Authors Notes: I am taking this story out of fanfiction. It's not because of... eh... what happened, which some people know of, it's just because I really would like people to read my stories and enjoy it, and if not a lot do, then what's the use? My efforts will not be fruitless for I will post it up on MM, but as for it's fate in fanfiction... It will be deleted. That's all. This chapter is just proof that it is not the same as... anothers fic.
~*~
Kagome finally came out of her shock, and straightened herself back up again. 'This was not the arrogant, pompous jerk that I was thinking of... This guy seemed so nice when he saved me... Why is he associating with my father at all?! He'll corrupt the poor man!' she thought sadly. Just the one business partner that she thought was nice because he saved her, would be corrupted soon enough. Maybe. Then again, she didn't know the guy at all, so she couldn't just judge him like that.
"Hello," Nayu said to her, as she walked cautiously towards him and her father, as if she might just drop into a secret hole in the ground somewhere. No wonder he didn't recognize her from the start. When they were younger, she still carried around her girlish features... but... now... Kagome was always pretty, he would admit to himself, but now... She was beautiful. Breath-taking even. One more word: Enchanting. He could just drink in her image.
Her stormy, gray eyes laid to rest on him, and her beautiful midnight hair (much to his disappointment), was put up into an elaborate bun, adorned with hand-carved trinkets, and a beautiful, ivory-colored pair of chop sticks. He was entranced when she opened her rose-colored lips to speak.
"H-Hello. Welcome to the House of Higurashi. Please to meet you..." she said, bowing a little to show respect. She knelt down in front of both the men and began pouring tea for them, as she had been trained to do for four years now.
"Kagome. You know not to stutter when speaking. It is not very lady-like," Hayato Higurashi said, smiling apologetically at Mr. Unuki, but the young raven haired man did not look pleased. In fact he looked just the opposite: repulsed.
Nayu did not want to comment about it though, and felt satisfied with the disgusted face he made at the old man. 'Serves him right to let him know how sick I am of his damn ordering Kagome around.'
"Onto business then..." Kagome's father began, clearing his throat from embarrassment.
"I will excuse myself now then." She was about to stand when Nayu began speaking. She learned that it was rude to be standing up whilst a guest was speaking, so she knelt back down.
"You know Higurashi-san. Something interesting happened to me today," Nayu interrupted, pretending as if he did not hear any of the two. From the corner of his eyes, he found Kagome, barely visibly gawking at him.
"Nayu-san, I think that this story should be held onto until you and my father are finished with-" she said, her eyes widening. Although she said that she would tell her father about the whole incident, while she was shopping for the tea and her kimono, she began to doubt it. Her father would just get her guards, and there was no way in hell she would want him to take away what little was left of her freedom.
"Nonsense," Nayu waved her off, before he began telling his story. "Well you see. This late afternoon, I was climbing into my carriage and I heard a scream. I decided to see was it was about, so I followed the direction of where the sound came from and saw your daughter sprawled on the floor, a wolf youkai trying to eat her!" During the scene, he was angry, but now it seemed so funny.
Hayato thought otherwise though, by the obvious expression on his face.
"The wolf youkai was starving, and when I kicked it, it began bleeding so easily. Interesting... but then again, I figured it was just weakened from lack of... provision." Dammit, he really needed to sound as if he really had an education. He didn't think he was doing badly either.
"I see..." the older of the two men said. If Nayu wasn't there to save Kagome, then she would have already been dead, Nayu wouldn't be able to fall in love with her, and he wouldn't have anything to hold above the young man's head, so that the merger would actually happen. That's when he decided it. "I will just have to get her a bodyguard then to keep her safe," he stated. "Now onto business..." he tried again.
Nayu laughed. "I think that you will need to get her two bodyguards, with the looks of your daughter!"
"What do you mean Unuki-san?"
