Standard disclaimer applies.
Written for the Odd Job Challenge on Dokuga!
Help Wanted
By: Luna
…
This was not happening.
It was not.
Kagome stared long and hard at the man sitting stoically on the other side of her desk, then blinked for good measure. After pinching herself three times, she finally came to the conclusion that, no, her eyes weren't deceiving her.
Sesshoumaru Taisho was sitting on the other side of her desk.
And he was asking her for a job.
Well, not her specifically, but he was asking her to find him a job. Her, Kagome Higurashi, probably the only person in the world who hated Mr. Stick Up His Ass. A lot. In fact, if it wasn't in her job description to help him, she'd happily boot his perfect ass out the door.
The last time she saw Sesshoumaru had been in high school, where he tormented her endlessly everyday, along with his little sidekick Jaken. He used to make her do his school work, which was the only reason he even passed high school. He used to make fun of her being middle class and having to earn a scholarship to go to college, whereas all his father had to do was snap his fingers and he'd be accepted at any college he wanted - not like he even went in the first place.
And now he was here in her office asking for a job. If she wasn't so shocked, she'd be laughing. Hysterically.
Well, actually…
"You can stop laughing now," he told her stiffly. "this Sesshoumaru does not consider this a laughing matter."
Kagome hiccupped and wiped a few tears of mirth from her eyes. "Let me get this straight," she started. "you, Sesshoumaru Taisho, Mr. Million Dollar Playboy himself, is asking me for a job. Excuse me if I don't find this more than a little funny."
He bore her laughter stoically, his posture stiff and proud despite where he found himself. His expression cracked after five more minutes of her laughter, just enough for him to glare at her. "Will you help this Sesshoumaru or not," he looked at her name plate "Ms. Higurashi?"
Kagome stared bemusedly at him. "You don't even remember me, do you?"
"Should I?" he snapped, an arrogant lift to his brow.
"Higurashi. Kagome Higurashi. High school student body president… senior valedictorian…" at his blank stare, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Here, fill these sheets out for me to the best of your ability. I need you to tell me everything you've been trained for, what you enjoy, etcetera etcetera."
He stared down at the papers for a minute, not even bothering to pick up a pen. Kagome quirked an eyebrow at him. "It's easy, just start out with your name at the top. It's S-E-S-S-H-O-U-M-A-R-U."
Glaring at her, he hissed, "Do you mock all of your clients, or just me in particular? I was told your employment agency offered one hundred percent placement."
Feeling a stab of guilt, she offered him a small smile, even if she couldn't quite let go of the feeling of satisfaction she had at their roles being reversed. Who would have ever thought that one day she would be the one with the power? She shrugged a little, gesturing to the papers. "I'm sorry, really. Please fill out your employment history and anything else it asks for. I'll be able to determine what you might be suited for based off of what you tell me."
He stared down at the paper again, his glare almost accusatory. "I do not have an employment history."
Kagome stared at him. "Are you serious. Not even one?" At his stare, she elaborated. "Not one job. Not even a side job?"
He shook his head, for the first time looking uncomfortable… and a little worried. It was the worry that had her softening. "Okay, how's this: write down everything that you like to do. It can be anything! Like… do you like to fix up cars?"
Sesshoumaru shrugged. "I like to drive them."
"Um, okay. What else? Would you mind office work? Assuming, of course, you've seen other offices besides mine." She waited, but all he did was glare at her. She sighed, rubbing her forehead in a frustrated gesture she never could quite get rid of. "Okay, let's try this."
Sesshoumaru watched as she swiveled in her chair and started typing into her prehistoric computer. Really, he thought derisively. Can't she afford an upgrade? These weren't the stone ages. Any minute he expected her to get out a slab of rock and start chiseling him a list.
After a few more minutes of her staring blankly at the screen, he cleared his throat pointedly. "What company will you place me at? I will only accept the best, at the highest position." When she only transferred her stare to him, amused now, he snapped, "Well?"
