Chapter Four: Appointment

Kagome wasn't late, she continued telling herself as she huffed down twelve blocks, turned a couple corners and tripped at least three times. When she got to the building, the waist of her skirt was resting just above her navel, and she made a half-hearted attempt to smooth down her hair before entering the elevator, held open by a stranger who seemed to have noticed her plight.

She continued her internal mantra — I'm not late; I'm fine — as she exited the elevator and strutted down the hall, until entering the classroom, where a row of students, the usual ten or eleven who still bothered showing up this late in the semester, turned their attention towards her.

"Gomen nasai." Kagome bowed when she made it to the front of the room.

Her students stood and returned the gesture.

"Konichiwa, Kagome-sensei," the class greeted in unison.

The rest of the hour was spent making up for lost time. However, Kagome dove into her lesson without much trouble. She had always been a natural instructor, and her students had genuine interest in the Japanese language and culture. Before she had started her term abroad at the university, she had been hesitant to work with American students when she was still in her home country, having heard of their brash tendencies and affinity for partying, but for the most part, she found that JPN-101 invited a more reserved crowd.

By the end of the lesson, as students were milling about, chatting with each other and packing up their own bags, the professor whose class was directly after Kagome's entered the room.

"Miss Higurashi," her constituent said. She was a plump woman, probably in her mid-thirties, with a loose bun of dark brown hair, piled into a bun at the top of her head.

"Hello," Kagome said, waving a hand with the flick of her wrist.

"Oh, I'm not sure if you saw — I peeked into your office this morning and didn't see you there," the older woman said. "The department head is looking for you."

"Did he say why?" Kagome asked, unsure if she should feel as uneasy as she did.

"No," she said. "I believe he's been making rounds to all of the visiting staff members, though."

Kagome thanked her before heading out the door, trying to remain calm as she walked through campus to her office. She felt welcomed from the spring breeze that greeted her face as she stepped outside of the building and onto the busy campus streets, located within the heart of the city.

"Office" was a generous word for the cubbyhole Kagome occupied from noon to 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Makeshift dividers separated the young lecturer from two other colleagues, all of whom shared one large circular desk that was plopped in the center of the room. She kept her space as tidy as possible in such a cramped area, and although she got along well with her officemates, she had hoped that such an old and prestigious university would offer more love to its East Asian department, which consisted of two full-time staff members and a constant revolution of visiting professors and assistants.

Reaching her desk, Kagome tossed her coat onto the back of her chair, and she sighed upon spying a yellow sticky note pasted to one of the divider walls.

"Come to my office when you see this." No doubt, she was wanted. She lifted the small square of paper with her index finger and crumpled the message in her hand that she then stuck into her pocket.

Standing, she told herself that there were only 28 days to go.

The sudden rapping against Sesshomaru's door did not move his eyes from the pages he was reading, nor did he look up as he called out to his visitor. "Come in."

A middle-aged man opened the door a crack. "Sir, there is a Miss Higurashi here for you."

"Let her in, Jaken," Sesshomaru said, shuffling through the papers on his desk.

A young woman then entered, closing the door behind her without offering a greeting. Sesshomaru invited her to take a seat, and the girl smiled at him, but her arms were crossed and her eyes darted about the room, never meeting his gaze.

Sesshomaru examined the girl as he spoke. "You've been with us for one semester, yes?"

Miss Higurashi nodded. "That's right."

"And your visa ends at the end of term, no doubt," Sesshomaru said.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"You have done exceptional work at this university," he continued. "Talent like yours is exactly what we are looking for in lecturers. None of your students are failing, and no one has dropped your class. The only blotch on your record is your students' attendance rate, but even that number is greater than my other lecturers'."

"Thank you." Miss Higurashi blushed, but she quirked an eyebrow as if to ask what the point of their conversation was.

"I think that —" Sesshomaru stopped speaking as his office phone started to ring. He picked up the receiver after checking caller ID.

"Forgive me," he said to Miss Higurashi, the phone resting against his shoulder. "I must take this. But our conversation is not finished. Would you care to have coffee with me tomorrow morning?"

"Coffee, sir?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning. Will 8 o'clock work for you? Ask Jaken, my secretary, for the address on your way out."

Most of Sesshomaru's subordinates did not refuse his requests, and the girl was no exception; she gave off the attitude of a people-pleaser, someone Sesshomaru was more than comfortable handling. Still, there was something in her eyes that was so familiar, and he could not pin down what was striking him as such.

Miss Higurashi stood the second he dismissed her, and she said goodbye as Sesshomaru fixed his attention on the telephone. She closed the door in the same fashion as she had entered, without making a sound.

Notes: 994 words. Apologies for any inaccuracies; I don't speak Japanese, but let me know of any mistakes.