"I'm not saying that many other youkai would like to eat your daughter sir, but it is spring, and for youkai, as I have read somewhere before, spring is their mating season. Your daughter is as beautiful as they come," he said, causing a slight blush on the girl.
"If this is all you two men will be talking about for the remainder of the time, I feel that it is only right and respectful that I do not hear this..." Kagome said, standing up and bowing to the two men.
"Kagome I feel that you should stay here and keep us company. Besides, one will never know when we need someone to pour us more tea!" her father said.
'Pour your own damn tea! You've got two arms!' she thought wildly, but her outside composure was stock still and expressionless.
"No no Higurashi-san. It's fine with me for her to leave. Besides, after all the events that happened to her today, she must be a little tired now, ne Kagome-san?" Nayu said, although he really wanted her to stay, he could practically feel the anger she felt when her father asked her to stay and pour the tea. "I will just have to take her place and be the official tea pourer this evening."
Kagome gave him a grateful smile before sliding the door open, to let herself out, then close it behind her. She was grateful and all that he let her escape, but she was mad from the fact that he had told her father of what happened that day, therefore making him consider getting her a bodyguard... no... In fact, two! Plus she wouldn't leave out the fact that he had been trying to flatter her, and he even made her blush! She hated it, and she had been working so hard for a long time now to make herself not be so susceptible to compliments.
She growled in the process of going towards her room, causing some servants to look over at her worriedly. She knew that her father would reprimand her of her actions tomorrow.
'Curse this whole world!'
~*~
It was an ugly day, with the sky so dark and gray and the rain pouring so hard. Kagome had just woken up, when what little light that emerged from the clouds, hit her in the eyes, rousing her from her slumber.
"Kagome."
She stirred, as she heard a disapproving tone from a deep voice behind her.
"I did not like your actions last night with our honored guest," her father said.
'There he goes... How did I know this was coming?' she thought, inwardly rolling her eyes at her father. She finally turned to face him. "I was of no need to you. I don't understand how my actions were bad."
"You only leave the room when asked of you the next time!" he commanded, his face turning scarlet from anger.
"Oh, but I was approved to take my leave," Kagome said, falsely sounding pleasant. "Nayu Unuki-san, your honored guest, said so."
This made her father turn even more red, if it were even humanly possible. He couldn't contradict her... He hated it when she finished arguments, but he was still happy that for the last five years, she barely argued with him. He would just vent his frustrations out on something else. It was useless. "Your new bodyguards are outside. Now clean yourself up and be presentable to them." With that said, he left.
Kagome stood up, not truly noticing that her fists were clenched. 'Great, that guy succeeded in making me lose my freedom,' she thought.
~*~
As soon as she came outside, she heard a loud slap, and an 'Oww.'. She was curious as to what was going on, so she took a peek from the corner of the hallway, and noticed two figures standing there. One was a woman with long black hair, which was tied neatly into a pony tail; she was carrying an extra large boomerang. Next to her was a man with black hair which had a small rat's tail pony tail; he was holding something remotely close to a monk's staff. She noticed one other thing too: they were both dripping wet.
"But Sango, I truly do think that you should wear that outfit in the rain more often! It shows your figure!" the man said, and another slap was followed.
"Pervert," the woman said, as her hand was still held up from her slap.
'These people are my bodyguards?' she thought, interested. 'Since when did my father think that a woman was capable of becoming a bodyguard...? Then again, that boomerang does look intimidating...'
When everything became quiet again, Kagome thought it was the best time to step out. "Hello. My name is Kagome Higurashi," she said, as the two stared at her and smiled.
Before she could say anything, the man was instantly by her side, grabbing her hands all the while, kneeling down. She stared at him strangely, and then at the woman with the boomerang, questioningly.
The woman named Sango looked visibly irritated, as she stalked closer to the man.
"A beautiful woman such as yourself should not be without child for a long period of time... Which brings me to my question: Will you bear my child?" the man said, highly surprising Kagome. She was just not used to these types of things.
