomaru's first method of business come Monday morning was to tell her that -Monday through Friday, from the moment she opened her eyes until midnight- she belonged to him and only him.
"I work long hours, so you work long hours," had been the only explanation he'd offered her and now she was comfortable at her desk trying to move around a few of his appointments. One o clock alone had three meetings with people who sounded important- but even Sango knew that Sesshomaru took his lunch at one.
She tried not to get annoyed with her predecessor. The woman who'd come before her had clearly been frazzled and overworked because there were tear shaped water stains in the planner.
"Mikadzuki san," she climbed out of her chair and padded into his office. There were books stacked around him in neat little piles and she didn't doubt that there was a method to his little pillars, "how do you feel about lunch meetings."
"Despise them." He said shortly.
She wanted to ask if he'd make an exception, but -judging by the impatient, unyielding scowl he'd rewarded her with- she was sure she knew the answer.
"Noted."
She got to work, calling and emailing and schmoozing until -finally- she'd gotten the schedule all ironed out. From there she was tasked with fetching him a coffee -decaf or God help them all- returning said coffee because he decided he didn't actually like vanilla and he wanted it black instead, and ordering his lunch to his office.
Even though he'd made her go through the trouble of bullying the lady at Chez Marie into getting him a table.
By the time two o clock came around and he grudgingly released her for lunch, Sango could understand why his last assistant had run out screaming.
"He's impossible!" Sango raged. She'd settled on dropping into a nearby cafe for lunch with Kagome, spending what was left over from the 'sign on bonus' she'd been gifted Friday. "It's like he thinks I'm a slave!"
Kagome just looked haunted.
"I've organized one section six times today so far. Every time I get it all neat he comes up behind me and tears it apart looking for something that isn't there." She took a shaky sip from her coffee, "he's a monster."
"Promise me we can have wine tonight?" Sesshomaru was a tyrant and she could think of no better reward in the face of his vicious reign. "Like… a bottle each."
Kagome nodded vigorously, letting her head bounce back and forth like a bobble head.
Sango's new company cell chimed with a text- bullet points more than ideas- and she was once again reminded of just how much Sesshomaru did not talk. When they'd met he almost seemed normal, asking questions and making small amounts of conversation, but now?
She was starting to wonder if he was as intelligent as those awards behind his desk implied.
Tokyo Prep
Collect Rin
What did that even mean? She tried reminding him that she'd only been on lunch for ten minutes, but he'd only responded with the word; now.
Rude. Inconsiderate. Dismissive.
Can I have an inkling of
a clue what's going on? At least?
She nearly snapped her phone in half when the response was simply; are you dumb?
Kagome must have seen unemployment flashing in her friend's eyes because she took the phone and started responding in her stead.
"His daughter got in trouble at school again and he needs you to pick her up and watch over her for the day." She grimaced at the phone, "and find her a tutor for the next week. He says he'll pick her up from our apartment after he finishes up with work."
Her ability to garner all of that from; suspended. Needs tutor. Collect later- was one of many reasons that Sango loved and valued her dear friend.
When you said you
owned me, I didn't think I
had to take that literally
She ordered a car from the app on her phone, glad to see that she didn't have to foot the bill for whatever whim possessed him on any given day.
"I'll see you tonight? I'll have our wine cold."
xXx
Tokyo Preparatory School for Girls was much too perfect for Sesshomaru's menace of a daughter. Glass cases filled to bursting with trophies, photos, and awards all lined the walls in sets of threes. Their white walls, however, had fallen victim to a bad decorator. An attempt to paint the halls in a way that was more 'fun' had gone horribly wrong. Shades of neon looked to be splattered in no particular direction, but that wasn't why she was there.
She ignored the ridiculous, clashing colors and headed towards the principal's office.
"... that's a different lady than last time."
"... duh! Rin's papa doesn't have time for her so he sends his girlfriends to pick her up."
"... mama says that she'll have to go to public school for middle school because she's a wild animal."
