punkish furball—Hello! Sorry, I took so long; I took some time and did some editing on all my stories and updated them as I went.

Words to Ponder:

Thank you, darkmoonbeanfoxgrrl, for being my 100th reviewer on Yay! (fireworks and confetti)

Thank you, RougeRaven89, bluemiko, mz.demon-inuyasha (2x), IceDarkness, S.T. Nickolian, lain01, uniqu3s0u7, SexyDemonGirl5000, .-Chaline-., Ari, kagome past and present, whiteinu1, Sarenity digo17, xXKillorbeKilledXx, magix234, EternalLove495, PrincessVictoriaAnnMacbeth, springscents, XxHisLilLoverGirlxX, Anime Punk Kitty, Nobodies Perfect-Not Even You, Silver Moon Vampire, SesshomaruKougaNarakuRanGirl, kyojiUzumaki, Misguided-Soul, demoninsideofme, darkmoonbeanfoxgrrl, LadyAkina, and Ru-Doragon for reviewing.

On with Chapter 4!

Chapter 4

"Order up, Kagome!" Miyuki said.

"I got it!" Kagome answered and took the two plates that were set on the counter and brought them to their assigned table. It had been three weeks since she began working here…three weeks since she awoke in the well with her joints stiff and aching when she tried to sit up. Her first impulse upon gaining consciousness was to check the side of her neck for Sesshomaru's mark. When she felt her own smooth skin without any blemishes or imprints of Sesshomaru's fangs, she was relived.

She got out of the well and ventured back to her home. After many days of reunions, explanations, and coddling from her mother, Kagome decided to get her life back on track. She did not return to school; she really didn't see to point now that she had been absent so. Instead, she and her mother managed to get her an apartment in the business district of the city with money from their savings. It was here that she obtained this job in a small café tucked away in the shadows of the much larger buildings and skyscrapers. It was very profitable; a lot of business people stopped in on their lunch hours. Sure, it was a particularly exciting life or what she how had expected her life would end up as, but it was enough to get by for the time being and Kagome was content now that Sesshomaru was out of the picture and the past was behind her.

'Still,' she thought after she set the order on the table, 'I can't help but think about him sometimes. Or the servant girl who helped me escape. I owe her so much.' Kagome had yet to have her reencounter with the feline hanyou.

"Hey, Kagome?" Miyuki said once Kagome made it back to front counter.

"What is it?" Kagome asked the other waitress.

"Well," Miyuki said and began to play with her fingers nervously, "That guy just walked in again and I was wondering if…"

Kagome smiled and began to speak before Miyuki could finish her sentence, "Don't worry about it. I'll take over the front counter for you. Besides, the lunch hour is almost over. Just a few stragglers coming in for some take out are all I have to worry about. Go ahead." Miyuki bowed in her thanks and began to walk toward the object of her affections.

Kagome sighed and took her new position behind the cash register waiting for someone to come in. In a few minutes, the bell rang signifying someone opened the door. Kagome saw a rather young looking girl walk into the café, about 14 or 15 years old that she hadn't seen before. She had a foreign looking complexion, a soft pale brown color. Her long onyx hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with a red ribbon. She had on black pants with the matching jacket tied around her waist. A dark red sleeveless shell served as her top. The clanking of her modest heels echoed on the tile floor sounding full of authority. She had simple silver stud earrings and a silver watch. Even her gaze was full of power and intimidating; her eyes were unusually colored, a golden yellow. Kagome couldn't help but think that this person looked eerily familiar.

'How strange,' Kagome thought, 'A long time…since I saw that eye color.'

The girl wasn't paying attention. Like most teenagers in this day and age, a cell phone seemed to be permanently attached to her ear. By the time she hung up, she was at the counter.

"Good afternoon," Kagome said politely, "How may I help you?"

"I'll have to us…ual…" the girl's words died in her throat when she noticed who she was talking to. She stared at Kagome a good moment before saying, "You are not Miyuki."

Kagome fought the urge to roll her eyes but said, "I'm Kagome. I'll be taking over for a little bit. How can I help you?"

"One white chocolate latte, one hazelnut coffee, one passion fruit smoothie, three poppy seed muffins, and a macadamia nut cookie," the girl said and held out the exact cost of the order and dropped it in Kagome's hand.

"Okay," Kagome said once she counted the money and placed it in the cash register, "I'll have your order ready in a moment." The girl just nodded and stared off into space. Kagome huffed silently.