She pulled her hands away quickly just as Sango came to the man. "You damned pervert Miroku!" she said, hitting him at the back of his head.
"Uhh..." Kagome didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry about that, but you know men..." the other woman said, trailing off for a bit before resuming. "He does that all the time. Anyways, my name is Sango Taijiya, and this is Miroku Tatami. You know, like the tatami mats that you get to step on before entering the house?"
Kagome smiled at this. "You are suppose to be my bodyguards?" she asked, suddenly not feeling so sad about losing her freedom.
"Yes, we were sent here by Nayu-san. We're two of his most trusted guards. Besides..." Sango said, leaning over to whisper to Kagome, "No offense, but I doubt that your father is one to hire a woman bodyguard! My boomerang caught him off guard though, I am happy to say... No offense though! No offense..."
"None taken," Kagome said, smiling at the two. "Ahh... I'll give you towels so that you can dry off. I'll let you borrow some clothes of mine, and my mother likes to buy my brother clothes that he can grow into, so I think that I can find something for you to wear too," she suggested, first towards Sango, then to Miroku.
"That would great. Thank you very much Higurashi-san," the two said, almost in unison.
"Just please call me Kagome."
"If you wish us to do so," Miroku said.
Kagome left the room for just a few minutes and came back holding a bundle of cloth. A few towels, and clothes for her new bodyguards. "Sango-san-" Sango cut her off gently, chuckling slightly, which confused Kagome.
"Just call me Sango," the woman bodyguard said.
"Sango... You can go change in my bedroom. Miroku-" she didn't know whether to call him with a 'san' or not, so she dared saying his name plainly. "You can go get changed inside of the guest bedroom next to my room." She led the two to their 'dressing rooms' and waited outside, making the tea and miso soup.
She set all the plates and bowels, ready to get more acquainted with whom she hoped would be new friends to her...
~*~
"Inuyasha, I just don't understand why, even on the days when you have a break from work, you don't want to eat with me in a little picnic. All you do is sit around moping for kami-knows-what, at your home," complained the miko who had the duty of concealing Inuyasha's true identity.
"You should know by now that I'm not really into it then, Kikyou," Inuyasha said, as he paced around, with his silver hair flowing behind him.
Kikyou watched the distressed hanyou and sighed. "Whatever is weighing down your mind or heart today Inuyasha, just let it go. Let's have lunch. Come," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards her kitchen where they would start making food for the picnic.
"But it's raining outside!" he complained.
"Which would make it all the more interesting, don't you think?" she said, giving him a bright smile before she started to make picnic food.
Good ol' Kikyou, always there to brighten up the day. Inuyasha felt a fondness for the miko since he stared getting to know her. She was beginning to become a really great friend of his, although she still had no idea why he had that secret plan of his.
A couple months since they met, Inuyasha thought that it was an appropriate time to tell her the reason why he wanted to become successful and appear human; he knew she would be trustworthy then. She had a thought that the reason was deeper than just the wanting of money and fame, oh and she never knew how she just struck silver right there... frighteningly close to striking gold. She never got to know though, no, she had spilt her feelings for him as they sat upon the steps to her home. Inuyasha had hesitated, then told her a completely different reason of his visiting her.
To tell the truth, Inuyasha couldn't bring himself to reveal his true plan to her. He didn't have the heart. What was he going to tell her after she had just confessed her feelings for him? That he was just using her because he wanted his childhood crush back? That would be a little cold-hearted, and for the life of him, he couldn't being himself to break his friend's heart.
A couple minutes had passed before Kikyou asked Inuyasha to start helping her clean up. As soon as they were finished, she placed their food in a basket, covered with a designed towel, and they walked out into the pouring rain.
