Disclaimer: Inu Yasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I just own this fic..
Author's Note: I'm very suprised at how many people positively responded to my first story! ^_^ I'm glad to say that there are people out there who enjoyed the first chapter, and couldn't wait for the next. To satiate your need, here's chapter two, which is much longer, and much more informative. Which means..more characters will start to appear. *wink* Thank you for all your kind words in the reviews! I really appreciate it! Your input gives me encouragement, as well as, confidence, which I greatly need..
Oh! Alot of questions popped up in the reviews I received, and for those of you who are wondering this and that, pay close attention to this chapter, because your question may very well be answered below. If not, there's always next time..*grin*
Chapter Two
***
They are the source of information in Tokyo--the very embodiment of everything you read, see, and hear throughout your day.
These two veritable compounds, these corporations of extreme worth that thrive upon public gossip, celebrity scandals, and generic situations of the like, are very similar, yet, somehow, not the same..
At a glance, one may realize that their titles are, in fact, quite opposite, but the real matter at hand is not what they are called by name, but what they are known by in eyes of the general public.
Tokyo Times is a commercial enterprise that has stood the test of time. It has been around since the beginning of forever, and has slowly, through the course of its steady rise to the top of the information ladder, grown to make a name for itself that can neither be outdone, nor equally matched.
Until, that is, the birth of Shikon Weekly, a new, fresh, sensational newspaper that sent a shockwave throughout the city.
New to the world, yet quickly adapting to its surrounding, Shikon Weekly stepped onto the stage of professional journalism and knocked the public of it's feet with stories of daring rescues, shocking presidential scandals, and other glittering generalities that were sure to put up a fight to whatever the wise and wondrous Tokyo Times could produce.
It was then, for the first time, that Tokyo Times, the king of all things scandalous, witnessed what it was like to feel the emotions of a callous and bitter rivalry. For the first time, Tokyo Times would have to compete for the all-time perfect stories, and to succeed in doing so, work hard for their information in whatever manner they could.
Company to company, neither would succumb to second place without a fight.
"For the last time, I will not publish this article!" A young man said roughly, while leaning forward in his big, expensive office chair. The silver locks of his long, yet undoubtedly beatiful, hair fanned around him as he spoke these fierce words, and his aureate eyes were hard, stern, just burning with determination. The jaw of his strong, masculine face was set in a rigid line that meant he would not back down.
Across from his wide and spacious desk, sat an employee--a woman to be exact. She was a small, yet lively-looking, young thing with short, shiny raven hair cut just above her shoulders and kept back neatly with a yellow headband. Her brown eyes were narrowed from deep irritation and her lips were pursed in a slight pout as she stared up into the face of the man she regretfully called "Boss".
This was a meeting between superior and inferior--a meeting of life and death.
"Why not, sir?" She said calmly enough, though it was quite evident that she was having an external battle with her temper by the way she gripped aggressively at the arms of her seat.
"I can't publish something like that in my newspaper.." He snorted distastefully, snapping his vision to a stack of neatly stapled papers that sat idly atop his desk.
The object of their discussion.
"Something like that?" The woman almost barked out fiercely, but caught herself halfway through the sentence. "I'm sorry, Mr. Inuyasha," she bit out with a heavy roll of her eyes, "but there is nothing wrong with Yuka Shiratori's article." She said highly, referring to none other than herself.
Inuyasha, as she called him, picked up the stack of papers from his desk and eyed them incredulously, a smirk of complete dominance spreading across his face.
"Nothing wrong with it?" He dared to laugh at the idea,"Of course there's something wrong with it! Just look at that title!" He then proceeded to hand over the stapled contents to the female employee with a neutral expression now covering his face.
Yuka eyed it blankly, reading and re-reading the simple, yet by no means un-important, title.
Women's Rights.
"I don't see anything wrong with the title, Inuyasha," she quipped shortly, forgetting the mister, as well as her composed tone,"In fact, there was nothing wrong with it to begin with! Women have their rights just as men do, and this is a informative topic."
"Informative, yes. Interesting, no." Inuyasha got up from his seat and launched himself at the window behind his desk, wrenching the blinds up forcefully and pointing down at the city of Toyko below,"People do not want to read about women's rights. They want to read about sex, drugs, scandal--anything and everything that deals with the celebrity spotlight! They could care less about the Feminist movement."
At this point, Yuka's temper ripped at the seems and she really let him have it.
"No, you, could care less about the Feminist movement! You're the one who wants to read about sex, drugs, and scandal! You, you, you! Everything about this company just has to be to your approval, doesn't it?! If it doesn't meet the superficial needs of the high and mighty president Inuyasha, then it has to go." The words just flew out of her mouth, never stopping, never ceasing, never decreasing in volume until the very end of her heated speech, when she uttered one final, bitter, but truthful, statement..
