Ichido
(One Time)
Disclaimer: I own Sano (remember, he is not Sanosuke of Rurouni Kenshin). I think that's it, so don't come looking for money, ya scavengers!
A/N: It has been forever since I've updated any of my stories. Gomen nasai! I have been a very bad author! Please, no chasing the guilty writer with sticks.
Chapter 3: Deai (Encounter)
"Hey, Kagome," Miroku said, watching his wife, who was sitting across the table, stuffing her face full of oden.
"Mmmff?" Kagome replied, her mouth full.
"I don't think you'll be up to returning to work soon," he said, already seeing Kagome's eyes fill with tears. "so how about a little vacation?"
It amused Miroku to see Kagome's immediate change of expression. By the end of his sentence, her depressed mood changed into a look of happy surprise. She dropped her chopsticks and began to dream of an exotic paradise.
Then she remembered the reason Miroku wanted her to go on this vacation, and her dreams turned into ruins before her oden.
"Miroku, we can't," Kagome insisted, looking down to the table. It wouldn't be right, she thought.
Miroku looked confused at her sudden change in attitude, then, suddenly, realized what Kagome was thinking.
"Of course," Miroku whispered, laying his hand on Kagome's. "What would you like to do, then?"
"Nothing," Kagome whispered back, avoiding his eyes.
"Well, let's at least pay our respects to Kaede at her funeral," Miroku said. "Maybe you can let go of a little of your grief then?"
"We'll see," Kagome said quietly. She got up from the table, and walked out of the room.
"Oh, Kagome. You know it hurts me to see you like this," Miroku whispered to himself, as he cleared the table.
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"Oh, God."
"I'm sorry sir," Jaken said, as Sesshomaru walked across the room to his brother.
InuYasha was lying, sprawled on the floor of the break room. From his open mouth spit trickled, creating a puddle of drool next to him.
"I believe I told you to limit him," Sesshomaru whispered dangerously, clenching his fists at his sides, and shaking with anger.
"Y-yes sir! Th-that is exactly what you said!" Jaken squeaked. He began to back up towards the door, shivering.
"You do know that I own this bar now…" Sesshomaru turned to face the short, toad-like bartender.
"Y-yes sir!" Jaken squeeked. He backed up even more when Sesshomaru looked at him with his evil eyes.
"…and I can do what I like with the vermin that works here…" he whispered, slowly walking towards the cowering bartender.
"Yes sir! It is y-your choice!" Jaken stammered.
"Jaken?" Sesshomaru whispered, now inches away from his face. "If I hear of any other screw ups like this, I swear I will make life a living hell for you."
Jaken didn't reply. He just continued to stare fearfully at Sesshomaru.
"SANO!!" Sesshomaru yelled, never looking away from Jaken's eyes.
A tall man in a black suit appeared in the doorway.
"Yes, sir?"
"Get my fucked up brother in the car," Sesshomaru glared at the waste of a human that was his unconscious little brother.
"Yes, sir."
Sano easily picked up InuYasha, threw him over his shoulder, and walked to the car. Sesshomaru went to follow.
"Um…sir?" Jaken said uneasily. "Well, InuYasha never paid his bill before he…"
Sesshomaru turned around and looked even madder than before.
"How much does he owe?" he said through gritted teeth, getting his wallet out.
"Eighty dollars, sir."
"Here," Sesshomaru flung a hundred dollar bill at Jaken. "If he ever comes here again, I want his bill to be less than twenty dollars, got that?"
"Yes, Mr. Shiroikami."
Sesshomaru got inside his car.
"Home, sir?" Sano asked.
He nodded, too frustrated to speak.
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Wednesday morning, 10:45 am
"Damn! I'm later than I thought!" Sango said as she drove into the parking lot.
She gasped as she saw a huge building with a sign above it saying "Kitsune-Hi Law Firm". It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be, she thought.
Sango parked her car and walked into the huge building. She was amazed that the inside looked even bigger and more beautiful than the outside. The tall walls were painted blue, and all the furniture inside had some shade of blue in it. People were running around, files in their hands, jabbering on cell phones, or pushing others out of the way.
