Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Two: July 28th

It took me a long, dragging moment to wake myself up the next morning. My head was pounding obnoxiously, an angry reminder of the number of drinks I had the night before. I wasn't normally a heavy drinker, though last night I splurged on account of the occasion. Even so, it wouldn't be the first time I had to go to work with a hangover.

I vaguely wondered why the alarm hadn't gone off this morning before I was reminded that Koharu-chan had worked her way into spending the night yet again. Though I didn't remember a good chunk of the night before (my memory started to fail as the number of drinks I'd consumed rose) I always remembered when I'd slept with Koharu-chan, because I always awoke feeling the same way: accomplished, with just the slightest twinge of guilt.

Shrugging away the strange sense of satisfied remorse, I stretched and staggered out of bed, dragging the sheets halfway with me as they remained tangled around my feet. I pulled on some sweat pants, not bothering with real clothes until after I showered. First things first, however, I needed some coffee, and if there was any one benefit to having Koharu-chan around, it was that she made a damn good pot of coffee.

I made my way towards the kitchen, my bare feet padding across the hardwood floors of my penthouse apartment noiselessly. The smell of freshly brewed coffee became stronger the closer I got and my mouth watered appropriately. I knew most people thought me strange for my preference of coffee to tea, but there was something about the caffeine and stronger taste that did more for me than tea ever could.

Koharu smiled as I entered the kitchen, her own mug of coffee perched on her bottom lip as she winked, "Good morning, honey."

"Morning." I walked over to her obediently and gave her a quick kiss before I looked around for my own mug of coffee. "Did you brew one for me?" I asked expectantly.

"Black, just like always," she nodded, stepping aside to reveal the mug she'd poured for me.

I sighed gratefully, not even pausing to cool off my coffee as I raised the mug to my lip, taking a greedy swig. Koharu-chan watched me coyly, balancing her weight on one leg while using the other one to draw lazy designs across the tile. She was wearing the shirt I had on yesterday, albeit incredibly more wrinkled. I flashed an awkward smile, hoping she didn't have any ideas similar to the ones she had last night, and a few moments passed in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

Remembering the absence of my alarm this morning, I asked after a while, "What time is it?" I glanced around, finding the digital clock on the stovetop. My stomach dropped as I realized how late it was.

"A little after ten," Koharu-chan clarified unnecessarily, with an uncaring shrug. "But it's not like it matters, right? I mean, you are the boss."

"Shit!" I slammed my half-drank coffee mug onto the countertop, paying no mind as the coffee sloshed over the side. "I have a meeting, Koharu-chan! Right now; I'm already late! Dammit!"

"Hey!" Koharu-chan was offended, as if I was blaming her for making me so late. In truth, I sort of was, as she had been the one to turn off my alarm this morning. "It's not like I knew, okay?"

I ignored her, running back to the bathroom and jumping in the shower hastily. I didn't wait for the water to heat and I washed my hair hurriedly in cold water. I skipped shaving and slapped cologne onto my overnight scruff, pulling on un-ironed slacks and a white button-up shirt with a blindly selected tie.

By the time I was able to hail a cab, it was twenty passed ten. I lived fifteen minutes from the building, and could only pray that Hachi could keep Hakudoshi-san entertained long enough for me to arrive.

I nodded hurriedly in thanks as the doorman opened the front doors to the building for me as usual, bowing deeply and muttering a polite, "Tsujitani-shachō," in greeting. With my eye solely focused on the elevators on the opposite side of the lobby, I wasn't paying too much attention on my surrounding area and wasn't prepared when a mail cart suddenly materialized in my way. I ran into it clumsily, the hard metal of the cart clanging into my shins painfully.

"Damn!" I heard a voice curse bitterly. "Hey watch where you're going, huh, man—whoa…"

The voice cut itself off, and I looked up from briefly inspecting my injury into the young, wide-eyed face of one of our interns, the pusher of the offending mail cart.

The boy, looking no older than eighteen or nineteen years old, was backpedaling quickly as he recognized me. "I'm so sorry, Tsujitani-sensei, I didn't see you there—I mean if I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have…" He trailed off, looking embarrassed and afraid.

"Don't worry about it," I shrugged, wincing slightly as I bore a little more weight on my hurt leg. I studied him for a moment, his face ringing some distant bell of familiarity. Normally, Hachi screened all of our interns, though on occasion, I'd interviewed some in the past. I wondered if this mail cart pusher had been one of them.