"Your nothing but a chauvinistic pig."
A moment or two of unnerving silence passed them.
"Naturally." Inuyasha replied, his voice just dripping with disdain as he flashed a cocky grin, his sparkling teeth--no, fangs--shining brightly in the light.
Did this reporter actually think she had put him in his place by telling him something he already new? Hardly. Inuyasha was the president of Shikon Weekly. And by president, that meant he answered to no one. Especially not pesky little employees who dared to argue with his way of thinking..
Seeing him grin in such a prideful fashion, Yuka finally understood that her protests and pleas fell on the deaf ears of a very stubbon, very callous, very immature individual, and she collected herself respectively--article and all--and stood to exit his office.
"Oh, and Yuka," He called out innocently to her as she reached for the golden doorknob that let to the central part of the office,"..your fired."
Yuka's clutch aganist the doorknob tightened, allowing Inuyasha to smirk at the effect his comment had made.
..But the glory was short-lived.
"Fired?" Yuka laughed loftily, flipping her surprisingly short hair as she did so,"With all due respect, President Inuyasha, I quit!"and with that she left his office, slamming the door behind her as she went, never to return.
The coffee shop bustled with life and entertainment, as the energetic citizens of Tokyo readied themselves for work.
Inside, it's walls were coated with a thick, rich red, and the wooden floor was smooth and glossy. Monochrome pictures from the feudal era decked the walls tastefully, and round tables covered in white cloth lined the shop. Business men and woman rushed to and from the cash register as they made their purchases and set out for a busy day.
With the chime of a bell, Kagome entered restlessly and took refuge at a round, swiveling seat in front of the counter. With a tan leather bag slung over her shoulder, she slumped against it and groaned. Her head connected with the cool, marble counter and stayed there until a finger jabbed into her shoulder.
"Can't do that here, Kagome." came a rough, but kind voice.
Kagome lifted her head, mumbling things to herself, and stared, face to face, at the person who had disturbed her.
"I know, Kaede, I know. I was just resting my eyes." Kagome muttered as she stifled a yawn, and waved a hand at the elderly woman.
Kaede gave a smile and walked back over to the register.
"What are you doin' here, anyway, child?" She wondered, staring at a nearby clocked placed upon the wall. "Shouldn't you be at work by now?"
Kagome couldn't help but laugh at that.
For two years now, she had known Kaede, and thought of the woman as a grandmother. The two of them usually shared light conversation together when Kagome would come inside, and Kaede, who owned this coffee shop, had grown to rather enjoy her company.
"I took the day off." Kagome grinned as she stretched and woke up a bit. "In fact, I have this new assignment that I've been working on."
Actually, she hadn't even started yet, but Kaede didn't need to know that..
"Oh?" Kaede mused, while giving change to a customer. "And what's that?"
"Wellll.." Kagome pulled back the leather flap of her tan bag, reached inside, and produced a thin, square-shaped photograph, "It's not much, just...some interview." She lied, remembering that it was best not to talk about her original intentions.
It probably wouldn't sit well with Naraku if he knew she had been babbling about their scheme to an old woman in a downtown cofee shop.
"Oh," Kaede smiled, "Well, I hope it all works out." The old woman patted the counter and soon dissapeared, walking back into the employee-only part of the store.
Sighing, Kagome remembered she hadn't asked Kaede for her usual order yet, and waited patiently for when the woman would return. Glancing down, Kagome shrugged, focusing back on the photograph that she loosely held in her hands.
It was the same picture Naraku had shown her the day before when he had revealed his grand and shatterproof plan to destroy the reputation of the Shikon Weekly president. Somehow, she had conned him into forking it over, and now that she stared at the man in the picture below, she was, actually, quite glad she had. Atleast now she had something to look at.
Her eyes strayed across the contents, focusing on his eyes, his smile...his hair, until somewhere between admiring his teeth and wondering what he did to keep his mane so shiny, did her eyes flick to the back of the photograph.
There was nothing there, of course, except for a name written in black ink along the thick white border of the already-mysterious photograph. She squinted lightly to read the sloppy scrawl.
"E-noo-yah-sh-uh..?" Kagome muttered feebly under her breath, testing her own pronunciation as she sounded out each syllable.
Yep, sounded about right.
Satisfied at finding out this newfound bit of information, Kagome grinned at the picture below her and sighed in mild content.
So his name was Inuyasha...
She had no time to swoon, however, as a female individual seated herself violently beside Kagome, muttering hateful things under her breath as she got comfortable in her seat.
Kagome was about to ask just what she was so upset about, but thought better of it once she noticed just how peeved this woman looked.
She was just seething with anger, the aura exuding from her body sending warnings signals to those nearby.
At the sight of this, Kagome eyes snapped open when she suddenly felt a warm familiarity course throughout her conscience.
She knew this woman from somewhere, but..where?
