Disclaimer: If persistence is supposed to pay off, then how come Inu got a restraining order.. he's SUPPOSED to be mine. -grumbles- Rumiko...you better be good to him.
Notes: -whistles- ok, I took some time on this to have the length better. After my first fic (which I should actually be working on instead of this right now) with shorter chapters, I understand why so many people update longer chapters less frequently... or something like that. Whateva, it's just easier. But, anyway, here it is. Enjoy - n.n - Bunny
Three Little Words: Chapter 3 - Are You Serious
'Well, not like I'll be shocked I didn't get picked after today...' With that thought she made her way over to the machine and hit the play button.
[Beep. Message One: Konichiwa, Amori Sango. This is Sirosenshi-Com letting you know that you were accepted to be a part of the select group of interns we will be accepting this year. Please give us a call back as soon as possible to give a confirmation that you received this information. If you do choose to accept out offer, the introduction ceremony will be this Monday at 10:00 am. Have a nice day. - Beep. End of Messages]
Sango had stood grounded in place for who knows how long, completely stunned at what she had just heard. She had gotten the internship. Her life suddenly had a speck of light shining down into her abyss of darkness. Okay, so maybe she was thinking slightly over dramatically, but after the day she had just had, it was almost overwhelming to hear good news. A smile slowly graced her lips before a full out fool's grin adorned her face as she turned back to her Lean Cuisine...
That had been several days ago, and Sango was just happily recalling that moment as she fitted herself with a new business suit she'd bought moments after tossing the plastic bag which was meant to go to the Laundromat into the trash can. Which was liberating to say the least.
She finished off the grey and black pinstripe attire with some black leather sling backs she'd also bought after giving up on the lost battle of revitalizing the heals which had snapped on the sidewalk. Overall, she was now glad the rain killed her outfit. She felt more empowered than she had in the drab navy pant and blazer combo.
Slinging her regular purse over her shoulder, Sango whistled a little tune as she left her apartment to call a cab. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and seemed a perfect match to her mood.
piddle paddle fa fa fey
Kagome rushed around her scrappy apartment like a bat out of hell. She had to resist the urge to scream in frustration as she hopped around the bathroom on one foot, attempting to shave her legs and brush her teeth at the same time.
At some point that night the power had failed in her building, and her alarm clock hadn't gone off when it was supposed to. So she was now two hours behind what she had to do that morning,
already decided to skip breakfast, and barely managed a decent shower.
"Fuck!" The razor kicked her skin just below the knee and a small sliver of red could be seen forming as she nursed the spot with a salt stick. She hissed with pain at the contact, but the bleeding stopped before it could get ugly, and she finished up her rush job before bomb rushing her bedroom for some business attire.
Ten minutes later and Kagome was decked out in black slacks with a lavender blouse and black pumps, her hair brushed and tamed enough to be forced into a hasty bun, and headed out the door. Glancing at her silver wristwatch, she noted that she should have just enough time to stop for a coffee at her usual vendor before climbing on the train to head across town.
'Am I good or what?'
It was two minutes to 9:00 when Kagome finally made it to the Sirosenshi-Com Complex, and smiled brightly as the woman at the front desk helped her to punch in for the day. "Thanks so much...?"
The woman smiled and held out her hand to shake hers. "Kagura."
Kagome took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you. Now, where exactly do I go from here?"
The older woman smiled and scribbled something on a Post-It before handing it to Kagome.
"Floor 5. End of the hall. Mr.Sirosenshi's office."
A lump formed in the back of her throat at his name. Kagome didn't expect to meet him on her first day...she wasn't prepared!
Kagura noted the panicked look that formed on the young girl's face and held in a laugh. "Not THE Mr.Srosenshi. It's his elder son, Sesshomarrou."
The lump repressed slightly, recalling the name of the man she never got to interview with.
Letting out a deep breath, she thanked Kagura for her help again and made her way over to the elevator, collecting herself as the hell-box moved up slowly. The doors opened at her floor and she stepped out onto the marble tiling, taking one last deep breath.
"Here I go."
shang shang shang
Kagome nervously strummed her fingers on the arm of the chair as she sat in the waiting area where Rin had directed her so cheerily. While she had already gone through any worries left in her mind five hundred times, Kagome was beginning to suspect Rin was on drugs with the way she worked. Shuddering, she recalled the way Miroku had acted in the elevator. Hyper. That was it exactly...except, thankfully, Rin wasn't such a pervert. That was definitely a good thing.
Several more endless minutes went by before a stunningly beautiful man entered the room. He was in a brown Burberry suit and had a long braid of silver hair hanging loosely to just below his waist, and had on a pair of wing-tipped shoes. Stopping briefly at Rin's desk, he absently took a doughnut from the box she seemed to keep stocked at the corner and picked up a folder that had been sitting next to it.
