Ashen by midnight_vanilla

The Interview

She inhaled deeply as she stared up at fifty story building in front of her. She felt like she could see her reflection in the thousands of black windows. "I can do this," she whispered to herself.

This was her seventh interview this week, and she hoped she'd have more luck with this one than the others. For some reason, she couldn't point out why, no one wanted to hire her. It couldn't have been her looks, with her pretty brown eyes and her curvaceous body with long, silky black hair, would have most likely got her hired. It had to of been something else. It's not like these youkai could see the power she held, so she couldn't understand what was going on. She does vividly remember all seven of them repeatedly shutting the door on her telling her no without reason.

She shook the thoughts from her head and entered the large corporate building known as Taisho Corps.

Kagome looked around in awe; even the inside of the building was beautiful. There was a circular gray stone structure with a large, but thin, straight stone in between where water freely flowed out and down like a waterfall. The floors were made of a white-gray marble, excluding the few red carpets that lined themselves out in the main area. The place was breathtaking, but even that could be an understatement to what the building's real beauty was.

She took slow steps as she made her way to the main desk.

The woman behind the desk glanced up at her, slightly tilting her head as she spoke. "Did you need something, miss?"

"I have an interview today with Mr. Taisho," she weakly replied. She silently played with her fingers and tried her best to look straight ahead and not down at the ground while waiting.

"I see, one moment please." The lady behind the desk picked up the phone and dialed up to the Taisho's office. "Mr. Taisho, sorry to bother you, but I have a lady here who says she has an interview with you?"

She nodded her head absentmindedly. "No, sir, Inuyasha took off today-" She stopped talking once again to listen, only to reply," I know, I know, I can't control what he does- yes, I understand. I'll send her up immediately."

The lady pointed to the elevator. "Go to the 40th floor. I'll tell the secretary up there you're coming."

Kagome slightly nodded. "Alright, thanks."

She entered the elevator and pressed the four and zero. The elevator jerked up slightly, but then continued to climb up at an even pace.

She couldn't understand the point of having a fifty story building, it just seemed dumb to spend millions of dollars on a building that could easily collapse. If you have a lot of money and don't know what to do with it, why not help the poor, or buy a nice house, but a fifty story building? Come on. She came to the conclusion that this guy had to be a complete stuck up asshole. Then again, all people who were as rich as the Taisho's were were probably assholes.

The elevator door dinged and opened, revealing yet another elegant room.

This place ceased to amaze her.

A few feet away a woman behind her desk rapidly waved her hand and smiled. "Over here."

Kagome walked up to her. "I'm here for my interview-"

"The lady in the main office told me, I'll tell him you're here and he'll be right with you." The girl looked to be about her age, around 23, or maybe even a little older. She had long black haired tied into a pony on top her head with gorgeous brown eyes and a little bit of eyeliner with a smudge of dark red eyeshadow.

"Thanks," she replied.

"No problem. Hey, don't be so uptight, alright? You'll do fine!" She gave her one last smile before returning to her work, her fingers vigorously typing something on the computer.

She took a seat on a leather couch that was surrounded by two red velvety chairs and a massive 52' inch flat screen plasma TV. The more she realized about this place, the more nervous she got. This place was huge, everything was expensive, and every room she entered seemed to captivate her more. She inwardly groaned, taking a quick one-over on her apparel: black pants, a skin tight white long sleeved shirt, and her hair messily in a low ponytail.

What was I thinking when I left the house? she mentally chided herself. He'll never hire some bimbo like me.

She looked around once more, becoming more angry with herself by the had this gut feeling the minute he saw her, he'd slam the door on her face like every other place.

She really just needed this secretary and file maintenance job to pay for the bills at her apartment and for some decent food, it was hard living off of a minimum wage job.

"Miss Kagome, I presume?"

She glanced up at the call of her name and nodded.

"He's ready for you, just enter these doors and his office is straight ahead," she said. As Kagome neared the woman she stopped her before she could get any further. "Good luck."

"I'll need all the luck I can get," she mumbled, as if to herself.

She walked through the double doors and made her way down to the end. She knocked and peeked her head in, smiling when she saw the man look at her.

"Come in, take a seat," he said coldly, motioning for her to sit down.

