Kagome stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes locking with the woman she hardly recognized. Her reflection could have belonged to a stranger.
The last time she had genuinely inspected her appearance had been years ago. Kagome had avoided looking at herself when she had learned she could not afford to be particularly critical about her looks. Unlike others girls her age, she did not have the luxury of buying nice clothing, make up, jewelry. She couldn't even afford to buy a pair of scissors to maintain her split ends which was beyond sad. Those luxuries took the backseat to the most important things like keeping a roof over her family's head, food, and paying for Souta's extended day program.
Looking harder into the mirror she felt different. Absent was the tired, tacky, overburdened woman who she pictured herself to be. In her place was a woman who looked almost pretty. She wasn't wearing the ugly waitresses uniform with the white no slip shoes that looked like she stole from someone's grandparent. In its place she had on a red dress. It was the first clothing purchase for herself in 2 1/2 years. She purchased it from a second hand shop but the dress was perfect. It sat on her body as if it were tailored just for her. Its silk folds hugged her figure following her curves and the deep red was gorgeous against her ivory skin. The v-neck line made Kagome feel uncomfortable because she was not used to showing so much skin. Along the bottom of her slip dress was black lace to match the single strap heels she borrowed from her mother's closet. The lightweight dress had a narrow waist but flowed out above her knees showing off legs toned from working all those double shifts as a waitress.
Her midnight blue hair was pulled back into a perfectly tamed bun on top of her head to hide the fact that her ends were uneven and split. She didn't have the funds to go to the salon. The only reason she was even able to by the dress is because a customer was feeling extra generous and tipped her 2211 yen (almost 22 USD). Her nails were unpolished, but were filed into neat ovals and she had even borrowed some make-up from her coworker. She meticulously applied the concealer so that the bruise on her cheek wouldn't be visible.
"Ahem."
Kagome whirled around to see Eiji Ito, her stepfather, loitering in the open doorway to her bedroom. He had not knocked and the door had certainly been closed. Kagome had no idea how long he had been standing there for. But he had been doing that a lot recently - entering unannounced, sneaking up on her.
"Still gaping at yourself?" he smiled at her, but it was a sinister smile - not because he threatened violence, although he was certainly capable of that, but for reasons Kagome didn't even want to contemplate.
He'd been doing that a lot recently too - smiling at her.
"I'm about to leave," she replied quickly, picking up her handbag.
"Why the rush, little Kagome?"
She cringed at the supposed endearment, disguising her reaction by rifling through her purse to check she had the correct bus fare.
"If I don't go now, I'll be late. Where is Mum, anyway?"
"She's got another one of her migraines." Kagome's forehead furrowed with concern. "Is she going to be OK?"
Eiji chuckled. "You're such a worrier, Kagome. Relax. She'll be fine."
"Make sure you give her plenty of water. And don't smoke around her. Your cigarettes make her migraines worse."
"I can look after her," he dismissed her concerns, ignoring her instructions. "Leave the worrying to your old man."
Kagome wanted to snap at him. If she left 'the worrying' to him, as he proposed, she, her mother and brother would be broke and homeless. The only way they had been able to make ends meet was because Kagome worked, and although she was only twenty, she was the sole breadwinner of the household.
"I thought you said it was important I met Mr. Taisho on time," she said through gritted teeth.
"You'll be on time. I checked the timetable - you've got twenty minutes before the next bus. So go on, give us a twirl," he continued.
Slowly and uncomfortably, Kagome turned on the spot. She had thought she looked so good. But her stepfather managed to make her feel unclean. She could feel his leering gaze, his eyes settling on her most intimate areas.
"Well look at you, little Kagome," Eiji let out a long, low whistle. "All grown up. Good to see you've neatened yourself up a bit," Eiji continued.
"I couldn't meet Mr. Taisho in my work uniform, could I?"
Eiji's jaw clenched with a sudden flash of irritation. "Watch your tone, young lady. I won't have you disrespecting me under my roof."
Kagome swallowed before she could retort. It wasn't his roof.
"I have to go," she said instead, trying to moderate her tone. "Or I'll be late."
"You've got fifteen minutes."
"What if I miss the bus?"
"You won't miss the bus. Why the rush?" He cocked his head. "Why don't you keep me company?"
Her stomach flipped with disgust at the same time as something inside Kagome flared up. "You told me last night how important it was for me to be on time to see Mr. Taisho. Now you're saying it doesn't matter?"
Kagome didn't know how it happened but within three seconds Eiji had her pinned up against the wall. His forearm held her in place so that she was sandwiched between him and the plaster.