She resented the idea of ever being considered Sesshomaru's girlfriend -sure she would rather die an old maid before she stooped so low- and stepped into the reception area.
"You're Papa's new assistant, right?" A girl uncurled from her place on one of the chairs in the waiting room and came shuffling over. Her large brown eyes were sad as she clenched the straps of her book bag. "I'm Rin."
She didn't look so bad, but her refusal to look Sango in the eyes was proof enough that she'd done whatever horrible thing she was being accused of.
"Hello Rin," Sango extended her hand to the child, deciding that now was as good of a time as any to try and figure out her motives. Mischief for mischief's sake was one thing. "Anything to say for yourself?" This child, however, looked to be at the end of her rope as she sniffled and shrugged.
She was shuffling her feet and twisting the straps on her bag- anything to avoid looking up.
"I thought if I got expelled he'd have to come by." Her voice was small, hidden behind lips that didn't want to part. "I thought he might come have a talk with me and then we could bond and-." Her eyes filled with tears and the girl Sango expected to find, dissolved, showing only the child that lived behind the image. "But he didn't come."
Already, this job wasn't worth it. Her boss was ill tempered and -clearly- a monster and she didn't want to contribute to this kid's anguish.
Her bills, however, had no such feelings.
"Why did you think that would work?" She asked gently, she didn't know if her touch would be appreciated and so she shoved her hands deeper into her pockets in order to avoid doing something weird.
"I saw it in a movie."
Sango worked her lips into a thin, unbreakable line, trying not to laugh at the seriousness in her little voice.
"I'm sure that's hard," she cleared her throat a few times, thinking that Sesshomaru should mind what she watched from that point on, and trying desperately to keep her sternness, "but causing trouble may not be the best way to go."
Rin nodded once, shrinking further in on herself when the door to the principal's office swung open.
They set to scolding her immediately, referring to her as a problem child and a menace. From their admonishment she gathered that the girl was not Sesshomaru's daughter so much as she was a very lucky foster child.
He didn't bother with her one way or another and -when she began to crave attention beyond anything she could control- he'd simply started sending an assistant in his stead.
"This is her third warning," the teacher -Hojo- insisted almost shrilly. His face was stained neon. "There should be no more chances."
That didn't sit right with her. She didn't understand how adults could know the problem yet still assign grand and terrible consequences to a kid.
Rin was no bigger than a seven year old, no wiser than a seven year old. To expel her and tarnish her record when she still thought an obese man in red squeezed through her window once a year to bring gifts just seemed scummy.
"Our school is a place for the exceptional," her teacher looked almost desperate, "we are looking to nurture young minds and polish gems. If her goals are more-," he grappled for a way to express the venom that built up behind his lips in a child friendly manner, "self serving then she'd simply be happier elsewhere."
"If you don't mind my asking," Sango shifted forwards, no longer willing to play coy with them, "how did you get covered in paint?"
They had photos of Rin's rig. Strings and cardboard had been set up in hidden crooks and crannies, set to pop or drop when the strings were tripped.
"Quite clever," Sango insisted, "it was a poor use of her skills, but children make bad decisions. This won't be the last time Rin gets in trouble, but can you truly try and tell me she's not intelligent?"
They glanced between one another realizing early on that Sango would not drop her defense of the girl, before finally, reluctantly, conceding. She was still suspended for a full week, but Sango considered suspension to be better than expulsion.
"I know I shouldn't be proud," Rin muttered once she was back in the car, "but that took all morning and I'm glad it worked."
Not expelled, just suspended.
I'll find her a tutor for the next seven days
once I get her some lunch
She was using Rin as a scapegoat for her own rumbling stomach. He'd interrupted her meager meal and now he'd pay for it double.
Calls have been forwarded to
this number. Watch over Rin until I come
for her later.
The coherency in that message was enough to give Sango a bit of hope. How grand would it be if today was only a test and then tomorrow would be a real first day? She entertained ideas of mutual respect and inside jokes, but those dreams were inevitably dashed when she asked when 'later' was and the message went unanswered.
xXx