A little intimidated by this, Sango walked to the elevator, and looked at the directory on the wall next to it.
"Jeez! How many lawyers does one law firm need?" she muttered, looking down a long list of names. "Here he is."
She rode the elevator to the 30th floor, where Mr. Kitsune's office was supposed to be.
10 grueling minutes later, Sango finally reached the highest floor of the building.
They gotta get better elevators, she thought.
While scrambling out, Sango ran smack into a woman in a red suit.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Sango said, jumping up and offering the woman a helping hand.
The woman gave her a cold glare and said, "This floor is only available to clients with appointments."
"I'm not a client," Sango said, a confused look on her face. Why was this woman so bitchy? "Mr. Kitsune just hired me, and told me to come in today."
"Oh," she sneered. "This way."
She ignored Sango's outstretched hand, got up, and walked through the maze of an office.
On the way, a tall, dark haired man burst out of his office and yelled, "Kikyo! Learn how to file, would you?!"
Wow! That guy's pretty hot! Sango observed. Not only was he tall with black hair, but he had two small hoop earrings, and a black business suit that brought out the different shades of his beautiful, dark violet eyes. Immediately afterwards, she blushed at the thought of her even checking out this guy. It's not like she was always observing her coworkers so closely.
Kikyo rolled her eyes. "Yes, sir."
"Who was that?" Sango asked curiously.
"Not that it matters to you, but that was my boss, Miroku Kondo," Kikyo jeered. "He's got a horrible temper, so if you work here, you must get used to that."
Kikyo smirked. Scaring this ambitious young woman would definitely make her day.
She's too pretty, the secretary-from-hell thought. Pretty soon, the men in the office will start flirting with her instead of me!
Vowing that this would never happen, Kikyo decided that she would make life a living hell for this young lawyer.
"What are you laughing about?"
"Huh?" Kikyo cleverly inquired.
"I asked why you were laughing," Sango repeated, irritated. "We haven't even been talking, and out of nowhere, you began laughing."
"HERE we are!" Kikyo screeched, ignoring what Sango just said, and stopping at a suspicious looking door.
"Er…Thank you," Sango said, looking at Kikyo strangely. "But I wanted to go to Mr. Kitsune's office, not a janitor closet."
"This isn't a closet! What makes you think so?"
"Well, for starters, it says so right on the door."
"Oh…" Kikyo mumbled, disappointed that the new girl was so perceptive.
"Ms. Kirei! Is that you?" yelled a deep voice from the other side of the room.
"Mr. Kitsune?" Sango cried, recognizing the voice of the man she had talked to on the phone.
"Please, call me Shippo!" the stout man had already made his way to his new employee. He shook her hand while Kikyo tiptoed away from the pair. She just hoped that Sango wouldn't tattle on her bad attitude to Mr. Kitsune.
"So was Ms. Nibui giving you a tour?" Shippo asked innocently.
"Um…yeah," Sango said uneasily. Then she mumbled "Of the broom closet."
"Hm? What was that?" Shippo inquired.
"Nothing! How about you show me around?"
"Sure! Well, what better way to welcome a new employee than to introduce them to the veteran of the entire company?" Shippo joked.
Sango meekly followed him to the office that she realized she had just passed with Kikyo. Sure enough, there was the little bitch, pretending to work at her cheap-ass desk. Making sure not to even glance at her, Sango asked Shippo pointedly, "So, if we're going to go see the best worker here, shouldn't I meet the laziest, ugliest slut that works here too?"
Shippo looked questioningly at Sango, not noticing the slight twinkle in her eyes. Even if he didn't understand what she was implying, Kikyo certainly did, and she glared up at Sango. Her already white skin turned pale, her lips tightened into a thin line, and she squeezed the life out of the papers she held in her hands.
"Damn it Kikyo! I don't need you crumpling up my papers!"
