Hello, hello! Sorry to keep you waiting. It´s been a very busy month. Thank you so much for putting up with me. Here´s another fluffy chapter before the real drama begins. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I just borrowed them for my story.
4 Bullied
Kagome left the kombini and looked at her watch, she needed to rush to get to work on time. After a horrible, almost sleepless night, being late was the last thing she needed.
She had left Inuyasha standing outside his car and calling her name, her limbs shaking after her own bold move. What had possessed her to do such a thing? She couldn´t tell. All she knew was that Inuyasha´s presence affected her in some weird way, turning her into a different person, someone she didn´t recognize. And it frightened her. Like a child lost in a labyrinth, she was paralyzed, unable to choose a direction to follow.
Panicked, she had run away without looking back.
The first thing she did once in the comfort of her apartment, was to take a shower and change into her pajamas. Then she made herself some tea to help soothe her nerves before daring to dial Sango´s number. Only after making sure that nothing serious had happened to her friend, Kagome was able to finally relax. She didn´t mention what had happened with the hanyo to her friend, she still needed to process it herself before talking about it with anyone else.
Trying to leave aside the tumultuous feelings she had experienced, Kagome focused on the job offer. It was a tremendous opportunity, she couldn´t let it pass without weighing its pros and cons. Before she could make a list, she would google this Dr. Ikeda.
The internet didn´t offer any significant information about him, only what Inuyasha had told her. He was an illustrious scientist and a shareholder in SNT and that he had a stepdaughter about Kagome´s age who often attended meetings in his representation.
Still having ambivalent feelings about the offer, the young girl went to bed exhausted and disheartened. Sleep eluded her for some time but when she was finally able to drowse off the events that took place in the breakroom replayed in her dreams. She would wake up hot and wet, her frustrated body demanding what it craved.
With the first rays of light, she decided to get up and take a much-needed shower. She was drying her hair when the telephone rang. Hearing her mother´s voice made her smile at the device until she noticed the worried tone in Mrs. Higurashi´s voice because her daughter had failed to call her the night before. After reassuring her mother that everything was fine, Kagome let the familiar soft cadence in the older woman´s words sink in. Her mother had the ability to make her feel better no matter what problem she was facing. Kagome´s mind was made right there. She would do whatever it took to help her family, any misgivings she had about working with Inuyasha or helping a creepy scientist were pushed to the back of her mind.
Now that the decision was made she felt lighter. She decided to stop at the convenience store outside the train station and buy some ramen to pay the one she had taken the day before. Guilt was what had made it impossible for her to rest last night, she convinced herself, it had nothing to do with the passionate silver haired half demon she had just met, it didn't!
Panting and sweating, she ran up the stairs of the SNT building to get to her floor. The elevator had been too crowded so instead of waiting for the next one, she opted to use the stairs. She arrived at her cubicle only a couple of minutes late, out of breath, and with a few strands of her jet-black hair sticking to her damp forehead.
"I must look a mess," she thought, "but at least I made it unnoticed."
"Higurashi!" A female voice sounded at her back making the little hairs at the nape of her head stand. "You are late." The demoness spoke in a sickeningly soft voice emphasizing every word, like she was disgusted just talking to her. "Come to my office, and bring your belongings with you, please."
"Oh, crap!" Kagome cursed internally as she got up to follow her boss. She had the felling Miss Sakasagami didn´t like her for some reason, and Kagome had tried as best as she could to avoid crossing her.
"Sakasagami-sama, I´m sorry I´m late. I´ll stay later today to make up for the time..."
"That won´t be necessary." The older woman interrupted her. "Maybe you think that the rules don´t apply to you, being the top seller in this department, but it is my responsibility to ensure that the rules are followed without exceptions."
Kagome felt dizzy hearing her speech, she was sure nothing good would come out of this.
"You seem to think you are special, just let me make it clear, no one has privileges here." The youkai surveyed Kagome up and down scrunching her nose at her polyester pants suit, her arms folded over the cleavage of a tight-fitting black and red dress and the toe of her left black pumps clicking on the hardwood floor. "So sad, such a pretty girl and you don´t even care to groom yourself. Just look at your hair, all messed up. Such a waste."
Kagome was in shock, unable to follow her boss's mumbling. She just couldn´t catch a break. No way she was going to accept defeat that easily, she was ready to stand up to her boss.
"Listen, miss Sakasagami, I know I should take better care of my appearance, but I had to run in order to get here on time..."
"On time?" Once again, the demon woman cut right in the middle of Kagome´s sentence. " You should be able to get up early enough to come here earlier and better looking than that."
How dare she? Getting told off for being late was one thing but making fun of her appearance was a totally different story. Kagome was fuming, she had to take a deep breath before speaking or she was sure she would snap at her boss. Pushing the slipping frame of her glasses up the bridge of her nose, Kagome stepped forward.
"I´ll take a moment to fix my hair before going back to my desk. I apologize for..."
"I´m afraid we´ll have to let you go."
Another interruption. "This youkai sure is rude," Kagome noticed. "And I´m not taking shit from her." She needed her job desperately, but she refused to let it show in front of this arrogant demoness.
"I´m so sorry Miss Sakasagami, it won´t happen again." Kagome spoke in a firm voice while the rest of her body felt exactly the opposite. She felt dizzy and her legs were shaking. "I´ve been working here for a few months now and I had never been late before, nor absent for that matter."
"I know that. It is my job to know what my subordinates do and what they don´t." The demoness gave a step forward and uncrossed her arms. "And you, in spite of your excellent performance, there´s something about you that I just don´t like."
Kagome was now gaping at the woman. How did she rebut that? She could feel her whole body shaking now, exhaustion and anger were a bad combination, she thought.