'Talk about rude,' Kagome thought as she placed the cookie and muffins into a bag and placed the beverages into a drink tray. She placed them on the counter before the girl and before she could say the usual "Thank you and have a nice day" the girl walked out of the door.

Kagome looked down at the counter and saw that there was a napkin sitting there that she hadn't noticed. The only person who could have left it was the girl. Kagome picked it up and read in very small neatly written kanji, "Come outside".

'Why would she leave this here?' Kagome thought to herself. She looked around and noticed the business was rather slow since the lunch hour had passed and not too many people were in here. Kagome waited a few seconds before jumping over the counter and walking out of the door. Once she opened it, she saw the same girl on the side of the building putting her purchased on the ground with her jacket on top of it probably so nothing would get on it. Her back was to her.

"Well?" Kagome said in questioning tone of voice, "I don't have all day. I have to get back to work."

Kagome could hear the girl chuckle.

"Straight to the point I see. I must admit that that is a characteristic I did not see in you before, but I must say that it is not unexpected," the girl said and turned around to face Kagome. Kagome noticed that the girl's eye color had changed. One eye was still the original golden yellow Kagome first saw but the other one was deep blood red. Kagome's eyes widened. For a split second, in place of this older modern girl she saw a smaller one in a kimono with the Western Fortress's insignia.

"You're the servant girl," Kagome whispered silently and the girl had a large smile on her face but she vigorously shook her head.

"I'm not that person anymore," she said with her tone much more relaxed and less frigid than it once was, "I'm Mimirou."

-O0o0O-

Yamagishi Mimirou had a concentrated look on her face as she strategically moved the different shapes into their proper place. She looked between fourteen and sixteen. Her straight black hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a few rebellious strands sweeping her bronzed skin. Golden eyes were trained on her cell phone's screen. Her feet covered in brown knee highs that blended with her skin were pushing against a desk causing the office chair she was sitting in to move slightly. Her black jacket, matching her black pants, was slung on the back of the chair. Her bright red shell revealed her the skin of her arms. Unknown to her, another figure crept behind her and, seeing that he was unnoticed, he was situated his mouth behind her ear.

"Get up, slacker!" the figure's voice whispered harshly causing Mimirou to jump and push back against the desk. The chair rolled backwards and she ended up on the floor with her phone throne in the air. Realizing she dropped it, Mimirou scrambled over to it to see that the perfectly straight rectangular block had land in the wrong place and the stack had touched the top of her screen, ending the game. Mimirou scowled at the cell phone before closing it. She looked up at the offender with a glare who gave her a satisfied smirk in return.

"I was playing Tetris ™ and on level 14," she said with a slight whine in her voice, "You always interrupt me when I'm trying to beat the high score."

"So that's the pinnacle of your day, eh?" the person said mockingly, "Spending the bulk of the lunch hour playing an idiotic pixilated game?"

Mimirou huffed, "It just happens to be the updated version, you underpants monkey. I swear you just exist to get on my nerves, Aoishi."

Aoishi was a tall, slender young man with a slightly muscled build looking between his early and middle twenties. His hair was coal black and cut short with a few spikes here and there. He had clear blue eyes that twinkled with wisdom and a hint of mischief. His thin smooth looking lips were pulled into a smirk. He wore black pants with a black sports jacket over a light blue collared shirt. He had a small gold earring on the tip of his right ear.

"Please," Aoishi said, "I do still happen to retain my title as general. Don't be so presumptuous about my behavior."

"Some general," Mimirou said sarcastically, "you did seem apt to falling for the charms of any demoness that crossed your path. How many battle plans went astray with that type of behavior?"

"I have told you two to be more discrete with your heritage," a cold voice said. Aoishi and Mimirou turned back to see a much taller, male with long onyx hair in a low ponytail and piercing golden eyes much like Mimirou's own. His skin was pale and flawless. His attire was more professional, a black pinstriped suit with a crisp white shirt and a black tie. It concealed his chiseled and toned physique. He was a powerful presence in the room. Though his true nature was concealed, he was without a doubt Taiyoukai of the West, son of the Great Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru. Today he was known by the name Nagasaki Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru," Aoishi said in a slight mocking tone, "how are you? I trust that meeting went well. You seem a little tense though."