"What did I tell you about disrespecting me in my house?" he hissed, so close that he sprayed droplets of spit over Kagome's face.
"It isn't your house!" Her voice was unusually high-pitched - despite the outburst, she was nervous. "It belongs to the council and it's my wages that pay the rent! I'm the one who works two jobs so we can stay here so I can bloody well do whatever I like!"
For a moment he looked shocked, before his mind processed what she had said. "You little cunt," Eiji raised his hand, balling it into a fist.
"Hit me and I won't go!"
Eiji froze. His nostrils flared. A vein in his temple bulged. His jaw was tightly clenched.
Slowly lowering his arm, he pressed her against the wall, crushing her with his bodyweight. Kagome's face was scrunched up in pain. More bruises would darken by the following morning. At least on her back, they would be easier to hide.
"You'll go all right. You go and see Mr. Taisho. You tell him you're going to pay him his money, you just need more time. Because if you don't go, or if he says no, I won't still be here when he sends his men round to teach you about paying your debts before they're due." He loosened his hold on her.
"But it's not our debt!" Kagome protested futilely, resisting the urge to rub her throat, which felt tender from his force.
"Do you think his thugs will care?"
Kagome's shoulders sagged, defeated. She knew he was right. And even if he wasn't, did she want to take that sort of risk? Her mother hadn't been particularly strong since her father passed away. The last thing she needed was Mr. Taisho's men knocking on their door.
"I'll go," she said.
"Good girl. You might look grown up, but you'll do your duty to your family, won't you? You're still my little Kagome, aren't you?"
She nodded, even as she winced at the endearment. Every time he used it, she felt polluted. It was the way he formed the words - 'little Kagome' - as if he was talking affectionately to a whore he had just fucked.
"Oh I know you're trying to look like a woman," he crooned, whispering in her ear, his breath hot and damp against the bare skin of her neck. "But have you ever been kissed?"
Kagome didn't know why she responded, but she shook her head, dropping her chin so that her hair fell forward, hiding her flaming face.
"I didn't think so. You've never even been with a man, have you? I bet you're still a virgin, aren't you, little Kagome?"
Kagome knew she had turned bright red, burning with embarrassment. Somehow she managed to wriggle away from him, snatching up her purse and fleeing her bedroom. Even as she flew down the stairs and out the front door, she could hear him chuckling after her, his laughter ringing in her ears.
***
There were two types of business that were conducted in Sesshomaru Taisho's bars - the drinking kind and the not-quite-legal kind. And Sesshomaru Taisho had considerable stakes in both. Japan was his playground. And he knew its games well.
Too well, he sometimes thought. People could be so predictable.
Like the anxious salesman in front of him, who was sweating like a pig and trying desperately to hide the fact he was far out of his depth. It was just after midday, which meant that, as it was just about too early for alcohol, Mr Taisho was concentrating on his other sort of business.
"Please, Sir, I can assure you, this is the best powder you will find on the street - "
"Mr Hokkaido," Sesshomaru held up a hand, silencing his would-be business partner mid-sentence. "Does my establishment look like the type of place that deals with substances found on the street?"
The salesman looked around. His hair was greasy and lank, damp with perspiration. Through the glass wall of Sesshomaru's private office he could see the elaborate interior of Decadence - one of the mogul's most exclusive clubs.
"It does not," Sesshomaru continued, not requiring any form of response and therefore not waiting for one. "My clients - the men and women who come here and those who request my more specialist services - they enjoy the finer things in life. They are not drug addicts. They come to me looking for pleasure. And this - this will not bring them pleasure. It is not good."
Sesshomaru wrinkled his nose as he held up a plastic sachet of white powder, conveying his disgust for the product he had been presented with.
"But Mr Taisho, Sir - "
"Enough. We are done." Sesshomaru signaled to a man standing on the other side of the glass. Koga, his bodyguard, entered. He was muscular and well-built and, as he clapped a beefy hand on Mr Hokkaido's shoulder, the smaller man visibly shook.
"Koga, this meeting is over. Escort my visitor outside."
"Please Mr Taisho, this is a premium product!"
"Mr Hokkaido, I have no desire to do business with you. You may leave. And Koga, tell my next appointment to go away. I am not in the mood to see them."
Koga nodded, giving Mr Hokkaido a moment to stand before steering him out of his employer's office.
Once he was alone again, Sesshomaru sighed in tedium. Scaring wannabe drug barons no longer excited him like it had when he had first taken over his father's affairs. Back then, exercising his power, even over rats like Mr Hokkaido, had given him a higher rush than any illicit substance. He had once delighted in knowing that people feared him.
