Kagome hummed as she took in the single room apartment for rent that she was considering. It was small, but then again it was big enough for what she needed until everything was finally settled. But it would need a lot or work. A dehumidifier, the walls completely redone as well as the floor. Not only that, some of the darker stains looked more like mold, but none of this would really hurt she had deep pockets.
Surprising for someone that nearly failed Jr. High and got into a rather average High school.
"I'll need someone to come in to check for mold, and I would love to be able to redo the place. I do have to ask something though. The kitchen and bathroom..." she trailed off not knowing how she wanted to phrase her question.
"Oh don't worry dear, you'll have access to those. Chip in for food and pay for your own toiletries and I'm sure we won't have any problems." the old woman smiled to which Kagome couldn't help but return. "But please keep the redecorating tasteful."
"You have nothing to worry about, Mrs. Hudson. Of that I promise you." Kagome quickly pulled out a buzzing cell phone and checked her latest message with a raised brow. Reading the text, she let out a sigh before returning her attention to the woman. "I'll pay for the first six months in advance, as well for all costs of redoing the room. I'm afraid word is calling me away, may we finalize this a little later?"
The old woman smiled as she led them both back upstairs. "I see no problem with that. It'll be nice to have another woman in the house, those boys can be so tiring."
Kagome blinked at the comment, not that she didn't understand how female companionship wasn't nice to have, but more about the two 'boys' she spoke about.
"Well, before you go, here's the keys you'll need and then we can work the rest out when you return." Mrs. Hudson pulled a few keys off her key ring, the jingling of the many keys sounding louder in the empty stairwell.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hudson. Have a pleasant day and until later then." accepting the offered keys, Kagome slipped them into her purse.
Fishing her phone out of her coat pocket, she signaled a taxi as she pressed the redial button. It didn't take long for either. She pressed the cell to her shoulder to quickly give the cabbie the address, before returning to her call.
"You called a few minutes ago May?" her tone was curious, if not slightly worried. The girl wouldn't have called unless she absolutely had too.
"One of your regulars keeps asking for you. Saying he won't work with anyone else but you."
A brow rose at the frustrated tone of the girl's voice. "Which client?"
"Mr. Stark."
Kagome rolled her eyes, that man could be nothing but a pain in the neck when he wanted to be. It was the reason why she hadn't mentioned to him that she was moving to London for a while to open another office. Well, his girlfriend knew, but she trusted Pepper to keep it for as long as possible. Then again, the man could track her with all his high tech toys of his.
"All his measurements are already on file, along with preferred materials. If he gives you any more trouble, go ahead and call Pepper Potts." with a sigh, Kagome ended the call after wishing the girl she left in charge of her New York office farewell.
Rubbing her temples, she let out another sigh before turning to watch the London streets pass her by. The ride itself wasn't that long, but it allowed her time to reminisce about her life after the well. Of all the things she had become after her time spent in the well, designing and selling clothing had not been what she had expected.
But it didn't remind her of the past, although it was the inspiration for her more traditional pieces, and it was something she chose without being influenced by the past. Well, that was a lie. After patching her own clothing, bag and human skin, designing fashion and sowing it was easy.
She had started off small, doing simple commission for family and friends until more people wanted her designs and a designers took her under their wing. After everything, her mentor gave her a little space where she could open a boutique and sell her clothing. And then somehow, things took off for her from there. Fame, money and recognition, she gained them and soon enough, she opened a office in New York.
Her designs became the talk of the town. Clothing that had a flare of the past, for all events purposes, and being inspired from various cultures. So the past did have an influence, but she used every era in all her designs as inspiration.
It was in New York she met the infamous Tony Stark through Pepper Potts. Her simple life of a designer and seamstress went right out the window with that man. But she could honestly say she enjoyed the spice he brought into her life. It would have been very bland, but he still needed to learn he didn't get everything.
"We're here."
Shaken out of her thoughts, she offered the man a grateful smile as she paid. "Thank you, have a pleasant day."
Exiting the cab, she observed the building. It was nice, located in a rather populated area of London, a hot spot for tourists without it being too crowded. All in all, it was perfect.
"Ah, Miss. Higurashi. Right on time, we'll have one last tour of the building and then we can discuss the details." a tall sandy haired woman offered her hand in greeting that Kagome accepted.
"Yes, lets." taking one last look at the old brick building, another step into the future, she was brimming with excitement.
Four months had passed since she first moved to London, and her life had been just as exciting as when she was in New York. Instead of Tony Stark, she had Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. A good pair that equaled each other out if she ever saw one.
