Kagome stared in shock at the raving child and elderly woman fighting over the last Tickle Me Elmo doll. She saw a desperate mother and a burly father join into the fray, and Kagome double-checked her list. Yep, that's what her four year old cousin wanted.
Kagome speculated over her sanity as she dove headfirst into the madness.
---
A couple of bite marks, a bruised hip, a bald spot on her head, and one Tickle Me Elmo doll later, Kagome stood victorious upon a store-employee-only step ladder waving her purchase above her head and singing a familiar Queen song. And the "we" part of it, of course, was referring to the Elmo and herself.
"Weeee are the champions, weeeee are the chaaaaaampions! No time for looooooosers,"
Here she glared down are her pouting audience.
"'Cause weee are the chaaampions, of the woooooooorld!"
Her spectators stalked off, and Kagome stepped down, a grin adorning her face similar to a cat that had recently eaten the family's prize pet canary. She practically purred as she strolled out of the store, humming slightly and swigging her bad around merrily.
She glanced down at her list for Souta's present, and her happy visage quickly turned into a scowl.
For one, how did you even pronounce that? She turned the corner of the mall and made her way into an electronic store. Hmm…while she was here, she may want to think about getting a new alarm clock, since the last one had recently, oh how would you say it, ceased to exist? She tapped a nearby employee on the shoulder, and he turned around and asked what she needed help with.
"Can you show me where the alarm clocks are? And if possible, a cheap one. I have a feeling it won't last long," Kagome said with an apologetic smile. The man gave her a knowing chuckle and led her to an aisle near the power tools (tell me that isn't convenient), and took the lowest-priced one off the shelf and handed it to her.
"Anything else?" he asked politely.
"Actually," Kagome squinted down at her list, "could you help me find a… Whe? Wie? Wei? Weh? Whu? Wee?"
The man died laughing. "You mean the Wii?"
Kagome looked up brightly. "Yeah, that's it! Can you tell me where to get one?!"
His expression grew somber, and he regrettably informed her that they did not have any in stock currently, but they were getting a shipment in tomorrow, and if she started waiting in line tonight, she could probably snag one.
"Start waiting tonight?!" she exclaimed incredulously, "You're joking, right?!"
And thus Kagome walked out of the electronic store empty-handed, excluding the new torture victim… ahem… I mean alarm clock.
Her next stop would most likely leave her begging out on the street. It was: the Coach store. Her mother had requested a new Coach purse for Christmas this year, and Kagome could practically feel her pocket get lighter already. It was a good thing she had been saving for a while for a something like this.
She went in with a generally positive attitude and a picture her mother had supplied her with. She went up the first salesperson she saw, and showed her the picture. The woman let out a dainty sniff and promptly ignored her to run over to a customer who looked wealthier.
Kagome sighed, and figured she's better get looking if she wanted to find the purse anytime soon.
---
Kagome put her bags in the back, then slumped down into the driver's seat. She kicked off her shoes and rubbed her feet back to life while thinking.
Maybe an online job interview wasn't that bad? Surely it was a good thing she didn't have to wear heels. Actually, now that she thought about it, she probably only had to wear a work-suitable low cut shirt.
A woman should use all of her assets to get what she wants.
Kagome glanced at her clock on the dashboard. It read 3:12. The interview was in less than an hour, so with one last sigh, she started her car up and took off towards her house.
She made it back this time without incident, and once in the door, she immediately went into the process of primping.
She reapplied some make-up that had been worn off in her shopping struggles, and fixed her hair into a neat bun. She dug into the depths of her closet to produce a maroon colored shirt and black work blazer. For her bottoms, she simply grabbed a pair of short little boxers that had chibi cartoon frogs all over them. The webcam really only aims at her face anyway.
She started out to go to the kitchen, but thought better of being barefoot, and donned her matching froggy slippers to keep her feet warm on the freezing tile. She grabbed her laptop on her way out, and then found her way to the breakfast table and got comfortable.
She took a deep, calming, breath. It was now or never. She logged on and waited for someone to answer.
And she waited and waited.
Damn, how long did it take for them to operate a webcam?
Obviously forever. She hummed to herself lightly, trying to calm down. Of course they wouldn't blow her off.
Right?
There was a sudden clicking sound, and a man of small stature and looking slightly green in the face called her name.
"Kagome Higurashi?"
Kagome's face brightened and she beamed at the man. He flinched visibly; it was clear he wasn't used to such treatment. The room behind him clashed greatly with the man himself; he was wearing all dark colors, while the expensive looking furnishings of the lavish room behind him all were done in hues of gold and white.
"Yes, that's me," she chirped. Then her face turned to one of concern as she studied the cringing man. "Are you sick? Your face doesn't look so good. It has a green tint to it," she said worriedly.
"I'm fine," he snapped, "I was born this way."
Kagome turned red with embarrassment and looked down, muttering an apology. The little man waved it off with disinterest, and began talking.
"I regret to inform you, Miss Higurashi, that the previously scheduled interview will have to be postponed indefinitely," Kagome's face fell, comprehending the words. The man didn't seem to "regret informing" her at all. In fact, he looked quite pleased with himself. "You see, the position has already been filled." But at this, he glanced nervously to the side, and would not look at the girl on the screen.
Kagome mind filled with thoughts of failure. No, no, this couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when she was so close. Her stomach began aching with disappointment and she clutched her abdomen. He brain whirled around, and she started feeling dizzy. And then one thought popped unbidden into her brain.
This was unfair.
She felt her hands ball up into fists, and her face twisted with anger.
"Bullshit!" she screamed, directly into the microphone, thoroughly startling the poor man out of his tiny little mind.