He flipped the folder open, and Kagome noticed it was her file. The man glanced in her direction and Rin gestured for her to approach the desk.
"Miss.Higurashi I presume?" The man had a deep, business voice and didn't hold out his hand to shake hers, but merely closed the file and slid it under his arm.
"Hai. And you would be Mr.Sirosenshi then?" Kagome didn't challenge his greeting, but figured to play it safe and respond in his own terms.
Sesshomarrou nodded both approval and answer as he turned from Rin's desk and unlocked the door to his own office, ushering Kagome inside to a chair opposite his mahogany desk. Sitting down in the plush leather chair, he opened her file once more and looked through her credentials more thoroughly, Kagome sitting quietly, wondering why he didn't already know it's contents since he had hired her.
After a moment, Sesshomarrou closed the manilla folder once more and slid it to the corner of his desk to further examine later. Folding his hands neatly in front of him he turned his attention to the twenty-two year old student before him. "Miss.Higurashi, you have been hired for the position of Assistant of General Operations, and I can see why." It was a load of crap, because Sesshomarrou hadn't even been really looking at much of the information. He usually just did things like that to wear people's patients down or make them nervous. He would look through her file later, but he was pretty sure already that his brother would dig his own grave with or without her, and that she would be just as expendable.
"Now, I have the honor of welcoming you to the family," he nearly gaged on the word he was forced to use, "of employees here at Sirosenshi-Com." Managing a slight business smile, he rose from his desk and shook her hand. "Now, if you will, please keep up as I show you to the Operations Floor where you can begin. Time is a horrible thing to waste. If you learn anything here today. Remember that."
She nodded as he moved around his desk to leave the office with her in tow. She had learned just that fast that she probably should have been dreading to meet with Sesshomarrou just as much, if not more than when she had thought she was meeting with Sirosenshi. The entire time he had spoken, his voice was cold and purely business like. And Kagome was pretty sure that the smile he had forced just a moment before was probably the only one she'd ever see from him. No wonder Rin was so cheery. She had to make up for Mr.Ice here who was leading her to her doom.
He lead her down a hallway, absently pointing to the staff lounge which was shared by the floor she'd be working, apparently level six, and his own, and continued to a wide stairway at roughly the midpoint of the hallway where he shook her hand one last time and told her that someone at Office 328 would be helping her get versed with her position..
Going up the stairs, Kagome almost fainted in seeing how many people were already busily rushing around the space. Cubicles lined a large stretch to her right while office doors and open desks were to her left. To think she would be overseeing all of them was mind-blowing, and she was now glad she'd have the Manager of the floor to guide her.
Slowly walking the stretch of the carpet aisle between the cubicles and offices, Kagome searched for the number 328. Toward the end of the aisle it was to her right, and it didn't seem like anyone was in the office, even the desk in front of it was empty of whoever was supposed to help her. Deciding she didn't really know what else to do, Kagome made her way over to the chair next to the desk and sat down to wait.
Studying the surroundings of the area, she began to wonder how much work the secretary at the desk actually got done. It seemed everything from a manicure set and color TV to a box set of yoga tapes were cluttering the surface of the desk and filing cabinets most of the other workers seemed to use as side tables or plant stands.
She was just about to start thumbing through a copy of Cosmo girl that was laying on the desk when a young man approached the desk, putting down a coffee and scone before turning to her with an apologetic look on his face. "Oh my god! Are you Higurashi Kagome?"
Kagome smiled at the man, mostly trying to maintain composure as she took in his appearance,
and nodded, holding out a hand for him to shake, which he took in his own well manicured hand.
He was several inches taller than her, even with her heals, had sandy brown hair, and rhinestone earrings dangling from his ears that matched perfectly with his tight cashmere shirt and tope pants.
"Please forgive me. What's a girl to do when the coffee bar has a line out her mother's alcoholic ass and back again." He held up Kagome's hand after he shook it, studying her nails. "Ooh,
Honey, with cuticles like that it's a sin to not have any enamel on." He flashed a bright smile at her before moving around and sitting behind the desk. "I'm Hojou by the way. Wanna piece of my scone? Sorry again for being late. You must have been petrified."
"Actually, I had to stop by the fifth floor first anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal." He pushed the Cosmo girl in Kagome's direction, having seen her eye it when he had walked up, and she started thumbing through it as they talked and he handed her a piece of scone.