The truth was, he was bored. He needed to inject some sort of adventure in his life. He had thought about diversifying his empire, but to what?
A few of his rivals had added human trafficking to their repertoires, but Sesshomaru found such business distasteful. Supplying drugs to the rich and senseless of the world was one thing. Exploiting innocent girls from third world countries was another. Sesshomaru had no problem with selling sex. He had regular dancers at most of his clubs, none of whom had any qualms about revealing their natural assets to the public. But he had no appetite for the sort of prostitution rings that some of his acquaintances were involved in.
Perhaps he should take up golf.
Suddenly his reverie was shattered by a shriek. A very female, piercing shriek.
A girl slammed open the door of his office with such force that had it not been made of bulletproof glass, it would have shattered. She ran inside, her eyes darting around from side to side as if she were afraid to be caught, but had barely made it two paces before she was captured by Koga, who followed her in swift pursuit.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" The girl tried to wriggle out of Sesshomaru's bodyguard's grasp, mussing up her now frizzy mane of midnight blue hair further.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Koga garbled breathlessly, struggling to keep hold of his captive. "I told her Mr Taisho wouldn't see her but she wouldn't take no for an answer."
"Of course I wasn't going to leave without seeing Mr Taisho - I had an appointment!"
"So she got past you?" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, ignoring the girl's protests.
"She surprised me," Koga retorted, a touch on the defensive side.
"Let her go," Sesshomaru gestured in the girl's direction. "Look at her. She's hardly going to be a threat. Unless she's armed?"
"There wasn't a gun in her handbag."
"Of course there wasn't!" the girl interjected. "Why the fuck would I go round carrying a gun?"
"Release her," Sesshomaru ordered. "And search her, just to be safe."
Koga let go of the girl and began running his hands methodically over her frame, frisking her for any form of concealed weaponry.
"What are you doing?" she yelped at the unwelcome contact. "I told you - I'm unarmed!"
The burly henchman continued with what he was doing. But not for long.
There was a loud crack. She had slapped him, hard across his cheek.
"Keep your filthy hands to yourself," the girl hissed.
Sesshomaru had to choke back a laugh, disguising it as a cough. He had never seen his right-hand man look so stunned. Poor Koga. He was flexing his jaw, kneading the sting out of his cheek.
"It's fine," Sesshomaru said. "You may leave us. Even if she is a threat, clearly she's too much of a match for you," he couldn't resist teasing.
Koga glared at his boss, but did as he was told. Sesshomaru waited until the door was closed before he turned his full attention to the girl. It gave him valuable moments to compose himself. He had wanted some form of entertainment!
"Please, sit," he gestured to the chair on the opposite side of his desk, which only a few minutes ago had been occupied by the drug dealer. "Tell me your name."
"I want to see Mr Taisho," Kagome demanded.
"Then you shall have your wish. I am Sesshomaru Taisho."
"You're the man who lends the money?" she asked disbelievingly. In her imagination, she had pictured Mr Taisho being older -- in his late forties, perhaps, the sort of mafia godfather that she recognized from the movies. Instead he couldn't have been older than thirty.
"I lend some people money, yes," he conceded, nodding. "Now won't you sit down? It would be much easier to have this conversation when you are not standing."
Hesitating, she glanced at Koga through the glass wall before she gingerly perched on the edge of the seat.
"Much better," Sesshomaru remarked. "Now, won't you tell me your name?"
"Kagome Higurashi," she said, clearly expecting some form of recognition when she told him who she was.
Instead he looked at her blankly. The name didn't ring a bell, although he might have seen it in his diary somewhere. Was she a one-night stand? She couldn't be. He would have remembered, for sure.
He had seen her long shapely legs that extended beneath the hem of her skirt - if they had wrapped around him, he would not have forgotten them easily. Her piercing blue eyes were expressive and beautiful, even when she had been fuming. Particularly when she had been fuming, he amended. And her untamed hair was pulled back in what looked like was once a bun. he would have fixed the image of her lying naked with her tresses sprawled across his pillow after a night of lovemaking in his mind forever.
Sesshomaru felt his cock twitch and stir. What sort of effect was she having on him? it must have been the way her skin was still flushed after fighting with Koga. It made it too easy to imagine her passion between the sheets. Besides, the sight of a pretty woman all riled up never failed to arouse him.
Meanwhile, Kagome was oblivious to his thoughts.
"I'm Eiji Ito's stepdaughter," she prompted when it was clear he had no idea who she was.
