Sold

Rating: M

Pairing: Sesshomaru/Kagome &Inuyasha/Kikyo

A/N: Oh boy! I have loads of interesting plans for this story!


Waking up in a pile of her own drool on the kitchen table hadn't been the best way to begin the day. Kagome was alreadyrunning late for her shift as it was, and struggling into her too small black jeans, grabbing an apple, and running to her car took up even more time than she had hoped. After a few moments of her car not starting and a million profanities, it roared to life and she swore she had never driven so fast and recklessly in her life to be somewhere. Looking at her car's clock, she groaned and took a large bite out of her apple as she arrived in a restaurant parking lot. She turned her car off quickly and hastily threw her half eaten apple on her seat as she swung her door open, nearly hitting another car in the process, and running to the back entrance for employees.

She huffed as she threw her purse in the nearby break room, not stopping her sprint towards the main dining area. If she could just sneak in without the managers noticing her, she would pretend later that she had forgotten to clock in. She could just write herself in for the correct time later so she wouldn't get in trouble for being so late a fourth time. It was about time that the managers would be finishing their early afternoon meetings and would be entering the dining room at any moment to check in on the employees setting up for the day. She was so close, she noted and she felt a bead of sweat trickle down her face. Pushing through the wooden doors of the kitchen she sighed in relief at the quiet area, noticing only other waiters, waitresses, and the two hosts around and setting the tables. She had made it!

"Hello, Kagome." She paused at the sudden voice next to her and she turned her head slowly. She cursed to herself as icy blue eyes met her own darker ones with curiosity. The man was fixing his ponytail, pulling long, dark brown strands up evenly. His tanned skin creased as he frowned and looked at her unamused. She felt her stomach drop and she hissed at her bad luck. Of course, the owner happened to be in today. How could she forget? He was always there to ensure a smooth opening before a big weekend.

"Mr. Ookami." She all but mumbled out.

He observed as she hung her head in embarrassment and his frown lessened. "I don't believe this is the first time you've been a half hour late."

"No, it isn't." she admitted sadly. This was it, he was definitely going to fire her this time. Thoughts of her sister's disappointment raced through her head and she felt a pang of fear, thinking of how Kikyo might stick with selling herself if she lost this job. She felt like a failure, and she was sure she looked the part, standing in front of her well-groomed boss with disorderly, tousled hair and dried sweat on her face.

Her boss hummed to himself and folded his muscular arms. His white button down crinkled lightly in protest and he began tapping his black dress shoes impatiently on the floor. "What on earth am I going to do with you?" He shook his head and couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. He had heard from the managers he hired that she was constantly late, and he knew she wasn't very well off, not if nearly broken down car was any indication, not to mention she was always asking for another raise. Although pleading was more the term. He had brushed off his managers' concerns and granted her each raise, eventually admitting to himself that he held a tender spot for her close to his heart. Her determination and light personality always brought a small smile to his face, and he knew he couldn't bring himself to fire her, even after this time. Instead, another idea came to mind.

"Look, I've recently opened another place downtown, and I need some more employees to help work any other kinks out of the system there. Think you could handle it?"

Kagome's head snapped up and she stared at him in confusion. Was he really just relocating her? "A downtown location?" she repeated weakly and he nodded.

"Yes, I'm under the impression that it would be a closer drive for you? Hopefully that would help with your timing…but it's a higher end establishment. Jeans and flats won't cut it. You'll have to get a proper black dress shirt and a skirt. Heeled shoes as well. It won't be easy, but I think you can do it." He couldn't help crack a small smile at her beaming face. He felt bad for an instant, wondering if he should mention the stuffy business types they catered too, the longer shifts, and the extensive menu training…but of course, the pay would be higher. He elected to bring it up to her at a later time when she was undergoing training.

"Oh, Sir! Thank you so much! I won't let you down." Her eyes sparkled and she clasped her hands together and willed herself not to hug him out of excitement.

"Please," he chuckled. "I've told you before, call me Kouga."

She nodded eagerly and watched as he took a long look around his restaurant. "So you'll finish whatever you're scheduled on for the remainder of the week, then we'll begin your training. Have a uniform ready by then, and I'll take care of talking to the other managers about the situation. Here's my number, call me tomorrow evening and I'll give you the address and some more information about the restaurant." He handed her a simple business card, and she accepted it gratefully in both hands before placing it into her apron pocket.

"Thank you so much, again." She looked up at him earnestly and he cleared his throat and looked away with a light dusting of pink spreading across his cheeks.

"It's no problem, really. You're helping me out actually." He turned on his heel and walked through the kitchen, waving back at her as he did so.

Kagome could barely contain her enthusiasm the rest of the day. Normally, taking a shift that lead her later into the night would put her in a foul mood, but nothing could ruin her good mood, and she couldn't wait to get home and tell her sister the good news. She'd be closer to home, which meant she could save on gas money, and surely the pay at the higher end restaurant would be better! She let her imagination take her away, coming up with all sorts of ideas as to what the place would look like. She wondered what kind of food they served and if the servers would be just as nice as the ones she knew at her current job.