Ignoring the fact that I was now forty-five minutes late to my appointment with Hakudoshi-san, I inquired, "What's your name?"

The boy gulped. "F-Fujimoto, sir. Fujimoto Shippo."

I nodded thoughtfully. "You look familiar."

"I was interviewed by you personally when I applied here last summer." Shippo-kun's face reddened a little. "A-am I fired?"

I shook my head. "No, no," I assured him mildly. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen." His answers were direct and obedient; though I got the sense he was confused at all of the sudden questions. I'm sure I hadn't talked to him since our initial interview, but I liked to keep all of my employees on a personal level. Which reminded me, I still needed to find out who that mysterious woman who kept answering all of my pages yesterday was.

I nodded at Shippo-kun again. "Well, it's good to see you've stuck it out here, Shippo-kun. I hope to see you around." I waved, leaving the now very confused and slightly shocked intern in my wake.

Resuming my earlier rush, I jogged over to the elevators, impatiently punching the up button several times until the signifying arrow finally lit up over the doors. Jumping inside and hitting the button with the glowing '54' next to it, I tapped my foot obnoxiously as I waited for fellow passengers to file lazily onto the elevator with me.

A few agonizing minutes later, I finally stepped onto the floor of my and Hachi's offices, only to be bombarded with a frantic looking woman with auburn hair, who pulled me forward irritably.

"You're late, Tsujitani-sensei," she scolded, and I immediately recognized her voice as the mysterious receptionist from the day before.

"I'm aware of that," I responded in kind, frowning as she stepped behind me, planted her hands firmly on my mid-back and started pushing me forward.

Just as we reached the corner that rounded off and led directly to my office, the pushy receptionist suddenly halted behind me, her hands grabbing onto my suit jacket and forcing me to a stop as well. She rushed in front of me, her eyes sweeping from my head to my feet disapprovingly.

"You're a mess," she muttered, her thumb tucked to her chin contemplatively.

"Excuse me?" I was quickly losing patience with this woman, a rare thing indeed. I wasn't by any means the world's most patient man, yet I strived to remain so whenever I dealt with the fairer sex. This woman, however, was proving to be quite a battle indeed.

"Well, you can't go in there looking like that, can you?" She began tugging at my tie, straightening it futilely before sighing, undoing and re-tying the thing altogether. Wiping her hands down the front of my shirt, she tried to rid it of any unsightly wrinkles and twisted it so it tucked neatly into my trousers; in my haste this morning, I neglected to tuck my shirt in properly.

Remembering my run-in with Shippo-kun earlier, I asked, "What's your name?"

The receptionist paused in her assessment of me and frowned. "Aoi."

"What's your first name?" I pressed.

"Ayame," she responded curtly, her frown deepening. Apparently, I'd offended her somehow. She brought our budding conversation to an end as she pushed me forward again, urging me into my office.

I held up my hand in surrender, and finally her pushing ceased as I placed my hand on the handle of my office door. "One more thing," I said quickly, momentarily stalling my waiting appointment and turning back to Ayame-san. "Are you new?"

That did it. Ayame-san puffed a short breath of air out of her nose angrily as she snapped, "No, I've been here for four years!" With that, she reached around me, opened the door, and rudely shoved me inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

"Miroku-sama!" Hachi rose from one of the guest chairs placed before my desk gratefully. In the chair beside him, Hakudoshi-san also got to his feet, looking highly irritated and pleased to see me at the same time. Hachi stretched his hand towards me eagerly and I shook it, offering a silent apology to my friend and business partner as I turned to Hakudoshi-san.

"Having a rough morning, Tsujitani-shachō?" Hakudoshi-san greeted as he bowed his head slightly. It was nearly unnoticeable, yet I didn't miss the sneer in his voice. Perhaps I had overestimated his relief at seeing me.

"Yes," I admitted sheepishly, nodding at him and stepping behind my desk to take my own seat. "I am sorry I'm so late. You'll have to forgive me, Hakudoshi-san."

"Of course. There's no harm done."

I gave him a small smile, remembering my hesitation the night before at meeting with him today. The uneasiness was slowly creeping back up on me, and I shrugged it away almost nervously. It's just a preliminary appointment, Miroku, I reminded myself. Nothing to get worked up over.