Living under the same roof with a consulting detective proved to be interesting, and that was putting it mildly.
"Oh, let me Mrs. Hudson." Kagome took the tray from the older woman, though she knew that her landlady was more than capable.
"You're such a dear. Could you please bring these up to them as well? I'm afraid I need to do some errands." Mrs. Hudson placed some envelopes on the tray.
"Not at all. Word of warning, the wind is a might nippy out there." Kagome called over her shoulder as she began climbing the stairs, smiling when she heard Mrs. Hudson thanked her.
"John, Sherlock? Tea's ready." she called out through the door, her hands rather full at the moment to actually open it.
Pursing her lips, she could here a person pacing about in the living room. Either Sherlock needed a case, or was working on one. That's how quickly she learned of their routine. It was either that, or get blown over with the fast pace Sherlock lived in.
Rearing back and out of her thoughts, Kagome smiled at John's appearance when he allowed her entrance. "Good day John, Sherlock."
Blinking and pausing at the pictures that littered the wall above the fire place, she learned that Sherlock was indeed on a case. Shaking her head, she made her way into the kitchen to place the tray on the table there, glad to see it wasn't overflowing with Sherlock's experiments. She returned to the living room, happy to hand John the post. Mentally, she snickered at how she was now using British terms.
"Here you are, today's post. I see Sherlock is busy with a new case. Is it any interesting?" she shared a sly smirk with the doctor as the both turned to a stumped Sherlock.
"Thank you. And for us normal people, yes it is rather interesting. An invisible burglar that didn't steal anything. And this all happened on the top floor." John answered as he sorted through the mail.
Her brows shot up before she smirked. "Let me guess, nothing was caught on camera."
"Right-o. Nor did our burglar take anything." John smiled at the furrowing of Kagome's brows, obviously confused and trying to figure out the puzzle presented her.
"If nothing was taken. That only means something was left behind, or murdered. But that would also be considered something left behind as well." she muttered to herself as she tapped her lower lip.
"Right you are, the burglar left something behind. Care to have a look?" John knew she was interested, her curiosity had been piqued when she first met them.
Pursing her lips, Kagome chanced a look at Sherlock who was still deep in thought. "I won't get into any sort of trouble, will I?"
"Of course not. Come on then, this way." he nodded his head back towards the living room, already knowing she would follow.
Kagome hummed as she followed, her eyes flying up to the pictures that were tacked up onto the wall. Pictures of yellow spray paint, one on a white wall and the other across a painted portrait. "What's it supposed to mean?"
"Sherlock is trying to figure that out. Pretty sure it's some type of code." John absently went through the post, scowling lightly at seeing nothing but bills.
"So the numbers fifteen and one are a code? Interesting code." Kagome hummed under breath until she was suddenly spun about to face Sherlock.
"What did you just say?" he demanded of her, his grip tightening a slight amount.
After composing herself, Kagome tried to ease herself out of his hold. "The graffiti, it's in Chinese. A dialect used in Hongzhou actually."
"Are you sure?" he continued to hold her in his surprisingly strong grip.
Raising a brow, Kagome paused her efforts to free herself as she stared the taller man in the eye. "I may be Japanese, but I do have family in China and Hong Kong. The one on the wall is the character for fifteen and the one on the painting is for one."
John rolled his own eyes at the scene before him, Sherlock seemed to get rather... passionate when it came to cases. Although that didn't excuse him to get rough with Kagome. "Sherlock, let her go. I actually think you're bruising her."
Sherlock dropped his gaze from the pictures on the wall before him to his hands still wrapped around the upper arms of Kagome. Pulling back, he composed himself and offered her his apologies. "I apologize, it was not my intent to harm you."
"No harm done." Kagome threw him a smile before straightening the sleeves of her dress. "Well, good luck boys, but I do have to get to work. I'd love to hear what you've gathered tonight."
Sherlock watched her leave their flat with a raised brow. "I may have need of your services later." he turned questioning eyes to John when he suddenly chocked on a sip of tea.
"I'll be glad to assist you should you have trouble with any new Chinese graffiti. Good day boys." she simply shook her head, already more than used to how he phrased things, chuckling when she heard John's scolding him for his continued way of phrasing things to sound inappropriate.
AN: I had this one bugging me for the longest time, and it continued to grow and grow. But I haven't really had much time to do much of anything with it sadly. For now at least. Read, enjoy, and review"+!