"Sesshomaru-sama," Mimirou said and bowed to the elder male despite her knee high clad feet and her lack of her suit's jacket, which landed on the floor. Sesshomaru patted the girl's head causing her to look up at him.

"That's quite alright, Mimirou," Sesshomaru said in his customary cold, stoic baritone, "You have never been one to show obedience before, but you are still a loyal member of my inner circle."

Said girl blushed slightly, but it was not in embarrassment. She was angry at the youkai and always had been.

'Loyal member…' Mimirou thought disdainfully, '…you just keeping thinking that.'

Instead of voicing these inner thoughts, the girl just nodded.

"Well, lunch hour is almost over," Mimirou said trying to change the subject, "I'll just head out and get ourselves a quick lunch. The usual okay with you guys?"

Sesshomaru nodded and left the room most likely to go to his office. Mimirou noticed Aoishi was correct in his earlier observation. Sesshomaru was indeed a little stiff…well, stiffer than usual, when he walked out to his office.

'That meeting must not have gone well,' she thought and pouted, 'Great. And guess who has to go run damage control?'

"Yeah, that's cool," Aoishi answered, the older youkai surrendering to the use of current slang, "Just make sure you don't pig out on everything this time."

"I didn't pig out on anything," Mimirou said innocently, "I don't know what you are referring too."

"Whatever, pipsqueak," Aoishi said and ruffled Mimirou's hair, "but my cookie better not be missing this time." Mimirou glared as Aoishi walked out the room.

"I don't know what he's talking about," Mimirou said to herself while she put her shoes back on, "I'm the one who buys lunch all the damn time. If I want to eat a cookie I BOUGHT, I'm gonna eat it." Mimirou tied her jacket around her waist and walked out of the room. Soon, she found her way out of a rather large office building, Nagasaki Enterprises, Sesshomaru's "family" business that dated back to the 1800s and the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which was the world's leading manufacturer of factory machinery components. Sesshomaru started it from scratch with the products evolving as time advanced. Many of the products are used in other projects of Sesshomaru's, including a division that produces medical tools and another that designs video games.

'You think people would notice that when the business was passed down that the successors looked far too similar. Then again, this is the closest concealment to his original features in three hundred years and the first time he used his original name,' Mimirou thought to herself, 'It must be because she is from this period.'

Mimirou stopped walking and looked up at the sky above her.

'Lady Kagome…' the name passed through her mind like a low whisper. Before she could think about anything else on the matter, Mimirou's cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was none other than Sesshomaru. Mimirou sighed and answered the device.

"Yeah, what's up?" Mimirou said.

'Lady Kagome,' Mimirou thought again, 'I hope that I never find you, if only for your sake.'

-O0o0O-

"Mimirou," Kagome repeated testing the new name on her lips. She smiled, "I like it. It suits you."

"I'm glad you think so," Mimirou said and began to shuffle her feet. It was a very awkward situation. The two of them tried not to stare at each other; one having changed so much in what was only a few weeks (to Kagome) and the other who hadn't changed at all in so many centuries.

"So," Kagome started, "I mean I get off work in a few hours. I don't know what you have to do, but if you want, we could go to my apartment and just hang out for a while. I mean if you want to and you have nothing better to do…" Kagome trailed off a bit at the end. She was so anxious to see her alone, but she didn't know if Mimirou would want to be with an ordinary unaccomplished human like her.

"I would love too," Mimirou said excitedly and hugged Kagome around her neck. Kagome was caught off guard and fell back slightly. She gained her footing and returned the girl's embrace. Despite what she was thinking earlier, she was happy that she had been reunited with Kagome again, Sesshomaru included or not.

"Why don't you give me your cell number?" Mimirou said when the two pulled apart and her eyes were returned to their original golden color, "I'll call you later so you can give me directions later and I'll go when I get off from my job." Mimirou handed Kagome her cell phone and she programmed her number into the portable device. Kagome gave it back and Mimirou slipped it in her pocket. She bent down and picked up her jacket and then her order off the ground.

"I better be off," Mimirou said and looked at Kagome before she went off, "I'll call you."

Kagome waved as Mimirou disappeared in the crowd of people flooding the Tokyo sidewalks. When she was out of sight, Kagome went into the café and took her position at the front counter with a smile.