Kagome nervously bowed and took a seat. She could already feel her heart beating twenty times faster than it did earlier. It was after she finally calmed down a bit that she got a good look at him. He had the longest silver hair she had ever seen, she found it hard to believe that it was real. Her own hair wouldn't even grow as long as his did. His gold eyes merely stared at her as she looked at him in awe. Finally realizing she was probably drooling at the sight of him, she quickly readjusted herself in the chair and put on a fake smile.

Why does he have to be so damn hot, she thought. Oh no, he's giving me that look. Please don't kick me out, please don't kick me out...

"Higurashi Kagome," he spoke, not even looking at her," you have quite a job history."

Oh great. Of course, out of anything, he had to bring that up. She wasn't too good on keeping jobs, she had quite a mouth when it came to the higher ups and not many people would tolerate it. How to put it - she believed in freedom of speech, and would go to any means necessary to prove her point. That was what usually got her stuck between a rock and a hard place.

That's probably why no one ever wanted to hire her, and deep down she knew that.

"Yes, uh, sir, I don't tolerate a lot and get the job done," she declared, her cheeks turning a light pink. There was no way she was getting this job.

"Hnn." He continued to look over her application without speaking.

She began tapping her fingers on his desk without even realizing it. She did a lot of things without noticing it when she was nervous.

For that first time during that interview, she got a good look at him. She squinted her eyes and looked above his head.

Nothing.

Trying to make it look like she was uncomfortable, she scooted over in the chair and squinted her eyes at him again. It usually didn't take this much to see those numbers above people's heads.

This wasn't right. Something wasn't right.

He raised an eyebrow as he watched her move around in her chair, looking at him from every angle, squinting her eyes as if to see something that she couldn't see from any other angle. It was amusing, yes, but also weird. He sensed something off about her from the moment she entered his office, but it started to really hit him now.

She definitely wasn't an average human girl.

Her scent wasn't like anyone's he's every smelled. This was something he'd have to look into.

"Higurashi," he said, ripping her from her thoughts. "You got the job. You start Monday."

"W-what?" she said, gawking at him. "Are you serious?"

He merely nodded. "Inuyasha, the co-owner and the one who was suppose to be interviewing you, will give you all the information you need to know. He will contact you."

"Oh god, thank you!" she blurted out on accident, and immediately put her hand over her mouth when she realized what she said.

Chances of him regretting his decision... 100%.

He ignored the outburst. "Good day, Higurashi."

She bowed and left his office. She rushed out of the Taisho Corps and onto the streets of Tokyo.

God really knew how to give her a break. She sighed in relief, but if wasn't longed lived. Still, a question plagued her mind.

She surveyed the area, watching the people walk by. Just by looking at them she could see when they were going to die. Some had more time than others, and some didn't even know what was coming. Youkai or not, everyone died at some point. No one was immortal, no one could deny the fate they had in store for them. Their time of death changed every day with every choice they made, some making fatal choices and some making choices that prolonged their life, but in the end they were still going to die.

So why, out of all people, did her boss not have a date over his head?

xxx

She turned the key in the door and pushed the door open. "Home sweet home."

"Kaaaagome! Oh god, gorgeous, I missed you!" said a masculine voice as a figure jumped into her and hugged her. Taken aback, she had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't some rapist.

"Oh, Jakotsu!" She hugged him back with just as much force. "Thank god you're here, I need a shopping buddy." She pulled away to look at him.

"That's what I'm good for," he giggled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What's up, girl? Guy problems again?"

She gave him a look that said oh-please-you-can't-be-serious. "Wait, hold the phone. How did you get into my apartment? I locked the door before I left and everything."

"You gave me a key, remember best friend?" he said, dangling the key in front of her face.

She rolled her eyes. "So sorry I forgot."

"Enough of this bullshit, how did it go woman? Did you woo him with your gorgeous looks?"

"I got the job! I don't know how, but I did. But," her voice got quiet.

"What's up?" he questioned, noticing the change in her voice. "Did something happen?"

"Jakotsu, he didn't have a time above his head. It's like... I don't know, impossible?"

He just stared at her. She looked kind of scared, and so vulnerable. He knew everything about her, they were best friends after all. He didn't like seeing her like this.

He wrapped his arm around her. "Let's go shopping, my treat!"

Her face lit up. He always knew how to treat a lady.