"Oh god. The fifth floor? Tell me you weren't stuck with the Man of Ice." Kagome just looked up at Hojou with a blank expression. "Oh gods, you were. You poor dear. I mean, Sesshomarrou knows his shit for being daddy's little man, but he is SO fucking cold. Dear god, even for that I'd be damned if he doesn't have one hell of a fine ass."
Kagome thought about it for a moment and made a mental note to check it out later, letting out a laugh and starting to feel like Hojou was a highschool gal-pal. "I didn't really get much of look."
Hojou just took the tip of his finger to his mouth before sticking it on his thigh and making a hissing sound. "Honey, before the end of the day you will know this office inside out and upside down if you stick with me. Hell, I have my boyfriend right in the mail-room. Everyone knows that right there is gossip central."
Kagome let a grin grace her lips as she slouched back in the chair and rested her elbow on the edge of the desk. "Don't we get any work done here?"
"Right, Sweety, you're new. I'll just give you the basics right here. FYI, I'll be damned if I haven't heard from at least a dozen different people, that's including Marge, Boey, and Blue Lue,
that Sirosenshi's other son is the one who's going to be running our floor."
Hojou shifted in his seat and took a nail file from his desk, crossed his legs and started filing as he filled Kagome in on more than was really necessary.
"Now at first I thought it was a joke, but then Mr.Ice's fine ass came up himself and said he was changing my position from that boring shit-ass cubical to a open desk for the new manager. And Cookie I'll tell you, I've gotten twice the pay and not a tenth of the work coming my way after that was all said and done. That's why you were probably wondering what the hell was up with my space, I have to do something you know...
"Well anyway, like I was saying, you were asking about work we'd be doing and if you aren't convinced just from what I've been up to, or rather NOT up to, then just consider this: it's his first day on the job, and he's already late. Either he's up in dear-ol-daddy's office, or he really is the brat he's made out to be." Hojou paused for a moment, like he was considering something.
"Yeah, but I don't think that's really going to be a problem with me. As long as his ass is as fabulous as Mr.Ice's, you know."
Kagome just smirked. Hojou was a trip, and while she wanted to give into the energy he was giving off about slack work, she couldn't help but listen to the voice into the back of her head as it screamed. The office was still kind of overwhelming, and she'd just found out that it was her boss's first day too. Not exactly inspiring when she'd found comfort in his supposed guidance.
Hojou slid her a clipboard as he finished off his scone and pointed to the Hello Kitty clock he'd set up on the wall right next to the office door above his filing cabinet. "Sweets, it looks like you might be on your own for this one."
Looking at the paper positioned in the clipboard, Kagome noticed it was a list of all the interns and where they would be working on the floor. She looked to Hojou in disbelief, who shrugged.
"You've got to be kidding me! I just got here myself!" The paper said she was to meet them in the lobby at 10:15 after the introduction speech would be over, and it was already 9:55. "This isn't happening."
Hojou just shrugged as he sipped his coffee. "That's the way the cookie crumbles. You are supposed to be the assistant, but when boss-boy isn't around... it's you who takes his place. Even in the beginning apparently."
Kagome grimaced as she looked at her clipboard and then the clock. Well, the pressure was on.
and she wasn't about to seem unqualified on her first day. She had fifteen minutes to prepare herself, and she'd be damned if she didn't at least fake her way through the introduction after she'd barely scraped the job in the first place.
She was expendable. Life sucked.
bloop bloop blah bum
Miroku was up at 9:45 and wondering why the hell Inuyasha was still passed out on the couch as he made his way to the kitchenette to find some Pop Tarts for breakfast.
Spash. It had taken one glance at the calender for him to change his path to the sink and fill up a glass with the ice cold water and toss the contents on his friend's sleeping face. "Bastard! What the fuck!" Inuyasha's eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he was ready to kill Miroku as he pealed himself off the couch.
"Forgetting something?" Miroku just turned back to the bedrooms and threw some random clothes out into the main area where Inuyasha was still fuming. "You. Work."
"What the fuck Lech?" A sudden realization crossed his face before a paniced glance at the clock on the wall, followed by a stream of curses and colorful phrases. He hurriedly changed cloths, not bothering to shower since he didn't really need it, and grabbed the Pop Tarts right out of Miroku's hands on the way out the door as he B-lined for the Sirosenshi-Com Complex down the street. 'My father is gonna kill me.'
Miroku just stood in the dust of it all and grabbed another pack of the morning meal and sprawled out on the couch before clicking on the TV. '..Ah, to be blissfully unemployed.'
quee quee va voom
Kagome had managed to talk Hojou into showing her the areas she'd have to know for her introduction, and got introduced to some of the people there. Kagome was almost thankful they weren't as flamboyant as Hojou, and all the same agreed to help her fake her way through the introduction. She figured they felt bad for her that the younger Sirosenshi brother hadn't even shown up yet to take on his responsibility, but she didn't care just then if it was pity or bribery that would have gotten her some help.