"Eh?" Kikyo was snapped out of her angry trance. "Oh! Mr. Kondo! I-I'm so sorry!"
Sticking his head out his door, Miroku glared at his secretary. Then he saw his boss and some young woman standing and staring at him. Whoa! And it's not just some young woman! She's really hot, too! he thought, eying her dark hair, slightly tanned skin, and perfectly formed… Wait! What the hell am I thinking? I'm married for Kami's sake!
Miroku cleared his throat. Finally taking the hint (a few minutes later), Shippo exclaimed, "Oh! Miss Kirei, this is Miroku Kondo, and Miroku, this is Miss Sango Kirei. She is the new lawyer I hired."
"I don't remember you saying anything about hiring," Miroku said, still staring at Sango.
Sango, noticing that the man she called "hot" in her mind was looking at her strangely, blushed a slight pink. Miroku caught on to her reaction, and quickly brought his attention back to Shippo.
"Well, I was just tired of your whining, Miroku. Honestly, this guy was complaining about having too many cases," he added to Sango. She shyly smiled at him.
"So, Miss Kirei, where did you graduate from?" Miroku asked, holding out his hand to her.
Sango shook his hand and replied, "Nobunaga University."
Damn it! Why the hell am I acting so shy? This isn't me! she thought spitefully.
"Yes. She might be straight out of college with no experience," Shippo added cheerfully, causing Sango's shoulders to slump. "but she graduated a few years early with the highest honors!"
Miroku's expression turned into that of an impressed one.
"Well, Shippo, I'm sure you made the right choice in hiring Miss Kirei," Miroku said, looking into her timid eyes. "She seems to exceed the best of expectations, and I'm sure she will be a wonderful addition to our team."
No wonder he's a lawyer. He sure knows how to kiss ass, Sango thought.
She wanted to thank him for such extensive praise. She wanted to ask him what he liked about working with Shippo, or how stressing it was to work there. She would have said anything, if only she could think of something intelligent to say.
Seeing as Sango couldn't find her voice at the moment, she looked away from Miroku's beautiful eyes and stared at the ground.
There would have been a long, awkward silence had it not been for Shippo's appetite. The loudest, most shameless stomach growl that either young lawyer had ever heard came from their jolly boss's enormous tummy. Breaking the silence, and Sango's stupor, Shippo insisted that they go to lunch.
Brightening up at the prospect of consuming food, Sango became excited.
"Would you like to join us, Miroku?" Shippo asked cheerfully.
"No thanks, I already have plans for lunch," he answered. He promised Kagome, who was still mourning, that they would have lunch together. But for some reason, he didn't want to tell Sango the details.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me Sango," said Shippo. "I'll just finish your tour and then we could go for something."
Sango seemed to forget that Miroku was there. She smiled at her new boss and suggested, "How about Mme. Mercredi's Escargot Express? She has the best Orangina drinks I've ever had."
Shippo and Miroku stared blankly at Sango. What was this "escargot"? And what kind of a drink was an "Orangina"? She didn't notice the odd stares she got. Instead, Sango dreamed of the wonderful French delicacies that she knew and loved. She badly wanted to visit France, but never had the financial wealth to actually go. Hopefully, her new job would make her rich enough to one day see the foreign shores of France.
"Sango?" Shippo questioned. "Are you ok? That restaurant you mentioned sounds…er…great! I'd like you to see the rest of the building before we go, though."
"Nice meeting you, Miss Kirei," Miroku smiled.
"You too, Mr. Kondo, but please call me Sango."
"Only if you refer to me as Miroku."
They mutually agreed on using the first-name basis, and their withdrawn manners quickly left the air forever. Both knew it was the beginning of a friendship, and both secretly wanted more.
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A/N: Hope you liked the first chapter I've written for a loooong while. Don't mind the previews from previous chapters. I obviously can't plan well enough to know what's going to be in the following chapters. By the way, have any of you tried Orangina? It's kinda like orange soda, but much better. At least I think so. I'm probably getting hyper off it right now. Thanks for reading, review if you'd like!