"Taisho-san… Sesshoumaru… there are no jobs. At least, none that you're thinking of. You can't just waltz into a company and expect to instantly own it. The owners of said company might take offense to that." She rolled her eyes at his blank expression. "Sesshoumaru, like anyone else, you'll need to start from the bottom up."
"That's ridiculous." he scoffed. "I am Sesshoumaru Taisho. I was born to be on top."
"That's life." she returned flatly. "And people in the real world don't give a damn who you are. Get your head out of the clouds and off your freaking pedestal, because I can guarantee the only ones that see it is you. If you want to get anywhere in life you need to prove it, not only to your employers but to yourself. Everyone starts on the bottom Sesshoumaru. Even you."
The words were too like the ones his father said, right before he kicked Sesshoumaru out. You think you're so superior, don't you Sesshoumaru? Hmph. You're the only one that thinks so. Try living in the real world for a change. We'll see how full of yourself you think then. Sesshoumaru snarled, standing up to pace Kagome's cramped office.
"This is ridiculous. Can you find me a job or not?"
Kagome stared at him, her fingers tapping thoughtfully against her desk. "Well, I have one, but I guarantee you're not going to like it."
"I'll take it." he told her, planting both hands firmly on her desk as he leaned towards her, his expression one of intent.
Raising a brow, Kagome turned back to her computer to print out a pamphlet. "Fine. Be here tomorrow morning, eight sharp. I know it's before your normal noon time, but try not to be late on your first day, okay?"
With a haughty sniff, Sesshoumaru snatched the paper away and marched out of her office.
"Okay, Sesshoumaru-san, Mr. Ito has a full day of driving reserved. Here's the schedule his secretary sent over. Be sure to be on time! There's a GPS navigation system installed in case you're not sure where to go."
Sesshoumaru stared down at the shiny dome of the manager of the limousine service he had been directed to, feeling rage at the indignity of the situation boil inside of him. How dare she! He told her he enjoyed driving cars - not that he preferred to be someone's chauffeur! He was no ones servant!
He stalked out to the limo and slammed the door, ripping off the retarded cap they forced him to wear and slapping it on the seat beside him. He glanced at the pick up site and sneered; Naraku Ito, a bottom feeder if there ever was one. His father often talked of Ito, and never in a complimentary fashion.
He pulled up outside of the business and waited, his lip curling when Ito waited outside the limo doors. What was he waiting for? After a few minutes, he stepped forward and stiffly sat inside, glaring through the dark glass at the back of Sesshoumaru's head. The intercom sounded by Sesshoumaru's ear. "Next time get your ass out of the car and do your job, you imbecile, before I have you fired."
Sesshoumaru ignored him, speeding to every destination and letting Ito open his own damn doors.
Indeed, by the end of the day, Sesshoumaru was fired.
He shrugged in the face of Kagome's incredulity. "The man expected me to wait on him hand and foot. What did he think this Sesshoumaru was? His slave?"
"Sesshoumaru," she said slowly. "expecting you to open his door was not an outrageous request. In fact, I'm pretty sure that was in the job description. That's what chauffeurs do. Didn't you read the pamphlet I printed out for you yesterday?"
"I read the address, which is what you instructed me to do. As well as show up on time, which I did." He turned his nose up at her expression.
She rubbed her face wearily before turning back to her computer. "Okay, let's see what else there is. Surely someone out there is desperate…"
Sesshoumaru ignored her muttering, suddenly caught at the expression on her face as it was lit up by the computers glare. There was something familiar in that serious expression, sometime that jogged a long forgotten memory…
"Thunder thighs!" he said, and since he couldn't help himself, laughed. "Butt in Front Kagome. Everyone used to call you BIF."
Kagome glared at him, her lips compressed in a tight line. "Yeah, the one you used to bully into doing your homework all senior year."
Sesshoumaru studied what he could see from her position behind the desk. She definitely couldn't be called BIF anymore. He remembered her as an overweight girl who wore oversized glasses in too-big clothes that only made her look bigger. She was also someone who was always seen with her nose stuck in a book, when she wasn't being harassed by one of his friends.
