A/N: If you've read Doggie Bag or Howling Holy Terror - this is the same AU that those are set in, it's just waaaay before that. Which, in theory is probably where this story should've started, but I never expected Doggie Bag to get a sequel... or to write an angsty piece in this AU last month... or get inspired to actually write the beginning of this...whatever this is.
"You do understand that the position is not going to be a cakewalk. The ability to keep the workload contained in a manageable form is going to require a lot of diligence on your part. You will be asked to attend to tasks you were not expecting. Are you certain that you grasp the brevity of this offer?"
"I do." The soft feminine voice spoke with confidence.
"That's what I like to hear," the man across from the desk said with a smile. He extended his hand out to shake, adding, "Welcome to the team, Miss Higurashi. We'll meet again bright and early Monday morning."
Inuyasha didn't want to get up. It didn't matter that it was well past sunrise. It didn't matter that he was supposed to be at work. All he wanted to do was avoid the world. There wasn't enough alcohol in the house or in his system to make him forget about what that woman had said.
"It's not working out with us, Inuyasha," Yura said so matter of factly, as if the hanyou hadn't just caught her in the lap of some human on her couch.
It would've been bad enough if he'd just caught her sitting there. Oh no – the pants around the guy's ankles had been a good clue of what was going on – as if the smell of sex and screams he could hear from the front door hadn't told him everything. The dumb fucker was too lost in post coital bliss to even register just how furious the fang-bearing man was that stood in the doorway growling.
"You could have just said something," he snarled, "but instead you leave your front door unlocked – knowing I was coming by to take you to dinner – so I could find you fucking some human man!"
Yura looked annoyed as though he were the one that was breaking up with her. "Did you ever consider why we never slept together, Inuyasha? I've heard the rumors that hanyou are freaks of nature down there. That an inuyoukai dick looks like some mutated tube of lipstick with a knot. Why on earth would I want to succumb to bestiality when I could have a human or any other youkai with a normal looking dick for a lover instead?"
It hadn't even been the breakup that had hurt Inuyasha the most. It had been Yura's words. A freak of nature. Was that what he was? He didn't give her the satisfaction of dropping trough and proving that he was anything but a freak before he turned and walked out of her house forever. His length looked perfectly human, not a trace of that bullshit she was thinking he had. Fuck, he wasn't even sure if knotting was possible with him being a hanyou. He didn't recall ever having that issue in the past, so he never thought about it. The few women that he had trysts with in the past hadn't complained about him being a freak.
He knew better.
Okay, on a good day he knew better, but his self esteem had taken a shot with the image he'd seen that day. He had been making plans for a fancy dinner, because he knew she liked the more upscale restaurants, and he was on his way to her house to pick her up. Before he even reached the front door he could hear the sounds of moans and cries of ecstasy, and his gut reaction had known before his heart could accept it. The door had been left unlocked so he'd purposely walk into the middle of her riding that sad excuse for a man with skinny bird legs. She didn't even look the least bit sorry for what she'd said or done as he stood there in disbelief. He wasn't good enough for her, because he wasn't fully human or fully youkai.
That had been what hurt the most.
After he'd canceled his dinner reservations, he'd consumed an insane about of alcohol in the attempt to block out every memory he had of Yura, but most importantly those words. Somehow he'd made it from his couch to his bed, where he'd passed out in the early morning hours.
His head hurt like a son of a bitch and he wanted to send a nuke into the sun just so it would stop shining in his goddamn window. Why did daylight have to be a thing again? And why was someone pounding on his front door? Or was that the pounding in his head?
"Fuck this," he mumbled, pulling the pillow over his face. If he wanted to block out the light he'd have to do it his damn self apparently.
"I really don't believe this," Kikyo muttered, knocking on the door again. Toga had asked her to come by and ask his youngest son to come in to work. By force, if necessary, had been his exact words. And from the lack of response inside she was suspecting it would be by force.
Minutes passed. She tried again. No response. Kikyo pressed her ear to the door, and could faintly hear a growl from deep within the apartment. Her eyebrows lowered dangerously as her hand shot into her purse to find the spare set of keys she'd been given for such an occasion. If he was going to be a brat, he couldn't yell at her for dragging him to work. 'Please have pants on,' she chanted to herself as she unlocked the door and let herself in. She really didn't need another instance of seeing his naked ass – or other bits – sprawled out somewhere in his apartment.
Not that it wasn't bad to look at. It was actually rather firm looking and shaped decently. The whole image was lost on her, however. Did absolutely nothing to get her lady bits roaring.
Kikyo took small steps around the apartment, not bothering to shout out Inuyasha's name. It wouldn't have done any good. He'd have just told her to piss off, and she was already headed to pissed off just having to come out here and get him. The trail he'd left behind in his drunken wake the night before led her to the bedroom, where she saw a half-naked lump buried under the covers. At least she hoped he was just half-naked.
"Get up," she said firmly.
"Fuck off." came the mumbled reply from under the pillow.
"Too early in the day. I prefer to set the mood when I do, you grouchy ass."
"Ain't it a little early in the day for your breakfast of Carnation Instant Bitch?"