"Eiji Ito?" he tilted his head. That name is more familiar."
"He owes you money," she said bluntly.
"A lot of people owe me money."
Kagome almost gasped audibly. Her eyes widened. How could anyone not recall who their debtors were immediately? Then again, perhaps it meant her stepfather's debt wasn't important.
"He borrowed from you last year." She hesitated. "He's been late with some of his repayments."
"Ah. I believe I may know the man you speak of."
Sesshomaru reached down, opened the bottom drawer of his desk and extracted a file. Pulling out a sheaf of papers, he looked through them, pursing his lips as he read. His previously nonchalant manner gradually transformed to a more serious demeanor.
Kagome, on the other hand, twisted her fingers together. Even from across the desk, she could catch sight of some of the contents of the file. In addition to pages of notes written in weird characters - English, she presumed - there were photographs. Not only of her stepfather, but also her mother and herself.
"Your father has not paid me a penny," Sesshomaru announced eventually.
"My stepfather," Kagome corrected him.
Sesshomaru shrugged again. "Whatever. So, let me guess - he has sent you to settle his debt to avoid paying interest? I shall warn you - I am a man with a reputation. Even an attractive girl won't mean I will overlook this debt. Or did you think I would take one look at you and be tempted?"
Kagome's heart sank. "Not exactly," she replied.
"So you have brought my money?"
She shook her head.
"You have come with the interest as well?"
"Not exactly," she repeated.
Sesshomaru closed the file and leaned across his desk. "Then tell me, Kagome Higurashi. Where is my money and why have you not brought it?"
Kagome gulped. This was the question she had been dreading. Although she had spent her entire bus journey painstakingly rehearsing what she was going to say, her mind went suddenly blank.
"Well?" Sesshomaru tilted his head, his eyebrows arching as he waited for her to answer.
"Eiji doesn't have the money," Kagome said, grateful she sounded calmer than she felt inside.
"So when can I expect to receive it?"
"I don't know."
"Miss Higurashi, I am not known for my patience. I have already waived two late payments. If your father -- apologies, your stepfather," he corrected himself before she could, "if he does not pay me soon, my patience will run out. Then there shall be consequences. And those consequences will not just affect your stepfather."
"Please, he's trying to get the money, he just needs more time!"
"What did he do with the funds I provided him with?"
"I don't know." Kagome frowned -- she really didn't have a clue. She hadn't noticed any sudden influx of cash.
"Does he still have the money?"
Kagome shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Has he found himself a job?"
"No."
Sesshomaru clasped his hands and rested them on the desk in front of him. "I am a business, Miss Higurashi, not a bank. I do not ask people what they do with the money I give them. Only that they return it -- on time. If they do not return it, I cannot run my business. And if I cannot run my business, then I am greatly inconvenienced. Do you understand my reasoning, Miss Higurashi?"
"Yes, but -- "
"Do you disagree with it?"
"No, but -- "
"Tell me. Did your stepfather tell you what happened to those who have inconvenienced me in the past?"
Kagome blanched. Eiji hadn't gone into specifics, but then, he hadn't needed to. "Not quite," she whispered.
"You have turned pale," he observed. "You are afraid of me. That is good. Those who inconvenience me should be afraid of me."
Kagome didn't contradict him. Everything about Sesshomaru Taisho unsettled her, from his coldly handsome features to the way he seemed to see straight through her exterior. He oozed confidence and authority -- as if he merely had to give an order to know it would be obeyed. Of course she feared him. all of her instincts screamed out that he was dangerous.
"Please," she tried again. "You will get your money."
"How?" He demanded. "Your stepfather has no source of income."
"But I do. I have two jobs. And I can take on extra shifts if that isn't enough. Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement?"
Already she was calculating in her head. If she gave up her one precious evening a week that she had to herself and cut back on her expenses -- not that there was much she could cut back on -- she would at least be able to start paying Mr Taisho back.
"And when will my debt be repaid?"
"I can give you 39,912 yen a month," Kagome said as she quickly ran through the maths.
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how much your stepfather owes me? 9,312,666 yen," he told her when she shook her head. "39,912 won't even cover the interest."
Kagome felt sick. "Is there any other way?"
"That depends. How much do you love your stepfather? What are you willing to do?"
A shiver of apprehension ran down Kagome's spine. His eyes drilled into her. She swallowed. She was doing this for her mother, she reassured herself. "Anything. I'll do anything."
"Anything? Do you mean that?"
"Within reason," she hastened. "I mean, I wouldn't kill anyone but --"
"I'm not going to tell you to kill someone," Sesshomaru interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "There is no need to be melodramatic."
