Author's Notes: And yes, I start on yet another story. ^^;; This little piece is going to be a romantic/comedy of the unique variety. Namely because one of the two involved in said romance is none other than Mr. Unemotional himself, Sesshoumaru. Now I don't want to see reviews for this saying "Why didn't you pair so-and-so with this character?" I stated up front what pairings are in this, and I intend to keep it that way. If you don't like it, then seek out the pairing you desire elsewhere.
And since I am a courteous author, I will make note that some of the minor pairings later on will be InuYasha/Kagome and Bankotsu/Jakotsu, just so you know what you're getting yourself into.
Okay on a lighter note, if you haven't noticed I'm also a mystery writer, so if things seem a bit "mysterious" at times, just rest assured I will explain it in due time. A little mystery never hurt anyone ^^;;
Just to let you know, each chapter (before the Chapter # and Title) we are treated to a little piece from Kagura's POV on the situation. And as with not only that but the fic itself, Kagura's language (like it is in the show) tends to be a bit colorful at times ^^;;
All right, enough of my rambles- read, review and enjoy ^^
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--Call Me Tomorrow--
Let me start this off by first of all saying, if there's two things I hate in life it's my Father and the job my Father got me into. As for a broader dislike, it'd probably be all men in general. Sure, I was just like any other girl- always looking for Mr. Right, the one that's "just my type," some pretty boy with lots of cash. Well, I'm not Cinderella and let me tell you, the assholes out in the world today, are definitely no Prince Charming.
Sure, most everyone's had a bad relationship that would make them think this sooner or later, but me… no, I just have an evil Father that thinks it's okay to force his daughter into sleazy jobs just because he's low on cash. Cash that he just spends on things for himself, might I add. I guess I should be lucky he didn't sell me off as a prostitute, oh no, I just got the other end of the deal. I can't see the people that pay for my services.
Yeah, you got it; my bastard Father got me a job as a phone-sex operator. Sure, go ahead and laugh your damn ass off. It's funny when it's not you, isn't it? But try to think about what I have had to deal with. Thanks to the fact my dearest Daddy has gotten all the legal rights to my say in anything, I now have to talk to these filthy pieces of masculine scum that all seem to get kicks out of hearing me talk. Lesson one- Men are all assholes and perverts.
So, after about a week stuck in this hell-hole job, I got one that sounded nice, like a young kid that got put up to calling in as a dare. I find out later from one of the other girls when I called in for scheduling that this "young kid" is one of their regulars. Needless to say, my hope for humanity is decreasing by the moment.
I'd tried legal battles to get out of my Father's grasp, but once you slap a fake-mental issue on someone not a damn soul cares what happens to you anymore. Sad thing is, I know that all the legal papers behind this shit was bought by my Father off some asshole of a judge willing to be a little less than honest for some quick cash.
So that's my story- stuck in a horrible job with a horrible family life and not a damn chance at freedom no matter what I do. Who would have guessed that it would all change just because someone out there in the world dialed the wrong number?
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Chapter One-- Lucky Number-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a typical day as Kagura sat glaring at the monitor in front of her, the phone rang and she tensed.
"Hello, this is Yumiko. How are you doing today?" The short-black haired girl next to her purred into the headset, as she fidgeted with some strings in her hands.
Kagura sighed, if another call came in, she'd have to take it. Her only hope was that her co-worker finished up this call quickly.
Rubbing at her temples, the dark-black haired female looked up as 'Yumiko' tapped her on the arm and pointed to a slip of paper she'd slid over.
"Sorry but this is one of the longer ones- he just loves it when I play with his hair. Just hang in there if someone calls."
Nodding in reply, Kagura looked back to the clock- 3:32PM, just about thirty minutes left before her shift was over.
Trying her best to ignore the sounds and giggles that were coming from the girl beside her, Kagura went back to throwing darts into her nearby dartboard.
It had become a pastime for her since she'd started at this place about a week before. Sure the pay was really good, they charged the damn perverts enough per minute to make most of the employees think it was easy cash.