Kikyo huffed lightly, letting her purse drop to the floor. So this was how he wanted to be? Fine then, she'd play along. Grabbing fistfuls of the duvet she jerked it off the bed, leaving the only thing concealing his usual lack of modesty was the boxer briefs and the pillows he was holding. "Oh good," she commented nonchalantly. "I'm glad to see that your sausage has been contained this morning."
"Oh fuck off," he groaned, rolling onto his back.
"I already told you that I need the proper mood, and certainly not during work hours." Kikyo dumped the duvet next to the foot of the bed and walked to the side to stare at him. "Do I need to take the pillows too, or are you going to be a good boy and get up on your own?"
A minute passed before she saw the pillow get tossed across the room and Inuyasha sat up. Kikyo cocked a brow at the state of his face. She could smell the alcohol on his breath still, so he must have drunk an unimaginable amount the night before. A fine dusting of stubble was trying to come in, but his hair – that naturally silver hair that younger girls were attempting to match with store bought dye kits – was a wild mess of curls, sticking up in every direction imaginable.
"Thank the gods you're wearing boxers if you hair looks like that," she commented. "I'd hate to think of what a bad wiener day would look like for you."
"Ha ha ha," he said dryly. Inuyasha ran his hand through his hair, grimacing at the places where the tangles didn't come loose easily. "What time is it?"
"Just after 8:30. It's Monday, by the way, Weekend Warrior."
"Fuck."
"Not on work hours. What you do on your time's your business."
The hanyou shot a look at Kikyo, who just crossed her arms. "You have to work," she said in all seriousness. "Toga called me and said that you hadn't shown up like you usually do. He…said you and Yura aren't a thing anymore. Wanted me to check on you and bring you in so you could distract yourself. We've got a new hire this morning, and he wants everyone to be present to meet her."
Inuyasha groaned as he stood up and hobbled to the bathroom to pee. Kikyo moved around the bedroom, throwing the duvet and the scattered pillows back onto the bed before searching his closet for suitable clothing. Getting him into a proper suit was out of the question, so she settled for a dark wash pair of jeans, a button down shirt, undershirt and boxers. She'd let him figure out his damn socks, she decided, as she carried said items to the bathroom. Kikyo didn't bother to knock as she threw the door open, rolling her eyes at his shriek as he was stepping into the running shower.
"Oh get a damn grip! It ain't like I haven't seen your junk before!"
Showered, dressed, and given a dinky to-go cup of coffee by Kikyo that was lukewarm, Inuyasha still didn't feel like he had enough braincells to go into work. She was a good friend, he'd give her that.
He wasn't as close to her as he had been with her cousin, but… she had moved away back when they were kids. Couldn't fault her for moving, of course; her father had been transferred within the company and they had to go where the work was. According to Kikyo, her uncle had moved up the ranks and was had taken over as CEO some years back, allowing them the ability to move where they wished. He hadn't heard any news on if the Higurashis did in fact move back to town or not. He hadn't heard from Kagome since high school. Their letters often took too long to reach each other, then obligations began to take their free time, and eventually they just stopped writing to each other.
Perhaps it was for the best. She'd probably moved on and built a life for herself by now. It just…sucked. Losing out on a good friendship like that. She had been the first girl he could remember calling a friend, much less a best friend.
The hanyou stepped out of his car and rolled his shoulders. He really didn't want to come into work today. His father had asked it of him, and he knew that sending Kikyo to come fetch him was going to work. Inuyasha had a hard time telling Kikyo no anyway, no matter that she had the ability to contact her cousin easily if she wanted.
He wasn't jealous. No, of course not.
Kagome had her own life. If she had wanted him to be a part of it she would have made more of an effort, right? The same could be said for him as well, if he were being honest…but hell, how did he even go about tracking her down without having to ask her cousin? If Kikyo were to catch wind, there was no telling what she'd respond with, so maybe it was better if he didn't.
And why the hell was he even thinking about Kagome in the first place? He was partially hungover, his head still hurt like dynamite had blown up behind his eyeballs, and the one cup of coffee he had to drink was tepid and weak as hell. He hadn't even gotten to eat anything before Kikyo had shoved him out of his apartment, telling him that while he could have the luxury of lazing about on his obligations she couldn't and had to start the paperwork for the next charity fundraiser the company was planning.
Inuyasha tried not to frown as he passed coworkers in the hallways. Some of them would give a small nod or wave, some would smile sympathetically, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the news of his breakup that got carried around the break rooms or the hangover he was trying to ignore. He attempted the small talk that a couple people wanted to have, but really all he wanted to do was get to his office and sit. Wait for the headache to clear. Meander around the floor later and see if he could sniff out the new person and get the false pleasantries out of the way.
Better than watching them flounder on the spot at the start of a staff meeting. Usually newbies didn't last long that struggled to introduce themselves, he'd discovered.
Once he could reached his office, he let out a sigh of relief. Finally. He could sit in his office – alone and away from the gossips – and just exist for an hour before he had to commit to work. As his hand turned the doorknob, he couldn't help but feel like something was…off. He sniffed the air and his frown deepened. Yeah, something wasn't right at all. There was a scent in his office that he didn't recognize immediately.