She obviously grew out of her baby fat, and either wore contacts or got laser eye surgery. She didn't have a double chin anymore, and her face was actually quite lovely. Unlike high school, she had a clear complexion, and her face was milky white. Her lips were full and rose-red, and high cheek bones were flushed angrily. Her eyes were a deep, dark blue, and heavily lashed. Her hair, which in high school had always been worn in drab pig tails, was now stylishly cut long and fell down her slim back in loose waves.
He wondered if she still had thunder thighs. After all, some women were pear-shaped; small on top but big on…
"Are you done yet?" she snapped, interrupting his thoughts. "You may have been popular in high school, Sesshoumaru, but now you're nothing but a nobody. I don't know why daddy suddenly kicked you to the curb, but right now I'm the only thing standing between you and destitution. Do you want me to find you a job or not?"
Knowing who she was somehow made his situation worse. Before she was just some stranger who he had to belittle himself enough to ask for a job. But now… she was someone who had seen him at his prime. He had been on the top of his game; now, he had to ask someone he used to shove into school lockers for help.
No wonder she gave him a shitty job.
His fathers words echoed, making him stiffen his spine. And ask, if a little stiffly, for help.
The softening of Kagome's mouth was his only answer after several minutes. Then, another printed pamphlet.
"Here. Try not to get fired this time, okay?" she turned back to her computer before he even took the paper, dismissing him.
She waited until the door shut behind him to slump down. She had been hoping he wouldn't remember her. In fact, yesterday he hadn't even known who she was. She wondered what jogged his memory; she certainly didn't look like she did in high school, thanks to the endless hours she spent in the gym working off her thunder thighs and huge ass, including the strict diet she had to force on herself every time she smelt chocolately temptation… and it obviously wasn't her name that had him remembering.
Not for the first time, she wondered what made him come into her agency asking for a job. His dad was one of the richest tycoons in Tokyo, and he practically owned the entire city. When Sesshoumaru had strutted around school like a peacock, people always bowed out of his way because of who his daddy was. One word from Taisho, and they risked their family's business.
Or so everyone thought. Now, she wondered if that would have been the case. If Taisho-sama was smart enough to kick Sesshoumaru to the curb for some real life lessons, she wondered if he'd shut down a business based off the words of his cruel, arrogant son.
He hadn't changed since high school, she thought. He still had that icy, arrogant beauty, and the high-and-mighty attitude that came with it. If he wanted a job; if he planned to actually hold a job longer than seven hours, he'd have to step down off his pedestal enough to learn a little humility. Kagome had always been optimistic. She would try to extend that optimism a little further, even to someone like Sesshoumaru.
After seven days and five jobs, however, that optimism was stretching a little thin.
"Sesshoumaru," she growled, throwing her hands up in frustration. "What the hell was wrong this time?"
"A maid? Be serious, Kagome." he huffed. "You can't expect me to clean up after others."
She read the list of jobs he went to; every single one he had been sent back to her at the end of the day, and some hadn't even waited until then.
"And what was your reason for quitting your last four jobs, Sesshoumaru? I mean, come on. Dog walker? How hard could that have been?"
"This Sesshoumaru received a ticket." he said in disgust. "How could you have expected me to clean up dog feces? The very thought is revolting. I told the cop so, but he did not offer any understanding as he wrote me that citation."
She sighed. "Test evaluations? They told me you didn't even show up."
"They expected me to be a 'breath evaluator.' As in, smell someone's morning breath, wait until they gargled with mouth wash, and smell their breath again to rate the difference in smells. I may be desperate, but I'm not that desperate." he said, disgusted.
Kagome grudgingly agreed. But she had been desperate. He wasn't qualified for anything, and shop owners weren't exactly eager to take on a grown man with no experience to his name. She sighed, skimming the list. She raised a brow on what one employer wrote her. "You became drunk during working hours? Seriously Sesshoumaru. What the hell?"
"You sent this Sesshoumaru to be a beer taste tester." he told her. "I was only doing my job."
She stared at him, completely speechless. "You idiot!" she burst out. "You're not supposed to swallow the beer! As a taste tester you're supposed to sip it, swirl it around, and spit it out! Even I know that!"