Later that night, she left her shift as another girl took over and took her time to be more careful on the drive back to her home than earlier. She had gotten a lot of generous tips and was excited to go to the mall within the week and use some of the money towards her new uniform. Walking into her home and locking the door behind her, she called out for her sister but was met with no reply. Her face fell as she looked out a front window to see that her car wasn't anywhere to be seen. Realizing her sister must be out 'working', she went straight upstairs and showered before climbing into her bed and retiring for the night.


The rest of her week went smoothly and she was perfectly on time to each of her last shifts, really wanting Kouga to hear that she was doing well before she transitioned. Her coworkers threw her a small going away party, and her sister was just as pleased as she had hoped when learning of her new job. Kagome couldn't help but think that once she was settled in, she could see if her boss would hire Kikyo as well. Then, with the fairer pay, she wouldn't have to worry about her side job anymore. She noticed there wasn't much she could do to convince her sister to stop at the moment, even though she'd come home at strange hours and have new bruises or marks show up on her body. Her begging didn't do a thing, and even getting Sango to step in and say something wasn't enough. Kikyo had been furious at her for bringing the other woman into the conversation and it hadn't ended well at all.

On the other hand, her conversations with Kouga had been going well, and the extra information he had given her had her determined to show him she would do a good job. No more being late, no more messing up, she couldn't afford it. She had gotten a simple black button-down shirt and a skirt, stopping a bit above the knee but not too short, as per his instructions. She had a pair of black heels that weren't tall enough to give her too much discomfort and she hoped he would be content with her outfit. She would begin training in another day and it couldn't come fast enough.


When she showed up for her first day of training, she was awed by the large, classy stone exterior. It was in a prime location, downtown just as he said, surrounded by tall office buildings and apartments alike. The inside was just as stunning, with a more old-fashioned look to the place than his other, more modern and upbeat place she had worked at. Hand carved wooden mouldings marked every corner of the room's ceiling, and the dim lighting went well with the deeper color scheme of rich blues and golds. Everything from the deep vaulted ceilings to the plush, darkly stained chairs amazed her, and she was sure to voice her thoughts to Kouga as gave her a tour.

He chuckled and thanked her for the compliments, taking a moment to admire his handiwork. He lead her around to the bar area where high top tables sat, and then past the main dining room to a small yet grandiose carpeted staircase leading to a smaller, but just as elegant dining space. The kitchen was everything she expected and more, with the newest equipment and finest chefs he could find. Once her tour was finished, he took her to a small office space and sat her down with a copy of their menu.

"I don't think I've heard of most this stuff before, let alone tried any of it!" Kagome sighed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with all of the details being thrown her way in such a small span of time.

Kouga gently pulled the menu away from her with an understanding look on his face. "I know this is a lot to take in, but we'll start you slow and then work you up to the harder tasks. Later I'll have you try everything on the menu with two other trainees so you get an idea for the food. Depending on how fast you pick up on everything else, I might have you begin to shadow alongside another waiter for dinner, and then I'll have you wait on one table the rest of the time to get the hang of things."

Her head felt like it was spinning and she inwardly cried at hearing he wanted her to already try and wait on a table by herself later that night. She felt as though he was moving her along too fast, but didn't want to push him since he had been kind enough to give her a position there instead of firing her. "There must be some important people that come here to eat." She blurted out and tried to boost her own morale by telling herself it couldn't be that much harder to serve food to a bunch of fancy folk.

The tanned man stretched his arms above his head and yawned. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Tonight I'll have you shadow and work in the smaller upstairs room. The patrons that typically dine up there tend to be more forgiving and it's a little quieter to get you started."

Kagome nodded with a smile. "I promise I won't let you down!"

He winked at her and offered a wolfish grin in response. "You better not."


Kouga had left Kagome eventually so she could taste their menu and be given another reminder on rules and etiquette by one of his senior managers as he went to make sure everything was in order for dinner that night. He walked around making sure every table cloth sat crisply where it should, and every setting was straight. A hostess was following him around and reading off names of those that had made a reservation for the night and he listened, not hearing too many that he found notable. Near the end of the list, a name had him perking up and he paused the hostess.

"So the Taisho brothers are coming for dinner?" he chuckled at the thought of his friendly rival and his older brother. "They've been placed upstairs?"

The hostess nodded in response and he moved towards the area in mention. "Good, Sesshomaru prefers a quieter space anyway." He thought about his new trainee and he frowned lightly. "Make sure that Kagome won't be placed by their table tonight. I don't want them getting offended if she messes something up." The hostess scribbled a note down hastily. He then smirked and shrugged. "Tell their server they'll get a bottle of wine on me as well. I have a good feeling about tonight."