"Yes, well," Hachi jumped in, rubbing his hands together earnestly before folding them in his lap. "No point in putting this off any further. Let's get started, shall we?"

I agreed hastily, turning back to Hakudoshi-san, who leaned over to retrieve his briefcase sitting on the floor beside his chair.

"As you both know, I've come on behalf of the Kumo conglomerate," he began, flipping the latches of his briefcase open with his thumbs. He kept the contents of it mysteriously hidden from both my and Hachi's view, though I tried to pay this no mind. He produced two identical and very thick pamphlets, passing them over to Hachi and I.

"Our company does like to keep things as tight-lipped as possible, as I'm sure you understand," Hakudoshi-san continued, "Though I have prepared a brief statement of what we're hoping to gain by applying with your company."

I raised an eyebrow, perplexed. The pamphlet had to be at least thirty pages long; not exactly what I'd call "brief." I skimmed through the first few pages, frowning and flipping through the entire thing in confusion. Most of it seemed to be dedicated to a strict privacy policy, demanding our company's cooperation and silence if we were to go into business together. On the last page were two dotted lines, clearly a spot for both my and Hachi's signatures. I reread the last few paragraphs, trying to pinpoint exactly what Hakudoshi-san meant by saying these pamphlets contained his company's wishes beyond privacy and silence.

"Um," I hedged, my formalities dropping as my uneasiness and befuddlement grew. "In terms of an insurance policy, what exactly were you looking for?"

Hakudoshi-san smiled, a haughty and indiscernible grin. "Asset and loss protection," he said simply. "It's in the last stanza of the pamphlet. Sentence six."

I was stymied, and from the looks of it, Hachi was too as we both rifled through the pamphlet again in search of Hakudoshi-san's directive. I frowned as I read through it, not impressed by the vague and indefinite nature of the policy request.

Hachi cleared his throat, still reading through the same stanza as he clarified, "Asset and loss protection? What exactly does this entail?"

Hakudoshi-san was looking to me as he explained, "The Kumo conglomerate is looking to have our assets and losses protected against needless and time-consuming issues of court and legality." He nodded at me, as if urging me to agree to with him. "It's understandable, yes?"

I was fairly certain that I did not want to know the answer, yet I asked anyway, "What do you mean by losses?"

The cruel grin was present on his face, yet his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You'll have to forgive me, Tsujitani-shachō, but I'm afraid that falls under our confidentiality clause. Third page, second stanza, sentence four."

Hachi hastily flipped back to the corresponding page, his eyebrows creasing in some measure of concern as he skimmed the stanza over. I held Hakudoshi-san's gaze, my stomach churning as I stared into his blank, yet somehow angry eyes.

"Hakudoshi-san," Hachi cut in, looking to dispel the tension between the two of us, "If we were to accept your application, we could potentially be shelling out significant amounts of money on your company's behalf. It's to our benefit to know exactly what we'll be insuring." He spread his hands emphatically. "I'm sure you understand."

Hakudoshi-san's hard glare slid slowly from me to Hachi. A few more tense seconds ticked by before he abruptly opened his briefcase again. He retrieved a checkbook, flipping it open and holding a pen at the ready. "The Kumo conglomerate is prepared to pay any premium in full, today." He tilted his head insistently. "And any other fee you deem necessary."

Hachi widened his eyes and looked to me, seeming to leave the matter in my hands. I knew he didn't feel any better about this venture than I, and for a few moments I simply watched Hakudoshi-san, looking for any more signs of disagreeable behavior. He held my gaze, his pen tapping expectantly against the edge of his open checkbook.

Finally, I held my hand up, stalling his waiting pen. "I'm sorry, Hakudoshi-san. Without sufficient information, it's too risky of an investment on our half." I shook my head, floundering for some sort of apology.

Hakudoshi-san flipped his checkbook shut and glared at Hachi before his gaze turned back to me. "Perhaps we could discuss things further in private," he said pointedly.

Hachi and I exchanged a look; he seemed reluctant to leave me alone with Hakudoshi-san, but I waved him on assuredly. He sighed heavily before slowly getting to his feet once more.

"Well, then," he excused himself, clapping his hands together restlessly before shoving them into his pockets. "I'll be just outside if you need me." He left, closing the door soundly behind him.