He sniffed, sticking his nose up in the air. "Then perhaps they should have been more specific when explaining the job description."
"You're hopeless." she said faintly, sitting back in her seat. "Absolutely hopeless. I don't think I can help you." she closed her eyes. "Oh, my God. I actually don't think I can help you."
Something akin to panic skittered across his skin. "You claim to have one hundred percent placement. You can't be serious."
She opened her eyes and stared, just stared. "But I am serious." she told him finally, her voice still faint and incredulous. "Sesshoumaru, you didn't even try, did you? Every single job I sent you to, you didn't even try."
You didn't even try, did you? And you call Inuyasha useless.
Inuyasha was useless, damnit. He worked for a software company where all he did was play video games all day, supposedly testing it for bugs or glitches.
He leaned forward, pointed a demanding finger at her. "There has to be something you can give me. Something. Anything."
"Something?" she said, her voice rising in temper. "Anything? Sesshoumaru, I've tried everything! Every stupid thing! You couldn't do even the simplest of things! Was driving someone around and opening doors so hard for you to do? Was walking someone's dog really that much of a chore? For God's sake, you had the chance to be paid twenty-dollars an hour just to sniff someone's breath, and that was too demeaning for you! Are you such an alcoholic that it was difficult to spit the beer out after you've tasted it? There's nothing, Sesshoumaru! Nothing!"
"Coffee." he said, feeling a little desperate, but not allowing it to show. "This Sesshoumaru used to go to a coffee shop every morning. It can't be that difficult."
"Sesshoumaru, I wouldn't trust you to say two words to a customer. You'd either insult them so much you'd wear the coffee, or you'd make them cry." she told him seriously. "I'm not ruining all my contacts just for you."
He had to get a job. He had to. His father won't let him come home unless he was able to prove that he could hold down a job for at least a month, and Bankotsu was getting tired of having him sleep on the couch and, damnit, there was never any food at the apartment anymore! What was he supposed to do?
Some of his desperation must have shown through, because Kagome's face softened and she sighed, just a little. "Come on, Sesshoumaru. I'll treat you to lunch."
Was he really so desperate to accept free lunch from Thunder Thighs Kagome?
The answer, sadly, was yes, he really was.
He followed her silently out of her office, and waited as she locked the doors behind her. As she led the way to a small diner she stated was superb, he silently checked that, no, she was not pear-shaped. Though her thighs were definitely eye-catching…
Staring at the sky when she turned to look at him over her shoulder, he pretended to listen to what she was saying while seeing in his minds eye the way her slim, shapely legs moved beneath her skirt, and how she had the sexiest ankles this side of Tokyo. He couldn't really see her feet from behind, but the flashes of color he spotted told him she painted her toes a sparkly green.
"Sesshoumaru? Sesshoumaru!"
He looked down at her blankly, wondering why he thought anyone's ankles were sexy, and blinked when she snapped her fingers in his face. "Hel-lo! We're here. Geez, snap out of it already."
Looking up at the bistro, he couldn't fault her for her choice in eateries. The restaurant was one he used to frequent often, before his father froze his credit cards. He looked over at her curiously once they were sat. "How do employment agencies work? I did not think you were paid enough to afford something like this."
She looked at him wryly. "Gee, thanks. If you must know, recruitment agencies; i.e., me, work by making the connection between their client - the company seeking an employee - and the ideal candidate; a qualified individual seeking a job. Though my job is to perform a service to both the client and the candidate, the client ultimately pays the bill."
"I do different kinds of searches." she continued when he stayed silent. "One where there are open jobs and no time period and I get paid up to thirty-three percent of the employees salary if placed, or a retained search, where the client pays me a portion of the total fee up front, and I have exclusive rights, within a mutually agreed upon time frame, to fill the position. If the client finds someone without my agency, they still lose the prepaid portion."
When he only stared, she shrugged. "Tokyo's a big city. I have a lot of customers."
"And yet, you could not find me a job." he said, bitterness tightening his expression.