She ran over the list of workers in her head and finally decided she was ready to face the interns,
and glancing at the clock it was almost time for them to be handed over to her. Kagome walked the carpet aisle to the elevator just left of the grand staircase and pressed the down button.
In the back of her mind, she was hoping the brat would show up so he could be unprepared. And if he did, she sure as hell wouldn't help him. That's what she told herself anyway.
Sitting down toward the back when she reached the lobby, she listened as Sesshomarrou was concluding his speech, slightly nodding in her direction with acknowledgment as she entered.
She nodded back and tuned out what it was he was saying, but attempted a look at his ass behind the podium with no luck.
After the next speaker approached the podium with a droning voice, her eyes began to scan the group of interns, making mental notes of how well they were paying attention. Somehow her eyes strayed to the main entrance and was shocked to see Inuyasha burst in through the revolving doors, looking confused as anything.
But then he composed himself and made his way over the back row to sit down, Kagome glancing at him and wondering what he was doing there. After all, his name wasn't on the internship papers that she saw. But maybe she'd missed it somehow.
ya ya ya ska doo
Inuyasha burst through the revolving doors, ready to make a mad dash through the building, but his eyes found the ceremony going on and he composed himself, taking a seat in the back as he figured they were the interns his father had been talking about. Glancing around, they all looked like fruit cake, fresh with no direction. But his eyes came to the back row last, and he saw Kagome sitting toward the end on the other side.
'Hmn, if she's an intern at least things might be interesting around here...'
He was drawn from his daze as he heard his brother's icy voice announce his name. "Sirosenshi Inuyasha, the new Manager of General Operations! Come on up."
A lump formed in the back of his throat as he stood and made his way to the stage.
skiddily diddly doo
'Sirosenshi Inuysaha? What the fuck?!' But as she saw the exotic boy make his way to the stage she wanted to slam her head into the wall in for not noticing the same gorgeous silver hair both of the Sirosenshi brothers shared right away.
"And the Assistant Manager of General Operations, please come up as well Higurashi Kagome."
All Kagome knew was that she was getting a headache. She stood, plastering on a fake smile as the claps echoed through the lobby and she made her way to the stage to stand next to Inuyasha after shaking hands with the other speakers.
gah gah blah boo
'Assistant?! He has got to be kidding me! I was already stuck with that bitch for over two hours in this building, no way they stuck her with me for this fucking job!'
He exchanged glances with his brother who had a satisfied smirk on his face, and just glared back. He knew his brother didn't want him there just as much as he didn't himself, but there was no way he'd let the bastard win. So for that, he plastered on a smile and approached the podium,
urging Kagome to as well and glancing at the clipboard she held.
He'd bullshit his way through this mess if he had to. Just like school...
la de da ca thunk
Inuyahsa stepped up the podium and motioned for her to follow his lead, and Kagome wondered what he had up his sleeve, but figured she'd go with it.
"Welcome, coworkers, partners, and interns, to this wonderful day at Sirosenshi-Com. For this is the day when a new passage shall open at this fine company. Not only has another Sirosenshi joined the family of workers, but all of you as well. And it is you, the people coming in from the outside with new ideas and concepts, that makes this company so great."
Kagome wanted to burst out laughing at his speech. He sounded like a candidate for presidency without a cause but selling himself all the same. She didn't know weather to be impressed or disgusted, but figured she'd take over from there, not caring to hear any more of it.
"If you would, please follow us as we guide you into the General Operation's floor, and you can begin shaping your futures, and this company's. For time is a valuable thing. If you learn one thing here today, remember that." She received various gestures of praise as she and Inuyasha left the stage from the other people, but didn't dwell on it. Hell, she was shitting the job just as much as he was!
One last glance to the stage as the group of interns followed her and Inuyasha to the elevator got her a glance at Mr.Ice's back side as he stood discussing something with the other partners. She added a mental 'Damn!' and resisted licking her lips.
Now was the hard part. She had to get the right people to the right places and figure out a way to curse out Inuyasha without getting fired. It was going to be a long day...
snap
crackly
pop
Okay, my apologies if it wasn't as funny as the first two chapters, but it's one of those transition chapters. Heh heh, then again, there was Hojou -big smile-.
Oh and Gyousei, I hope you found your answer in this chapter about Miroku. But who's to say he wont get bored without Inu around n.n
Well, please review and let me know what you think! Reviewers are the best! Ja matta
()()
(n.n) -Bunny