It's funny how beings act after tragedy. Some crumble to the pressure life puts on them, sinking farther into a black void of nothingness. Others rise above the scattered mess that was once their life. Kagome wanted to chose the latter option, she wanted to say the loss of family heirlooms was just that; the loss of material goods. She'd be lying if she said that allowed. So here she laid in the middle of her apartment, the bamboo mat pressing an imprint into her skin.
She glared at the ceiling, sometimes she pretended to see the smooth surface. Unblemished and white, just like her momma's kimono. The wedding kimono had been spun of silk and gold thread. Kagome used to sit in front if it's case and stare at it when she was little. She had dreamed of wearing it at her own wedding, but that dream had gone up in flames and smoke.
As the construction crew had surveyed the house one of them had found a scrap of the fabric. She cried when her fingers traced a lily flower. The telephone suddenly rang rousing her out of her own self pity.
"Hi! You have reached Kagome. I'm unable to answer at the present moment, but please leave your name and telephone number and I will return your call."
The machine beeped, but the caller did not speak. Sitting up slowly, Kagome turned her head towards the machine. She could hear the callers soft breathing. Kagome listened for a few more moments, then the caller hung up.
"What was that about?" She asked herself as she got up off the floor. Walking to the machine, she deleted the message. Shaking her head, she moved towards the kitchen. As she neared the door frame, her phone rang again. Turning to listen, the machine picked up once again. This time the caller spoke.
"Soft little bird, how you weep for me. How caged you must be without the light of day. Lonely little bird playing in a cage."
Over and over the caller repeated the message. After the third time, he hung up. Kagome's heart raced, never had anyone left her a message like that. The voice was gravely and the deep tone sounded forced.
She took her cellphone off the charging cord and phoned Miroku. It went to voicemail. Cursing she ended the call before his own voice recording finished. After instructing the program to send a text to him and Sango, she set the phone down. She was officially weirded out. Chewing on the inside of her cheek she pondered her next move. The land line rang again, Kagome's eyes transfixed on the machine.
Quickly, she moved towards the table and then fumbled with the phone cord. Feeling along the surface she found where the jack met the wall and ripped it out in a panic. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she licked her lips.
"It's fine," she lied, her eyes not moving from the machine. Maybe she would call the police, but the idea sounded almost silly. It wasn't like the caller had threatened her. Nor could she even identify the voice and most likely the person used a burn number.
"Text message from Sesshomaru Tashio" her phone alerted. She request the message to be read as she moved towards the kitchen once again.
"Kagome, the Southern Lord and his female, not his mate, have requested dinner. Are you available?"
Knitted her eyebrows she asked the phone to call her boss. Two rings and he picked up. "I apologize for bothering you while you are out of the office," he said smoothly.
"It's not a problem, the only issue is today is the 24th of September. The Southern Lord and Lady are supposed to be out of the country, their personal assistant called last week about it" she said, leaning on the counter.
"Yes the elder Lord and Lady are out of the country, celebrating their however long mating. Yokokun's son took over till his official take over in December. We will need to be in attendance for that as well," Sesshomaru said, his eyes watching the clouds pass his window. He had not wanted to take the time off of work. But two rouge units of the English ground forces had forced the Royal Family to ask Sesshomaru's contact for help.
"So it's the son and his mistress?" Kagome question, clearly not thrilled at the playboy ways of some males. What exactly was the point of matting someone, thus tying yourself to them till death, if you did not think that person was your soulmate?
"More like flavor of the week, Inuyasha tells me she is... how did he put it?" A long pause over the line told Kagome he was thinking.
"A banshee," he finally said, earning a snort for Kagome on the other end.
"Your brother has a sense of humor, do you know her name?" Kagome asked, moving from the kitchen to her room.
" Matzuni, or something with an M. I would rather not go alone and somehow my brother has stolen Kagura again... for the third time this month," Sesshomaru said trying not to grumble at the annoyance.
"Mmmhmm, I think he took her to Paris this time. Will it be business attire or semi formal?" Kagome asked, sliding her closet door open.
"Semi formal. Paris... hmmm maybe he'll ask her to marry him. Wouldn't that be fun" Sesshomaru said, failing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"Not a fan of the relationship?" She asked her fingers running along tags reading the name of outfits.
"They are happy. Just act like they are in high school," he said sighing.
"You told me you never went to high school, so how would you know what high schoolers do?" She asked with a laugh. Her fingers reading a tag once more before clicking her tongue.
"I have employed females you know. And ones who can not seem to shut up about their boyfriends," he said
She laughed at the thought of Kagura telling her boss about his brother in bed. "If it makes you feel better least you didn't go to high school. It was a nightmare. Think of seven hundred kids all hormonal and irresponsible," she said, laying the black dress on her bed.
"I'd rather be shot in the head," Sesshomaru said, scrunching his nose at the idea.
"I don't think you would survive that," she pondered aloud.
"I would. I will pick you up in two hours then," she agreed and the pair got off the phone.
Their relationship had become closer in a sense that they typically were on the same page. While she had not been in the office recently, she continued to do some work from home and in between classes. Recently a string of attacks on being who were less then half blooded had been dominating the news, she had created a database in Excel to track the attacks as well as the locations.
Miroku had copied the file and sent it out to a few military contacts to see if there had been any connection, but it had been a dead end. The only thing that connected them was their blood status. Kagome and Sesshomaru had communicated back a forth a lot over the last few weeks. Some business related and other messages just generally asking about each other.
There was still the boss and employee relationship however it had progressed in to a sort of friendship lately. Although he did not say it, he had admired her passion for dealing with a wide range of people. She took the business and his personal affairs serious. On more then one occasion she had filled in for him in a meeting as his representative. She had impressed him with her tact when dealing with his kind and those who disliked him.
Kagome had enjoyed being at the center of information. She was able to coordinate a few minor contracts on her own, which gave her a rush. She had met some of the elite of the elite in Japan, both human and yōkai alike.
Just as she stepped out of the shower, Sango called. The pair of girls conversed about the days events, which worried Sango. Kagome's number was unlisted, so someone who knew it must have called. But neither of them could some up with a name of someone who would leave such a weird message.
"Did you delete it?" Sango asked around the apple slice she was munching on.
"No, but I took the line out of the wall. It was creepy. After your shift you can come over and listen to it. What time are you off?" Kagome asked, zipping up the side of her dress.
"Ten, but the old witch is here so we have to stay till eleven because someone forgot to return the medic key to the med room," Sango growled out in annoyance. Why was it hard for people to not fuck up her life?
"Let me guess, the blonde girl right?" Kagome inquired as she toweled her hair.
"Yup, making googley eyes at Doc Hitshumi," Sango said with a giggle.
"Code Blue, Code Blue" voice rang out behind Sango.
"So much for that apple!" Kagome said before Sango grumbled and hung up.
Kagome re entered her bathroom to blow dry her hair and to blush it out. About an hour or so later, her cell rang again.
"Hello," she said, slipping on a pair of black heels.
"I am outside the door," Sesshomaru said before ending the call. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Kagome grabbed the handbag she was going to use tonight and headed for the door.