"So where did Miroku and Sango go? They didn't even leave a note... I found it a little unusual..." she hesitantly said, as they trudged slowly towards the forest, where less rain would be pouring, thanks to the shielding trees. She was a little worried. Miroku and Sango were very good friends of her and especially Inuyasha. They seemed to know of his plans though, and would usually go with him to work, but that day, they decided to be early risers. Even earlier than Kikyou herself, and they did not leave a note.
It was a smart move for them to start working as Kagome's bodyguards during that same day that Inuyasha did not have work... How convenient-... -ly planned.
"Uhhh... Somewhere, probably to the market... or they got a new job. It doesn't matter though, it's their business, you shouldn't be asking questions as if they were off murdering someone!" Inuyasha snapped. Crap. Miroku... That idiot was responsible for writing a note!
Kikyou gave him a look of curiosity, but just shook it away. 'He'll never tell you anyway,' she thought sadly,
"Let's stop here," he said, siting down indian-styled, next to a tree stump, conveniently leveled so it could be used as a picnic table.
"Great!" she exclaimed, as she set down the basket and served their food.
A couple minutes had passed, and their food was nicely laid down in font of them now.
He couldn't help it. He had been thinking too much of Kagome... He couldn't help bursting out. "I think this is fucking ridiculous!" the white-haired hanyou suddenly exclaimed.
Kikyou looked at him with cloudy eyes. "You really didn't have to go if you didn't want to..." she said, turning away from him, taking it the wrong way.
To be honest, he was thinking about the way Kagome's dad had just ordered her around, and how he couldn't disembowel the man right then and there. "No... It's not that..." he began.
"No Inuyasha, you don't have to apologize. I understand that you never really wanted to come-"
Inuyasha swiftly cut her off. He hated seeing women cry. "Dammit! Just listen okay?!" he really didn't mean to yet... but it was his nature. It didn't matter anyway, since Kikyou was now listening to him. "It's not about this picnic. I was just thinking about something else, so don't go wasting whatever's left of your bodily fluids and cry. It's not worth it."
Kikyou just stared at him for a moment, trying to analyze him before she gave up, because of his eyes which expressed practically no other emotion rather than anger. "Let's just eat..." she said, smiling to him once again.
"Yeah," he said monotonously, but in his mind, he couldn't help but think of all the beautiful, master torture plans he had for that bastard Kagome called 'father'. He could barely even stop thinking about her for the whole picnic, the way she talked, and her scent... so intoxicating... he could live just knowing he had seen her once again, but greedy little him wanted more than just that.
~*~
"Well it was just about here," Kagome said pointing towards the ground where the wolf youkai attacked her. She was showing them around, all the while showing them the way to the market. Her father had left that day for his business, but he looked sullen. Possibly because the owner of the most valuable company, that he wanted, was not at work that day.
He had given Kagome her usual weekly allowance, which she was happy for, but she felt that he only gave it to her so that she would shut up and not bother him.
"Wow... Nayu must have kicked him pretty hard. The body imprint is still on the soil!" Sango exclaimed, just in the verge of laughing.
Miroku bent down and examined it closely. "If you come closer, I think you can see the imprint of the youkai's face!" he said.
The three broke down into fits of laughter, and it took a while before they regained their composture, and began resuming the walk to the market again.
Just then, a rushing of two feet was heard, then it stopped abruptly, near the group. Sango had her Hiraikotsu ready, as did Miroku with his sharp staff.
But no one was there.
"I'm glad that we could meet again, so that I could apologize to you for my disgusting behavior before," came a familiar voice.
The three turned around, and Kagome saw that same wolf youkai. He didn't look scrawny anymore, and he was all nice and clean. As she looked at him, he didn't look like he would hurt a fly. Then again, it was just a first... eh... second impression.
"My name is Kouga. I have been doing some research on you, Miss Kagome Higurashi," the wolf said, bending down and bowing politely. "Now if only I could turn back the hands of time and take back what I did. As I went back towards my home, I realized more and more of your beauty, and the more I became disgusted with myself." He looked over at Sango and Miroku, who still held their weapons, dangerously close to him.