"Sesshoumaru," she started, "most of my job openings are for people with a college degree. With only your high school diploma, the best you can hope for is a temp job."
"There's nothing else I can do?" he asked, hating the fact that he needed to ask in the first place.
"Well…" she sipped her water, watching him above the rim. "If I can find you another temp job, while you are working there you can try to get a certificate."
"Certificate?"
"Yeah, you know." she gestured wordlessly with her hands for a minute. "Certificates. You can be certified to drive big trucks, like semi's, or you can be a certified nursing assistant, a certified child care assistant - like a babysitter… I don't know. There are a lot of things."
"Hnn." he frowned down at the menu.
"Come on, no more talk of work." she urged softly. "You don't want those worry wrinkles to stick, now do you?"
His face automatically cleared of all expression, effectively smoothing out all wrinkles caused by him frowning. Kagome laughed, enjoying herself. "I didn't think so."
From there she decided to take him to different parts of the city, trying to gauge for herself what he seemed to enjoy the most. And if not enjoy, to at least be good at. What surprised her the most had been the moment they came to the park, and there were children playing.
A little dark haired girl had recognized him, and had immediately ran over and begged that he play with her. To Kagome's surprise, he actually did. After a few moments of standing there staring, she joined him on the jungle gym and watched as he lifted the little girl onto the bars.
"Careful, Rin." she heard him murmur. "We don't want you to fall again."
She watched him, an idea swirling around her brain. "You're very good with her." she said casually.
"Hnn." he murmured absently. "Rin is my step-sister. Inuyasha's adopted sister."
Inuyasha was his little brother, if she remembered correctly. Same dad, different moms. She hardly saw him during school, since Inuyasha skipped almost all of his classes, and still somehow managed to pass each school year. Not with the best of grades, she remembered, but certainly not the worst.
"I see," she murmured.
They spent the next hour at the park, and Kagome couldn't resist buying everyone ice cream, and smiling more than she thought was possible while staying in Sesshoumaru's company for an extended amount of time.
One thing was still nagging at her…
"Sesshoumaru," she started carefully, looking up at him from beneath her lashes. "Why do you need a job so desperately? I mean, if your dad paid for everything before, what happened to change his mind?"
He stiffened beside her, and stayed so silent that for a moment she didn't think he'd answer her. "My father wanted me to prove myself."
"What do you mean?"
"He wants to retire," he found himself saying. "I thought he meant for me to step in his place as head of company. I was mistaken."
She watched him for a moment before asking, "How are you to prove yourself?"
"He says I am not qualified to work at his company," his lips twisted bitterly. "not even as an errand boy. He said he doubted I could survive on my own, without his help."
She silently agreed, though she wouldn't say so now. "Okay… so what did he do?"
"He froze all my credit cards, then stopped the rent in my apartment so I was forced to move out. He told me that if I were to find a job, any job, and keep it longer than thirty days, he would consider training me." He stared ahead a moment before looking down at her. "He told me I needed a lesson in humility."
At her expression, he moved away from her angrily. "You think so, too."
She sighed. "I definitely think it couldn't hurt. Think of it this way," she started, "what if you were in your fathers shoes, and some kid straight out of high school came up to you and demanded to be your vice president? Would you let him have the job?"
He saw her point, but refused to acknowledge it. "I am not straight out of high school. It has been a few years."
When she huffed, he allowed, "This Sesshoumaru sees your point. However, I am his son. Certain things are to be expected."
"Love is the only thing you should expect from a parent, Sesshoumaru. Everything else you need to earn on your own, especially success." She ran a hand through her hair tiredly. "Look, come back to my office tomorrow. I think I have something you might be interested in."
Babysitting wasn't exactly what he would call ideal, but Sesshoumaru was determined not to complain. Much.
Over dinner the following week, Kagome was listening to him talk heatedly about one of the children he was watching that seemed determined to try every prank in the book on him. Frogs in his shoes, "accidentally" smearing chocolate over Sesshoumaru's clothes, throwing temper tantrums, throwing food… she laughed during one incident where the boy tried hugging Sesshoumaru, just so he'd get a chance to stick gum in his hair.