-O0o0O-

Mimirou made her way into the office building in enough time to make sure that the coffee still retained its warmth. Talking with Kagome did take up some time and the beverages did cool a little, but with a little demonic energy Sesshomaru's hazelnut coffee was heated to perfection and warmed his poppy seed muffin to deliciously golden brown. Aoishi's white chocolate latte, on the other hand, was a cool puddle of froth and caffeine surrounded by cheap styrofoam. She dropped off his latte on his desk along with his muffin and cookie, but not before taking a large, noticeable bite out of both.

"That'll teach him to talk to me about MY cookie," Mimirou said to herself as she made her way to Sesshomaru's office. Once she reached the door, she knocked a few times before she heard the shuffling of clothing.

"Come in," she heard Sesshomaru said and opened the door to see one of the newer interns walking out pulling on her skirt with a blush lighting up her face. She walked passed Mimirou and Mimirou's golden eyes followed her down the hallway.

'Bleach blonde hair, short and tight business skirt and top, four-inch heels, and press on nails,' Mimirou thought taking in her appearance, 'She won't last to the end of the week.'

Mimirou walked in to see Sesshomaru sitting in his office chair with his jacket and tie off and his white shirt wrinkled and unbuttoned. His belt was strewn on the floor along with other various items that were probably on his desk. The room smelled strongly of sweat, sex, and semen that even a human's nose would be able to detect.

'He certainly has no shame,' Mimirou thought. She placed his coffee and muffin on his desk in front of him. She avoided looking him in the eyes; he would be able to see her hatred. He hadn't changed at all. He was still an egotistical, arrogant, greedy, self-centered, horny jack ass.

'You deserve her even less than you did before,' Mimirou thought, 'At least then you had the decency to keep it in his pants back then.'

"Mimirou," Sesshomaru said and Mimirou nodded. She didn't sit down; she didn't trust what might have landed on the chairs. Mimirou noticed his nostrils flare as he delicately sniffed the air around him.

'Oh no,' Mimirou thought, 'Please don't let him smell Kagome on me. I haven't thought about it. Dammit!'

If Sesshomaru smelled something, he didn't indicate it.

"I need you to do something for me," Sesshomaru said.

"Let me guess," Mimirou said, "Meeting with the other company didn't go well and you want me to go run damage control? I didn't think I would have to do that. I thought that the two of you went way back."

"Too far I'm afraid," Sesshomaru said and stood up with his coffee in his hand and walked over to his window that over looked the city.

"Oh," Mimirou said, "Is he still mad about that whole…episode? He does realize that his claim meant nothing."

Sesshomaru reached up his free hand to rub his temples, "Apparently, he still leaves in that illusion."

Mimirou just shrugged her shoulders and took a bite out of her muffin, "Ookami are known for their stubbornness not to mention there fierce possessiveness."

"You think that he would get over it," Sesshomaru said and Mimirou noticed that his eyes had taken a slightly misted look, "She is dead after all."

'He looks sad,' Mimirou said, 'but I wonder who exactly is he referring to? Kagome or Misumi? It's hard to tell.' Mimirou had taken to noticing every little change in Sesshomaru's behavior over the centuries. She could notice even the slightest cease between his eyebrows whenever he was irritated or how his eyes widened just a fraction when he was surprised (though this was rare).

"Just leave everything to me," Mimirou said polishing off her muffin and began to suck down her smoothie, "I'm sure that I can get to this Koga person. I don't know much about him personally, so I'll have to do a little digging. Any weaknesses you remember?"

Sesshomaru took a sip from his coffee, "Not any that I recall offhand. He did grow somewhat sensitive towards humans, but I suppose he would have some sort of anger towards hanyous."

Mimirou sighed, "Looks like I'll just have to tighten up my illusion just a tad. Maybe even get a stronger power limiter-. You could still sense traces of youki in me."

"Do what you will," Sesshomaru said and turned his back to Mimirou. Mimirou took that as a sign to leave. She turned and walked out the room and dropped the empty bag into the trash can near the door. She held up her wrist and looked at her watch.

'Only another hour or so until I get off,' Mimirou thought to herself happily, 'I can't wait!'

-O0o0O-

punkish furball—Yay! Chapter 4! Woohoo!

-power limiter—this is a term from the Saiyuki series. It is an accessory like a bracelet, earring, coronet etc. that restricts demonic blood and keeps demons more human-like.

More updates coming you're way…I just don't know when.

Questions? Comments? Words of wisdom? Contact me.

L83R, DUDES!

(edited 10/24/07)