Flowers.
He couldn't place what kind of flowers exactly, but there was some kind of perfume filling his office. Inuyasha wasn't sure which female in the building was in his office, but he didn't appreciate the overpowering scent that was assaulting his nostrils as he opened the door. He stepped inside quietly, letting the door shut with an audible click and making the person standing at his office window jump in alarm and spin around.
Bright blue eyes and long black hair were the first things he noticed, along with a face that looked far too familiar…
"Holy shit," he breathed, taking a step closer. "….Kagome?"
"Inuyasha?"
Toga had told her that she was applying for a position that wouldn't be easy. The personal assistant to his youngest son was not a position that had ever stayed filled for long in the past. Men didn't want to fall in line with his orders, and some women were more keen to respond to his commands with "Yes" followed by some rather select words that the Human Resources department was getting tired of dealing with. Now that she was seeing Inuyasha for the first time in – holy cats it had to have been twenty years easy now – it wasn't hard to see why those women would purr "Yes Daddy" at him.
Broad shoulders made that dress shirt he was wearing fit better than it should have, much like those jeans. She was pleased to see that they were bootcut and that he hadn't followed the ridiculous trend of narrow-cut pants that didn't flatter anyone. That silver hair that he'd always kept cut as a kid was growing out, and she loved it. When she had asked him why once he'd told her that at some sleepaway camp he'd been sent to some kid in his bunkhouse had called him a hobbit because it had started to grow. She loved seeing how it fell around his shoulders in loose curls. Women could spend hours on their hair and still not get that look, and his did it naturally.
No, she wasn't jealous.
She did however want to run her fingers through it. Just like she had always yearned to touch those fuzzy ears of his. She'd nearly gotten to once when they were kids, except she was called home for dinner before she could. Couldn't do that now though. They were coworkers, essentially.
Inuyasha couldn't believe he was standing there looking at Kagome Higurashi, after years of no contact and not knowing what had become of her. As he looked her over, he decided immediately that she had become something amazing.
He was glad to see that she didn't go heavy with her makeup, just enough to make her blue eyes sparkle more than they already did. Her lip gloss was light, barely visible unless the light hit it just the right way. That black hair she had always wanted to grow out was pulled back partially, rolled in loose waves down her back. His eyes took in her form, and holy fuck she had grown up since he'd last seen her! The little girl he'd been friends with had been nothing but thin limbs with a scraggly pixie cut. The woman that stood by the window was the complete opposite with a generous bust, accentuated waist and full hips. The blouse and pencil skirt only made the image all the more startling when he compared her to his last memory.
Kagome – in the simplest terms – had grown up into a bombshell of a goddess.
The hanyou swallowed. Fuck he was in trouble. He had to think of something to say and quick before he blurted out something that would get a writeup from HR. "What's that smell?"
Okay, anything but that would've been helpful.
Kagome blushed prettily, and he tried to ignore how much he liked seeing that side come out in her again after so long. "I…I accidentally spilled my bottle of perfume this morning," she admitted. "Was running late and I got nervous. First day jitters and all that…" Her eyes shifted to the window, which he discovered had been cracked open. "I was trying…hoping rather…that I could air myself out before you appeared. It's originally a subtle scent, but when half the bottle spills on you…"
So that was why he couldn't tell it was her! If it hadn't been for the perfume he'd have known immediately that Kagome was there in his office before he'd even entered. That was a scent he could never forget. Her scent was comfort, it was familiar, and it was so uniquely her that he had been certain that he'd never find it again. Inuyasha let out a soft "keh" as he walked to his desk. "Not a bad smell," he told her. He didn't want her to think she had stunk up his office. It wasn't unpleasant, and now that he got closer he could detect her natural scent underneath it. "So where did my old man place you?"
"Um…here, actually."
"W-what?" Please let him have heard wrong. There was no way –
"I was hired on to be your new personal assistant."
Oh. Fuck.
His startled expression must have been clear as day to her, because Kagome began to ramble on about how she was going to make the adjustment to her being around as easy as possible for him, that if there was anything that she did that was stepping on his toes to just tell her. Wait. What? She was saying something to him and holding up – was that a Dunkin Donuts bag?
"I also ordered coffee on my way. I know I'm probably the last person you expected to see first thing in the morning, but I was hoping that I could make a peace offering of breakfast?"
Inuyasha could only stare dumbly as Kagome placed a steaming – steaming – to-go cup of coffee in his clawed hand before she began to unpack the paper bag. Sausage biscuits, hash rounds, fucking donuts even, were arranged on the empty space of his desk on carefully laid out napkins. She'd bought a lot. And, now she was sitting down in front of his desk tucking into her own share of the meal. His feet brought him to sit down in his chair finally, and he took a sip of the coffee.
It was hot. It was in a big cup. And it tasted divine. Plus there was food, so another bonus.
But the biggest bonus was sitting across from him. He wasn't sure how this was going to work but fuck if he wasn't looking forward to coming into work from now on.