"Ok, maybe you can give me some pointers, so I can improve..."
"I don´t think so, I´ll make an example out of you. I don´t want to see your sweaty face anymore. HR will have your check ready in a few minutes."
Sakasagami-sama turned around and sat at her desk leaving the speechless girl standing in the middle of her office. Kagome was frozen in place, one hand to her temple trying to stop the whirlwind that had trapped her while her brain fought to come up with some intelligent words. Unfortunately, the room kept spinning around her, her boss only a smudged picture in front of her. Just when she thought nothing could make the situation worse, the door opened, and the blurry figure of a white-haired demon met her eyes. Squinting to try to get a better view of him, Kagome was once again surprised when she heard her boss falter in her speech.
"Mr. Takahashi..."
"It can´t be him!" The young woman told herself. "What is he doing here?"
She wanted to voice her questions out loud but at that moment everything turned black and she felt herself falling into a void, her body limp and her mind numb.
Yura gave out a surprised yelp which reminded Inuyasha of a scared chihuahua. The hanyo wasted no time acknowledging her, his body reacted before he could think, catching the fragile form of Kagome as she collapsed, preventing her from hitting the floor while her glasses fell down her nose and bounced between him and the demoness and splintered in what seemed like a million pieces.
"Inuyasha!"
The youkai tried to draw his attention to her, outraged at being ignored in favor of a weak human girl.
"Good thing you caught her, she could have sued us if she got hurt."
Inuyasha couldn´t avert his eyes from Kagome´s pale face. She looked so young without the glasses and the dark circles under her eyes were more visible now. He lifted the almost weightless girl and hugged her close to his chest, one arm under her legs and the other around her shoulders to make her head rest on his own. As he moved her body, Kagome´s hand released its grip on her purse and the bags she was carrying fell to the floor with a loud crashing noise.
"What happened here?" He spoke in a calm voice, still not looking at Yura.
"The young lady you are carrying was late for work and looking like that on top of it. It was just what I needed to confirm my decision to fire her."
Yura´s lowered brow and wrinkled nose made Inuyasha think of a chihuahua once more, a pissed off one.
"You won´t fire her, from now on Miss Higurashi will be working with me." He was about to leave when he turned around and using his nose pointed to the instant ramen bowls in the bags that had dropped from Kagome´s hands. "And those are mine too, I´ll send someone to get them."
When the elevator´s doors closed and Inuyasha was alone with his precious cargo he was finally able to indulge his craving and took a whiff of Kagome´s scent, closing his eyes to savor it better.
"Kami, she smells so damn good." He spoke to himself fearing that his voice may wake her.
He couldn´t help the smile that came to his lips nor the urgency to press a kiss to her forehead. The girl looked so fragile and beautiful at the moment, it made the natural protective instinct of his race surge in his chest. It was a good thing that she was wearing pants today, had she worn a skirt and he had his hand on the skin of her legs, he was sure he would be focusing on some other feelings.
Inuyasha wanted nothing more than kissing her lips, but he would have to wait for her to wake up, in the meantime, he was content with nuzzling her cheek and breathing her sweet scent. It was like a balm to his senses, just breathing her scent the frustration he had been feeling since the previous night evaporated into thin air.
After he took her home and she kissed him in the car and run away, he had a really hard time trying to relax, not to mention getting almost no sleep at all. He had woken up grumpier than usual, unable to concentrate on his work. But now that he got to rescue Kagome from Yura´s torment, he could feel his mood change again, but this time he was smiling.
He got to his office in no time and reluctantly laid the young woman on the gray couch on the left side of the spacious room, kneeling down beside it. His eyes roamed her delicate features once again while his knuckles tenderly traced her cheek before finally getting up and moving behind his desk. The hanyo picked up the phone and dialed one of the few numbers he knew by heart.
"Shippo? Have you had breakfast already?" He waited a few seconds for the answer and continued. "Ok, I want you to stop by the coffee shop and buy breakfast for two. Fruits, bread, orange juice, coffee, anything you think can be included in a healthy meal." He was going to hang up when he thought of something else. "And bring some tea too, just in case."
The half-demon sat at his desk and let out a sigh. He had just met the woman the day before and already he felt strong emotions stirring inside him. Something new, unfamiliar and quite unsettling, he decided. It could be dangerous to let these new feelings take over him, he would have to tighten the rein on his self-control if he was going to work with her.
Giving the raven-haired girl one last longing glance, Inuyasha tried to focus on his laptop with little to no success. His eyes kept wandering away to the sleeping beauty on his couch and he was unable to stop them. He was so enthralled with the girl he didn´t even notice the young kitsune also staring at the girl.
"Who´s that girl, Inuyasha? What happened to her?"
"Good, you brought breakfast. This woman will be working here with us starting today." The hanyo was reluctant to give out too much information to the curious teenager.
"And what did you do to her?" The boy kept questioning him.
"I didn't do anything to her. She just passed out. Now quit pestering me and take the breakfast to the conference room."
"Fine!"
Inuyasha picked up the phone from his desk and reached his secretary this time.
"Shiori, I need you to get the first aid kit for me."
He stood up and went back to the couch. The girl was taking too long to come to, she may need to see a doctor. He was about to return to his desk when he saw her eyelids fluttering and he quickly knelt down in her line of vision.
"Kagome? Are you feeling better?"
He couldn´t disguise the concern in his voice, his tone soft aiming to comfort her.
Shiori appeared at that moment with the first aid kit in her hands. The beautiful hanyo girl stood next to him while Kagome´s eyes went from one to the other.
"Inuyasha? Where am I?"