"Easy cash… that's about right," She pondered to herself, lining up another dart, "Easy cash for that scumbag Father of mine." Letting the dart fly, it imbedded itself right in the 'bull's-eye' or to be more precise, right into a photograph of a dark-crinkly brown haired man.
"Between the eyes, just what he has coming to him…" Kagura mumbled.
Glancing back over to 'Yumiko,' Kagura shook her head. Here the idiot on the other line was probably certain that he was giving some girl the thrill of her life, but on the other hand, she was just toying with the strings in her hands, forming cat's cradles and other string tricks.
"Psst, Yura…" She whispered, trying not to disrupt the phone call.
The girl looked over towards her and tilted her head.
"We do get off at four on Thursday's right?"
Nodding in the positive, Yura's voice whispered seductively into the receiver, "Oh my, oh my, we're being awfully naughty aren't we?"
Kagura's eyes looked up at the clock once again, 3:37PM. This day couldn't be over soon enough.
About to lean back in her chair and throw another dart towards her photographic target, Kagura flinched and dropped the dart as the phone line rang.
Eyes wide, she looked desperately to Yura for help- but her co-worker only mouthed "Sorry, Kagura," In reply.
Taking a deep breath, and slipping into the most seductive voice she could muster, Kagura spoke into the headset, "Hello there, this is Kalika. How are you today?"
The line was quiet, and she was just about to hang-up- figuring it was just some prank or someone that chickened out- when a very calm, yet seemingly irritated male voice could be vaguely heard.
"Damn that Inuyasha. I'll kill him for this."
Kagura blinked, not quite sure what to do in this situation.
"I assume this is a sexual-telecommunication line. Am I correct?" The voice inquired.
"Yes, it is." She replied, cursing herself for sounding so nervous.
"Then I am to also presume that you are supposed to talk to me until I feel pleased. Correct?"
Kagura glared at a spot on the wall. These inane questions were pissing her off, a lot.
"Sad to say, but yes. That's what I'm paid to do." She responded after a moment, her voice with a tone of annoyance in it.
The line went silent, and she was hoping that he would just hang up and it would all be over with- but she wasn't that lucky.
"You don't sound all that enthused." The man's voice said, a light air of amusement to it.
"Well, like hell I would be!" She snapped back, then covered her mouth. "Shit! What am I saying?"
"It's sad to think that people have resorted to such lewd forms of employment." He said simply, the voice trailing off as if he was about to hang-up, but this time, Kagura wasn't going to let him get the last word in.
"Excuse me Mr. High and Mighty, but who ever said that I wanted this damn job in the first place, huh? And who are you to judge someone you've never met and that you don't know the circumstances of their life? You must be some pretentious asshole if you think you can judge me by just this horrible job I'm stuck in." Kagura ranted, pausing to take a breath and expecting to hear the line cut off.
Instead, it was just silence… silence followed by that man's voice.
"Prove me wrong, then," He challenged, voice just as calm as before.
"What?"
"For such confidence- you should have words to back it with."
"Why you damn bastard, I ought to…" She fumed, about to say more when she felt a tug at her sleeve.
It was Yura.
"Kagura, calm down. We don't want him to report you," She whispered, trying to keep the irate woman from saying anything too rash.
"I'm waiting." He spoke up again.
"Waiting?" Kagura asked.
"For you to defend yourself."
That was all Kagura needed, before her fist cracked the arm of the wooden desk chair she sat in, "Fuck you bastard! Why the hell am I even talking to you if you're just going to insult me? It's not my damn fault my Father forced me into this job just so he can get some quick cash, and don't even tell me that I can get him in court because he's already bought off all the damned judges. I can't do a damned thing and so here I am stuck talking in this damned phone to a bunch of perverted bastards like you!"
Yura blinked, "Oh my, Kagura…don't you think that…."
"Hush, the scumbag's talking." She quickly cut her off.