I looked back to Hakudoshi-san, waiting on him expectantly, though his eyes remained trained on the door, as if making sure that Hachi wasn't eavesdropping.

Finally, he turned back to me, leaning forward and pressing his fingertips together while he rested his elbows on my desk. "Tsujitani-shachō," he said, his voice low and his words careful, "I would've rather that things did not come to this, but if you insist." He leaned back, settling into his chair and crossing his legs. His demeanor had completely relaxed, contrasting his prior tense and irritable behavior up until now. He continued, "The Kumo conglomerate, despite its name, is a very small and intimate group of…" he hesitated, thoughtfully considering his choice of words, "Businessmen. We're detail-oriented, and extremely efficient." His eyes gleamed with some unsettling emotion.

I stared at him hard, my brow creasing in consternation as he went on. If I was uncertain about funding his company before, I had no questions about it now. No matter what Hakudoshi-san said further about the Kumo conglomerate, I was not accepting their application.

Hakudoshi-san went on, "In order for a business to flourish productively, our employees, or assets, must be a part of that productivity." He gestured to me emphatically, ensuring that as an owner of my own company, I understood. "However," he continued, "sometimes, as is especially so with Kumo, our assets can quickly turn into losses." He smiled at me again; the same creepy and haughty smile as before. "As losses represent potential risks, for the benefit of the company, naturally they have to be eliminated."

His words hung in the air heavily, making the silence between us markedly more uncomfortable as I fought to gather my thoughts. He reopened his checkbook, retaining a remarkable amount of confidence that we were still going to approve his policy.

"Now," he said conversationally, "How much do we owe you?"

I shook my head defiantly. "I'm sorry, Hakudoshi-san," I said unapologetically, standing up from my desk and folding my arms. "We can't accept your application. It's too risky." I gave him my own narrowed-eye look. "It's as you say, risks have to be eliminated."

Hakudoshi-san seemed frozen in place, though his eyes thinned into furious slits. "Are you sure you won't reconsider, then?" he asked finally, his words sounding much more like a threat than a question.

"I'm sure," I replied coldly, nodding to the door pointedly.

Giving a curt nod of his own, Hakudoshi-san took the hint and put his checkbook and pen away, gathering his overcoat and briefcase. As he reached the door, he turned back, his eyes still narrowed into angry slits. "I hope you'll realize you're making a mistake."

"I'm sure I'm not," I retorted quickly. "Have a good day, Kobayashi-san."

After dismissing Hakudoshi-san, I didn't spare our appointment this morning a second thought. It wasn't the first time I'd declined a less-than-ethical application, and I supposed it certainly wouldn't be the last. I passed the rest of the day more or less contentedly, chatting with some of the girls from Accounting and Filing and teasing Kagome-chan occasionally. As the day dwindled down, I boarded an elevator with my trusty personal assistant, laughing as she muttered something about me being a twisted pervert.

"Ah, lighten up, Kagome-chan," I encouraged, squeezing her shoulder affectionately. "I'm only kidding around."

"That's your problem, Miroku-sensei," Kagome-chan informed me testily, "You never stop kidding around. You should learn to be more serious some of the time."

I frowned, feigning offense. "I can be serious," I insisted. By the sound of Kagome-chan's snort, she didn't believe me.

On the fortieth floor, the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened, revealing a very disgruntled Ayame-san. Her mood appeared to have worsened considerably upon seeing me in the elevator, and she stalled for a moment before reluctantly boarding. She nodded at Kagome-chan politely.

"Higurashi-san," she greeted mildly.

"Ayame-san." Kagome-chan responded in kind, smirking slightly at Ayame-san's obviously sour mood. "Is your husband picking you up again today?"

This particular bit of information caught my attention and I couldn't help but interrupt. "You're married?" I inquired of Ayame-san.

She shot me a dirty look. "Yes. Are you jealous?"

"No," I defended, a little hurt at the accusation. "I just didn't know. How long have you been married?"

Ayame-san's defensive behavior lightened some. "A little over two years," she answered. Her eyes were downcast and her shoulders hunched, as if she was ashamed of her aggressive nature towards me.

I smiled. "He's a lucky guy," I said dotingly, proud of myself for accomplishing my private mission of getting to know this mysterious receptionist. "What's his name?"

"Koga. He's a police officer."

I let out an impressed whistle as the elevator slowed to its final stop and opened its doors to reveal the lobby. Being the gentleman, I waited until both Kagome-chan and Ayame-san walked out of the elevator before stepping out myself.