Did she work with her? No, that couldn't be it. If that was the case, Kagome would have atleast known if it was one of her colleagues or not. And,..she couldn't known her from the coffee shop, because the only person she ever talked to was Kaede..
Then Kagome mentally slapped herself for being so stupid when a onslaught of memories came crashing down into her brain. She did not know this woman from work, or from a coffee shop she daily visited. Kagome knew this woman from high school, and her name was Yuka Shiratori.
But what was she doing here?
Yuka..?
One of her old friend from high school?
Here?
In this place?
Without so much as asking for permission, Kagome grabbed the woman seated beside her and looked the shocked individual square in the face.
Same yellow headband. Same brown eyes. Same hairstyle..
Just to be completely sure, Kagome went out on a limb of sheer boldness and spoke to the Yuka look-a-like.
"Excuse me.." She said gently, not wanting to anger this woman anymore than someone else undoubtedly had.
"Who the hell are you and what in the hell do you want?!" Well, it sounded like the Yuka she knew.
"Your name wouldn't be Yuka Shiratori would it?" Kagome and the woman locked eyes for a moment, before both of their faces settled into knowing smiles.
"I don't know, is your name Kagome Higurashi?" Yuka questioned with a nostalgic sort of smile, then she reached over and gave Kagome a tight hug.
..Oh yes, this definitely the same Yuka that Kagome remembered.
After the two of them released from the hug, Kagome and Yuka spent some time catching up or just reminiscing about old times. They talked about high school, mostly, and old one-time crushes they'd had in the past. Then they talked about college for a while, and decidely, after almost everything had been discussed, the conversation turned to their jobs.
"So, where do you work now, anyway, Yuka?" Kagome gave her friend a quizzical look as they chatted the morning away.
Suddenly, the previously pissed woman "Do NOT Disturb" warning signs went up again as she displayed vividly angry emotions on her face. However, after a minute or two it dissolved into thin air and she gave a genuine laugh.
"Let's just say, Kagome, that I don't have to worry about employment at the moment. Atleast, not for now." Yuka smirked lightly with a glint of fire still reflecting in her eyes.
Ahh..quickly, Kagome realized what was going on.
"You got fired, didn't you?" She said, not even trying to keep the bluntness out of her voice.
"Not quite, but almost." Yuka laughed lightly, "I quit."
"You quit? Why?!"
Then Yuka proceeded to tell the long and detailed story of her life as a Shikon Weekly writer/reporter. She told Kagome of that morning. How she had verbally clashed with her boss on how her article, Women's Rights, was informative, but yet, not interesting. Then, while Kagome's mouth was hanging open after hearing some of the things Yuka proclaimed throughout her tail, Yuka dropped the bomb..
"I called him a chauvinistic pig and he admitted up to it, Kagome." She said, eyes narrowed in complete disgust, as she finished telling her story.
"Who's..'he'?" Kagome asked curiously, propping her elbow up on the counter to listen intently.
"Inuyasha, of course."
If Kagome had been drinking, she would have spit out the liquid. If she had been eating, she would have choked on her food. Thankfully, though, since she was doing neither at the moment, her elbow slipped akwardly off the table, instead, and her head dipped lightly at the loss of balance.
"What did you just say?" She choked out dryly.
"Oh, you know! Inuyasha! The president of Shikon Weekly?"
Oh, Kagome knew alright.
She just had a hard time grasping the fact that this Inuyasha was capable of such a thing. After all, from what she had seen in the photograph, the man looked nothing like a chauvinistic tyrrant who abhorred the ways of Feminist Rights, but then again, looks can be deceiving..
Kagome guessed it would only be a matter of time before she knew what the real Inuyasha was like, as opposed to his photograph, which seemed to be clouding her usually secure judgement at the moment.
Making sure she had everything--her bag, the photograph, and a fresh cup of coffee (complements of Kaede who had stopped by to listen in on the conversation along the way)--Kagome chatted with Yuka a few more minutes before heading out the door.
Author's Chapter Notes: I know I've mixed up Yuka with either Eri or Ayumi, because I can't differentiate between the three. *shakes head* I tried to look up information on the girl (Yuka) so I could make her appearance more to the character, but I don't know which one is which. I watch the show faithfully, own several DVD's, etc. etc, but if it stands that I screwed up and Yuka isn't the one with the short hair and yellow headband, let's just all overlook that, alright? *sweatdrops* This is definitely longer than I exspected it to be. *takes a look* Definitely longer..o_O; But hey, beggars can't be choosey! And one more thing, I'm not really sure if I answered any specific questions or not, but I do know that things will start to take shape very soon. With chapters one and two setting the stage for the story, and with more characters being introduced, it can only get better here on out, right? Right! ^_^ So, if you would, please, please continue to review! I'd really appreciate it!
~Coming soon: Chapter Three
*Aerial