"One, I'm not some pervert. My idiot half-brother thought changing the speed-dial number was an amusing little prank. Two, if you want to get away from your Father, then do so."
"I can't damnit, and there's not a soul in the world that'll help me either. So I'm just screwed…" She sighed; this whole conversation was really stressing her out.
"Then why not ask one of your callers?" He stated matter of factly.
"Because they're all damned perverts!" Kagura yelled back.
The line fell quiet, then he calmly replied, "I told you otherwise about myself."
Kagura laughed to herself, "Right, and are you going to help me?"
"Do you want me to?" He questioned.
She paused, "And why should I trust you?"
"Who said I expected you to trust me?"
On the verge of ripping out her hair at this man's consistent riddles, she retorted, "Well for one thing, I don't even know your name."
"Sesshoumaru."
"What?"
"That's the name I was given." He explained.
"And now I'm supposed to trust you, is that it?" She inquired, obviously not buying it.
"That's up to you."
Yura had stood up and placed a hand on Kagura's shoulder, hoping it would keep her co-worker from destroying anymore nearby furniture.
The silence on the phone line ended as Sesshoumaru spoke yet again, "I'll be having dinner at the café on 3rd Street at about 5:15. If you care to speak to me in person- ask for me there."
She blinked, "Is he trying to set up a date?!" Frowning, she asked him, "What is this? Some tricky way to get a date?"
"I'm being charged for this call. Correct?"
Pausing, Kagura blinked, then replied, "Well yes…"
"I'll be at that place if you want to come speak to me in person. I'm not going to waste anymore of my money just to listen to you rant."
"Well fine then!" Kagura relented.
The dead-air noise continued, and Kagura was beginning to feel almost certain he'd finally hung up, when his voice made one final remark, "But for one so scared of facing their own problems- I doubt facing an intellectual conversation would hold any more appeal."
And with that said he hung up.
"That fucking bastard! He's gone and set me up to go on damned date with him!" Kagura fumed, slamming down her headset.
Yura smiled at her, curious as to what was going to happen, "So are you going to go?"
She muttered a reply, "Why should I bother? My luck he's just some pervert that faked all that innocent shit just so he could jump me in public."
"You spent twenty-three minutes on the phone with him and he didn't even try for a grope. Any sane man would have snapped in that time, you know how bad they are about conversations. He sounds like he might be a catch, Kagura."
"Yeah right. I'm sure he really wants to talk to me 'intellectually'," She replied, sarcasm dripping.
"Come on now, you're just making excuses. It's a public place, just don't stray from there and he won't try much. Plus," She handed one of the strings over to Kagura, and held up the other herself, "If he does, just take that little string and—" She lifted the string up and mimicked strangling.
Kagura sighed, "Yura, are you really sure about this? I mean, after getting call after call from all these perverts how can you be so trusting of men?"
The black-haired girl giggled, "Oh dear, you've got it all wrong. I don't trust them, not one bit. I just give them a enough rope…. That if they do try anything stupid, I can hang them with it."
Offering a weak smile in return, Kagura looked to the red-thread in her hands, "I guess it would be a good enough reason not to go home right away."
"That's the spirit! Now, you have my number at the beauty school if you need to call for anything right?"
"Yeah, thanks Yura." The taller woman remarked, gathering her things up.
As Kagura walked out, she gave a slight wave back to her co-worker; waving in return, Yura yelled down the hallway, "And if he's a total sleaze grab a chunk of his hair and run!"
The smile on Kagura's face widened a bit, knowing all to well how much Yura loved experimenting on different hair types. Looking to her watch, she figured, "I'll just casually walk by that café. If I don't see anyone worth my time, I won't go. He's probably not worth the trouble anyways."
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Preview for Chapter Two-
Not being the type to trust just anyone, let alone a guy, Kagura doesn't plan on doing any more than taking a quick glance at this "Sesshoumaru" and walking away. But, things don't always go the way they are planned and sometimes, it's for the better.