"If it weren't for the fact this Sesshoumaru did not trust the child, and therefore became suspicious when he wanted a hug, you would be seeing a shorn Sesshoumaru before you tonight." he told her seriously, watching her laugh.
"I think the little guy likes you." she told him. "What's his name again?"
"Shippo." Sesshoumaru said. "Though I often call him something else when he cannot hear me."
A few days after that Kagome met Shippo for the first time, and personally couldn't see anything wrong with him. He was a sweetheart to her.
"Only in front of you," Sesshoumaru huffed while she sat with him on the couch. "That demon has more tricks up his sleeve than I ever had at his age."
Shippo ran over to them at that moment, staring up at Kagome with large, solemn green eyes. "So you're Fluffy's girlfriend. I didn't know you were allowed to date on the job."
Sesshoumaru scowled and bopped the kid gently on the head. "Show your manners, rodent. And stop calling me that."
Laughing, blushing at the term girlfriend (and the fact that Sesshoumaru didn't deny it) Kagome scooped Shippo up and cuddled him. "Be nice to him, Sesshoumaru. He's only a little kid!"
"Yeah, Sesshoumaru, I'm only a little kid!" Shippo mimicked, sticking his tongue out from the safety of Kagome's arms.
Later, when Sesshoumaru was walking her home, she commented on their relationship. "Shippo really seems to like you."
He raised a brow at her. "You sound surprised."
"Well, excuse me! Before this I would have found it shocking that anyone liked you!"
He stopped her with a light touch on her arm, and his eyes were intent on her face, searching. "And you?" he asked quietly. "Do you like this Sesshoumaru?"
"Yes," she said softly, staring down at her hands. "though I don't think I should."
"Why not?"
Huffing, she glared up at him. "Sesshoumaru, you were such a jerk to me in high school! You were nothing but a bully that made fun of me even when I did your homework and you shoved me into lockers! You made my life a living hell! Why should I like you?"
He said nothing for several minutes before taking her hands into his own. "Who Sesshoumaru was is no longer who he is." he said quietly. "And he has you to thank for that."
"Your father's the one that kicked you out," she whispered softly, wondering which one of them were moving closer.
"Yes." he said. "And you were the one that gave this Sesshoumaru a chance."
She smiled faintly. "Several, actually."
He smiled, just a little, and inclined his head. "Yes."
And then he kissed her.
Soft and hesitant, his lips brushed against hers, as if he wasn't sure his touch was welcome. But when she sighed, just a little, and leaned into him, his kiss became more urgent, more demanding. And somehow they were in her apartment, in her living room, shedding clothes as she led him to her bedroom, and he made love to her for the first time.
After that Sesshoumaru always came home with her, and she never complained when he started taking up closet space, then a drawer in her dresser. It was only until after the thirty days were up she started worrying, wondering if Sesshoumaru would turn into the jerk he was before if his father accepted him back. Though he was by no means humble, there was a certain... gentleness that hadn't been there before. A patience that he only just learned.
"My father didn't accept me back." he told her quietly one evening, when she was curled up naked at his side. He idly stroked her back even as she stiffened and looked up at him.
"What?" she asked, shocked. "Why not? Didn't he promise to train you if you proved yourself to him?"
He was quiet for a moment, staring at the wall instead of down into her wide eyes, uncomfortable with the pain she was feeling for him. "I have not given him adequate proof." he said at last. "He said he would contact me when or if that day comes."
She rested her head along his shoulder and traced an idle finger on his chest. "Are you mad at him?"
"I feel… disappointed." he said quietly. "I have never been his favorite. This Sesshoumaru has stopped expecting anything from him. If I want anything, I will get it on my own."
Kagome smiled. "Good." She looked up at him coyly, fluttering her eyelashes a bit. "You know, I could always use a maid around here…"
She laughed straight out when Sesshoumaru growled and rolled her over on her back, and showed her just what he thought of her suggestion one torturously slow kiss at a time.
~FIN~
I will leave what happens next to your imagination. Hope you enjoyed!