"How disgusted? Because of that filthy thing that you did, wanting to eat humans... You should be disgraced," Sango said, raising her weapon higher.
"Indeed that is true, but I am happy that I was not. I will try to make up for what I did, and for my first action, I had vowed never to eat humans, or anything closely related to them, ever again," Kouga stated.
Kagome was impressed. This savage of a demon chose his words delicately. She would just give him a chance to redeem himself after all. "Well... We were just about to go to the market. Would you like to join us?" she asked.
Miroku and Sango stared at her disbelievingly. "After what he almost did to you Kagome? Do you really think you should trust his words? For all we know, he could be chewing, swallowing and digesting complete loads of bull," Miroku said.
"If he does try to harm me or anyone else, you two will be there, right?" she said to the two.
They considered this, then agreed, and so the four walked towards the market.
(A/N: If all their arms were linked, I'd be forced to sing: "We're off to see the wizard!" ^_~)
~*~
It had been a whole week since Sango and Miroku had started working for Kagome. Kikyou was really beginning to get suspicious since the two packed their things and moved out of her home. Miroku had said that it was for a job, then Sango had elbowed him in the stomach then.
Also, Inuyasha had been constantly visiting Hayato Higurashi's home. The most she knew was that Inuyasha was a business man, but she felt that there a deeper plan than just concealing his hanyou form from the humans, so that he would become successful. She wanted to know, but she knew that Inuyasha wouldn't tell her.
She would just have to find out on her own then.
~*~
"I will go look for those files then. This will just take a couple minutes Unuki-san. My daughter will be here to entertain you until I arrive with them," Hayato Higurashi said, as he rushed out to quickly find the files, to please Nayu. 'Keep the 'client' happy' was his motto.
"Okay then," Nayu said, as he and Kagome sat there in silence.
Kagome constantly turned her cup this way and that, as if it made a difference, with the fact that it was round.
"What a *boor don't you think?" Nayu said, looking over to Kagome.
The stormy eyed girl looked up at him after registering it in her brain that he was talking about her father. This was nice. She needed someone who knew him too, whom she could talk about and say what an ass the old man was... but to her father's business partner? That didn't seem right, so she decided to just stay quiet.
"I won't tell him if you agree with me," he said.
Kagome continued to spin her cup.
"I'm sorry for whatever I did to you. Ever since after you father's first meeting with me, you seem more closed off towards me. Did I offend you?" he asked.
"Besides the fact that you robbed me of my last chance of freedom?" Kagome answered, a little more harshly than she wanted, but it was just the ice in her heart that was talking.
Nayu winced a little at this. This wasn't Kagome-like at all. What had that bastard done to her? "I'm sorry... But you seemed to be adjusting fine to that fact!" Damn him... why did he always rise up to a challenge of an argument?
"I know that I've possibly made new friends out of it all, but I don't understand why you had to be a part of it!" Kagome said. She was really supposed to ask him about it in a kinder way, but it just spilled out.
"Well after seeing such a weak girl like you struggle from that youkai, and with you being Higurashi-san's daughter, I decided that it was important to keep you safe!" he yelled.
"But I thought you just said my father was a boor!" she yelled back.
"I did, didn't I?" he yelled again, surprising her because he wasn't being serious anymore. His lips were curving up into a smile, and as he watched Kagome, she began smiling too.
Soon the two broke up into fits of laughter, until her father came back. He was happy seeing the two enjoy each other's company. Did this mean that Nayu might start liking his daughter then? Well... he wished. He hoped, or his plan wouldn't work out very well.
When the two young people noticed Kagome's father's presence, they immediately stopped and straightened themselves back up, although throughout the night, every now and then when they caught each other's eye, they would smile and try to control their awaiting laughter.
'Your father was just an excuse Kagome... I wanted you to be protected...'
~*~