"See you tomorrow, Ayame-san," Kagome-chan called to her, waving as she walked out of the building, presumably to meet her waiting husband, Koga.

Ayame-san waved in return, nodding and smiling as the doorman held the glass doors open for her as she stepped onto the cement steps leading up to the building. I turned back to Kagome-chan, preparing for our daily ritual of escorting her to her cab home.

"Ready?" I asked, offering my arm for her to take, though knowing she'd decline it like always. True to form, she shook her head and made her way to the front doors as I tagged along.

"I was serious about what I said before, Sensei," she said suddenly, and I looked down at her inquisitively. Our walk out of the building halted momentarily and we stood a few feet from the entrance.

"What do you mean?"

"You need to not joke around so much. Yoshida-sensei told me what happened during the meeting with Kobayashi-sama today; do you realize what could've happened if you didn't take him seriously?"

I frowned. "Hachi wasn't there for the entire thing, Kagome-chan," I informed her, watching her brow crease at my solemn tone. "The Kumo conglomerate is some kind of Yakuza equivalent. They wanted insurance against their 'losses' or, more appropriately, victims. That's why I turned him down. There's no way I was advocating their business."

"Miroku-sensei," Kagome-chan seemed genuinely impressed with me, and she smiled in spite of herself. "Well done, Sensei. For the first time, you've made me eat my own words."

I smiled as well, though mine was a tad smugger. "Believe it or not, Kagome-chan, I do know what I'm doing."

Kagome-chan nodded in acquiescence. "Maybe that's true. But you still wouldn't make it through a day without my help."

"Of course not," I laughed, and we resumed our walk towards the building's entrance. "Why do you think you still have a job around here?"

Her reply was interrupted by a sudden, high-pitched beeping, and we paused, my hand frozen in the act of pushing one of the huge glass doors open. Then, just as abruptly as it started, the beeping stopped. I caught the beginnings of an explosion before the sound deafened me completely and an annoying ringing took over as my eardrums screamed in complaint. The glass of the door shattered underneath my hand, sending several shards deep into my fingers and palm as the force of the explosion forcibly threw Kagome-chan and I backwards. I landed on my back, my head hitting the marble floor painfully as I slid to a stop ten feet away from the entrance. I was too stunned to move, and for a moment all I did was lie on my back and stare wide-eyed up at the ceiling, trying to focus as orbs of white opalescence danced in my vision.

Finally, I rolled my head around, disoriented, and tried to focus as I looked for Kagome-chan. She was screaming and crying something, though my hearing was still too damaged to figure out exactly what she was saying. I looked around again, sluggishly trying to put the pieces together as numerous people surrounded us. At last, everything clicked and I closed my eyes in disbelief, moaning slightly as the shock melted away and the agonizing pain took over.

It was a bomb.

By the looks of it, it had been a rather small one, localized to go off the minute somebody walked out of the building's entrance. Not just anybody, I realized as I remembered that Ayame-san had passed through that same door just moments before I'd opened it. Whoever planted the bomb, they were after me.

It appeared that Kagome-chan and I were the only ones directly affected by the small explosion, as the doorman had dove out of the way just in time. He was yelling something now as well, and I was able to make out the garbled sound of "police" and "hurry."

"Kagome-chan," I mumbled, my voice sounding very muffled and far-away in my own ears. I tried rolling over to get to her, but my body screamed in protest and I collapsed into the marble floor. "Kagome-chan," I called to her regardless of my immobility, "Are you alright?"

"Miroku-sensei," she wept, her hands cradling her head. Her voice was too high an octave for me to distinguish just yet, and I had to rely on lip-reading to determine what she was saying. "What's going on, Miroku-sensei?"

"I don't know," I said, my voice still sounding distorted and distant. I closed my eyes again, suddenly feeling feverish and very tired. "I… I don't know…"

I caught the muddled sound of police sirens, and through the orbs still clouding my vision, I was able to make out several more people rush into the building, running to Kagome-chan's and my aid. More people were saying my name, but I found it very hard to stay focused, and soon the orbs faded into black as my vision gave way completely, and I succumbed to my fever, slipping into unconsciousness.

AN: Um... I'm not actually sure that there's anything for me to clarify/translate in this chapter. Until next time, then!