"This is absolute BULLSHIT! I did NOT take off a day from work to stand in some GODFORSAKEN line for the ENTIRE day to be blown off my a man that seems to be three times smaller than me, and can't even muster up the kindness not to GLOAT while blowing me off!!!" she yelled, now standing up in righteous fury and glaring down at the screen.
"What do you think I am?!" she continued. "Some pawn at your beck and call?! I have a life too you know! Oh, wait, you wouldn't know, because obviously you stay holed up in the office all day!"
The man sat with his jaw hanging open, beady little eyes nearly popping out of his minuscule head.
"Where is your boss!? I want to talk with him!" she continued assaulting the man's ears. This final outburst seemed to calm her a bit, and she took deep breaths and regained her composure slightly.
The man seemed absolutely horrified of the idea of the woman on the screen talking to his superior, but a sharp command from somewhere in the distance was heard, and he scrambled over to a desk in a luxurious corner of the room.
On Kagome's screen, all she saw was a flurry of movement before there was thump and she stared at the new man on the screen.
The man she gazed at now had brilliant, golden, eyes like the sun, and strange, colored, beautiful tattoos on the sides of his face, along with a crescent moon that adorned his forehead. He would have been the epitome of beauty had it not been the icy glace he was directing toward her. And now that she thought about it, his hair matched his demeanor perfectly. It was as white as the chunk of ice his personality was trying so hard to imitate.
"Leave, Jaken," he said simply, and the little man rushed out of sight, with a look on his face that seemed he feared for his life. The beautiful man then turned his attention to the computer screen, which housed an image of a stunned Kagome.
"Know your place, wench. This Sesshoumaru does not take kindly to your unattractive brashness," he said coldly, but still with a wonderfully clear voice.
Kagome was at first indignant and almost started raving at him like she had his assistant. But upon hearing his name, ('What's up with this guy's weird way of talking,' she thought,) she racked her brain for the name to match up with something she knew. She gasped when the connection was made, realizing this was none other that the eldest son of the president of Taisho Inc., and a vice-president of the company in his own right.
Sesshoumaru smirked, knowing he had successfully intimidated the pathetic girl.
"Your so called 'interview' was an utter fluke," he said smugly, "My father seemed to have come under the ridiculous illusion that I was in need of a secretary. Your services are not needed, and never will be."
Kagome eyes narrowed at this rude statement, and powerful or not powerful, this guy was going to get it.
Hell hath known no fury like that of a scorned woman.
But before she could begin her little tirade, her stomach clenched again. Earlier she had assumed the reaction was an emotion-induced one, but she wasn't so sure now. Her stomach gave out an almost inaudible dissatisfied grumble, but Kagome ignored it for more pressing matters.
Like the pompous bastard currently occupying her computer screen.
"Now look here, mister," She pointed at him, glared, and hardened her resolve as the white-haired man looked off in the distance, as if the wall was more interesting than the fuming female on the screen. "You are going to hear me out, whether you want to or not. My moocher-of-a-brother is coming into town, my bank account is emptied, and I fought off demon-spawn and a rabid senior citizen to get my hands on a furry red puppet. I am not in the best of moods," she stated icily, borrowing Sesshoumaru's characteristic.
He lifted one elegant eyebrow, but otherwise didn't indicate he had heard her, so she took this as a prompt to continue, ignoring her stomach's slightly louder wails of discontent.
"I need a job, and I'll be damned if I don't get one. You can stick me in the mailroom for all I care, as long as it pays well," Kagome stated flatly.
She opened her mouth to begin again, but was interrupted by her stomach, which was tired of being blatantly ignored. Kagome's face turned an interesting shade of red, and the ice man let a slightly startled look settle upon his face.
"Uh, heh… that was... my washing machine," Kagome said hurriedly, face flustered, "Um… the repairman is supposed to come tomorrow…" she trailed off.
Sesshoumaru's face was once again impassive, and they both wouldn't look at each other: Kagome out of embarrassment, and Sesshoumaru out of boredom with the woman.
There was silence on both ends, until a particularly large rumble from the depths of Kagome's bowels pierced through the quiet.
"That noise was certainly not emitted from a household appliance, Miss Higurashi." Sesshoumaru quipped dryly.
Kagome suddenly went on the defensive.
"Well, if I had enough money, say, money from a good job, I could've bought food that doesn't make me sick!" Kagome said huffily. This wasn't exactly true, but it couldn't hurt to make him feel at least a little guilty. Actually, she had a sneaking suspicion that her beloved hotdogs had betrayed her.
Ok, ok, she had forgotten to check the expiration date.
"And if you were not such a shrieking nuisance, this Sesshoumaru may have given you the currency to dine," he shot back.
"Well, maybe you should buy me a dinner to make up for my lost effort and time!" Kagome said heatedly.
"Perhaps I should!" Sesshoumaru raised his voice angrily.
"Then meet me at the café on Nineth Street!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
Both parties angrily shut off they're computers, and stomped off in the general direction of their cars in a fit of rage.
---
Heh heh, I couldn't resist. I absolutely HAD to write about the horror that is known as Christmas shopping.
Dun, Dun, Dun! The introduction of Sesshy! I did mention this was a SessKag, did I not?
And before you peeps start telling me how "out of character" or "OOC" Sess is, remember that people do things they normally wouldn't do when they're angry. Or, in Sesshy's case, indignant that a "mere wench" would stand up to him. Also, I can make him whatever I what, because this is my story, so nyah! -ducks angrily thrown Sess dolls-
Gasp! I just realized something! This is my first non-humor labeled piece of fiction! I have finally come to terms with the fact I'm not funny! –tears up- I'm so proud of myself…