"You're not?"
"Whatever arrangement we make will only have a direct effect on you and me."
Kagome's shoulders sagged with relief. She had no desire to get a criminal record or see anyone else tangled up in the mess her stepfather had created. How he had managed to owe anyone 9,312,666 yen was ridiculous.
"So what will this arrangement be?" she asked curiously.
"I will pay you the money. You will earn it from me."
All sorts of dreadful things had been rushing through Kagome's mind. But all he wanted was for her to work for him -- she could handle that. She had enough experience as a waitress or behind the bar, she was certain he'd be able to find a suitable vacancy for her.
"Thank you, Mr Taisho," she said gratefully.
"What for?"
"For giving me a job."
"I didn't say it would be a job. I said you would earn the money from me." His face was like a marble sculpture -- cold, beautiful and hard.
"But how --"
"Your father owes me 9,312,666 yen. With the interest he has accrued, the sum is closer to 10,617,000 yen. The deadline for full payment is in two months' time. Tell me, Miss Higurashi, how do you think a woman would be able to earn 1,327,125 yen a week?"
He stared at her openly, his dark eyes assessing her freely, daring her to answer.
"I don't know what you're suggesting," she replied, folding her arms across her body protectively.
"No?" his mouth quirked in some cruel form of amusement. "I think you know exactly what I am suggesting."
"I don't know who you take me for, but there are certain things I will not do."
"I thought you said you would do anything."
"What sort of woman do you think I am?" Kagome demanded, trembling again, this time not from fear or nervousness but from outrage.
"I think you are a desperate woman. An attractive woman, yes, but desperate nonetheless."
"Not that desperate," she said with venom, ignoring the almost imperceptible tingle she had when he called her attractive. "Thank you for your considerate offer. But I will have to decline."
Sesshomaru bowed his head. "As you wish. But this is my only offer."
"You can keep your offer -- I want nothing to do with it!"
"In that case, perhaps it is time that you leave," Sesshomaru caught Koga's eye through the transparent walls of his office.
Realizing that she had been dismissed, and not at all sorry to have been so, Kagome stood and turned to leave.
"Miss Higurashi," Sesshomaru halted her exit.
"What?" she whirled around to confront him, bristling.
"Your father was a wealthy man, was he not?"
Kagome frowned. "How do you know?"
Sesshomaru shrugged. "I always research the people I lend money to. Your father had a good job, he took care of you, did he not? Financially?"
"That is none of your business."
"You are right. It is not my concern. But it must have been good, yes?"
"What do you mean?" The words tumbled from her mouth before she could swallow them.
"Before he died. When you did not have to worry about money."
"You bastard," Kagome swore at him.
If looks could kill, Sesshomaru would have died on the spot. Kagome stormed out, wishing the glass door would slam behind her. Unfortunately it had been fitted with some sort of mechanism that made it impossible to close quickly enough to shatter.
Conscious of the burly bodyguard escorting her off the premises, Kagome waited until she was outside before she released a sob. She had completely failed in her mission. She had promised her stepfather that she would persuade Mr Taisho to give them more time, and the one option he had presented her with, she had flung back in his face.
But what was she supposed to do? She could not comprehend what he has asked of her. As if she would debase herself so thoroughly? As if she had no integrity whatsoever!
Unknown to Kagome, Sesshomaru was in a similar state of disbelief. He had never had any trouble convincing a woman into his bed. It was more difficult getting rid of them afterward. But he had just attempted to blackmail a woman into sleeping with him.
What had possessed him? Yes, she had been pretty. Not in the same pampered, groomed sort of way like the majority of his conquests. His attraction to her had been entirely different. And that was the reason why Sesshomaru could barely understand it.
For the rest of the day and into the evening, he tried to concentrate on work, but with little success. There were drinks to be ordered, files to be checked. A business associate of his was flying in from America in a few weeks. Sesshomaru had to be sure that he only revealed what he wanted his acquaintance to know.
When the club opened, he abandoned his office and toured the VIP rooms, shaking hands with some of his regular guests. One of the bar staff had called in sick. Sesshomaru had to ensure the replacement was suitable. He instructed Inuyasha, his right-hand man to do the necessary checks. His mind was too distracted by the memory of a pretty girl with big brown eyes.
Only after he tuned out in the middle of an important conversation did he realize he had a problem. And for that problem, he needed a solution.
"Koga," he motioned to his bodyguard. "Find Inuyasha. Tell him I have a job that needs to be done tonight."