Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters.

1. One Very Long Day

Kagome cracked open an eye as she heard what sounded like a quartet of trumpet players, all of whom were competing for the title of "loudest trumpeter ever," crammed into her smaller-than-average bedroom. The tired girl groaned as her questing fingers found a switch which she promptly flipped. And again. And again. The trumpeting did not stop, but was instead joined by a flashing light. The slight teenager cursed mentally as she opened her other eye to shoot a death glare at the alarm clock.

If the clock had had just two more IQ points (and a pair of mini mechanical legs), it would have been whimpering and scampering for cover. Instead it sat there, taunting her in its foolish mechanical way. She reached out again, this time managing to hit the off button as opposed to her light switch, and swung her feet to the floor. Wincing at the cold, Kagome padded off to the bathroom.

A weekend job, her mother had said, means extra cash. It'll be good experience, her mother had said. It'll look great on applications and resumes, her mother had said. You'll have to get up at six on Saturdays, her mother had definitely not said. You'll be working for a strict yet cold, unfeeling supervisor, her mother had also not said.

Half an hour later she emerged and briefly contemplated begging her mother to buy heated toilet seat covers. It had never worked in the past, but hey, maybe this time? In any case, she was ready, or as ready as she was going to get at just barely past six o'clock in the morning, for her second weekend at her new job. Kagome swung her still-damp hair over her shoulder, shouted goodbye to her mother, and walked out the front door. As she closed the door she heard her mother begin to speak, "Did you eat breakf—?" Why she still bothered asking was a question Kagome had not yet been able to solve.

The car was parked in front of the house, not quite parallel to the curb. At this point in her life, Kagome was beginning to suspect that she would never achieve a truly parallel parking job. She'd been parking in that spot for at least two years now and she still hadn't gotten it right. She liked to claim that the house was actually on a slight hill, compounding the already difficult process of parallel parking, but no one believed her.

The morning was chilly but clear, promising to develop into a truly spectacular spring day. It was, however, far too early for Kagome to be an appreciative audience. As she swung her bag into the passenger seat, her mental energy was fully engaged in willing all the traffic lights between her and the lab to be green.

Not surprisingly, the lights were mostly red, but that didn't stop her from eventually pulling up in front of her destination, the large, ugly, square building dominating the landscape. "Smollet Laboratory" read the steel letters that faced out over the driveway. Kagome ignored their commanding glint, not even sparing the words a hurried glance as she ran inside the building. She was late.

"Morning Lenny," she greeted the security guard on duty, flashing her nametag as she did so.

"Morning Kagome," Lenny replied, "Better watch out for your beloved superior this morning. She's in frost-mode."

Kagome sighed. This was not what she wanted to hear, especially not on a morning when she was already a few minutes late. Turning a corner in the building, she attempted to blend into the neutrally painted walls, or at least look as if she had been there for hours, not just arrived with wet hair.

She was unsuccessful. From down the hall, see saw a tall, slim shape coming her way. Kagome increased her efforts to melt into the wall. "Kagome!" The voice was as cold and precise as the point on an icicle. She suspected that Kikyo was not impressed. Maybe a blow dryer would help, she thought idly. Or perhaps she could claim that one of the sprinklers had gone off?

"Kagome!" her supervisor's voice was shot through with that certain shrill tone, like sleet falling on a winter pavement, that Kagome had already learned to associate with trouble.

"You are four minutes late. Do you know what could happen in four minutes?"

Kagome shook her head although she was pretty sure the question was rhetorical.

"A person could die in four minutes, a life could change in four minutes, you could be fired in four minutes. That's what could happen in four minutes. Now go and put on a smock, you have a lot to do, and I don't want you wasting any more of my time."

Kagome sighed again, and headed to the changing room. It looked like it was going to be a long, long day. And she had thought she'd left smocks back in her kindergarten days.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Outside, birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, and flowers were opening, displaying their brilliant colors to an indifferent sun. Inside, Kagome Higurashi, schoolgirl and part-time employee, was washing her hands. Again. She was going to have to invest in some hand cream soon, she mused, because the constant handwashing that the lab demanded was killing her skin.

"Kagome," Kikyo's voice sounded in the distance, as musical as the ice breaking on a lake in springtime. Kagome jumped, and immediately grabbed a petri dish, trying to look busy. "Kagome put that down. It's time for your lunch break." The newest employee of the Smollet Laboratories grinned and dropped the petri dish she was holding.

"And be careful with those dishes, Kagome. They cost money. Now pick it up and put it away properly."

Inwardly, Kagome growled at her supervisor's bossy tone. She did not enjoy being ordered around like some unimportant grub. Granted, as a part-time high school employee that was essentially what she was, but there was no need to rub it in her face.

Outwardly she smiled submissively, nodded her head, and visualized attacking Kikyo with a dozen raw eggs. Although, she thought with a frown, Kikyo's hair was quite shiny. She was probably the type who used raw eggs regularly to increase the shine and vitality of her hair. Or maybe that was olive oil? Some type of food product anyhow, and, knowing Kikyo, no doubt it was an organic and expensive one too. There was just no winning. With a sigh, Kagome turned to go on her lunch break.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The sun had been down for several hours and Kagome Higurashi was crouched down the end of a small, dark corridor, attempting to look like a rat.

Ok, so technically, it had been her fault that a cage full of lab rats had been released, but what did they think she was, a cat?

Kagome grimaced at the memory; Kikyo had not been happy with her, and her ears were still ringing from the talk she'd received.

"You're not leaving until all five those rats have been caught. Do you realize what a serious sanitation issue they are? If this ever got into the news..." Kikyo's voice had trailed off, like frost melting from a windowpane, but her glare was as icy as ever.

On the spot, Kagome had been unable to come up with a properly witty, or at least properly apologetic, reply. So she had settled for, "But Mickey Mouse is beloved by millions," a response which, on looking back, she could see was striking the wrong note altogether.

"Yes, that's Mickey Mouse, not Mickey Rat," Kikyo retorted. Kagome allowed herself a small feeling of triumph—at least Kikyo was no better at thinking up comebacks than she was. The feeling disappeared almost immediately, however, as Kikyo continued. "And one other thing, I don't want anyone knowing about this little incident, so you are not to go after them until the majority of people have left for the day." As further punishment, she ordered her to clean petri dishes until that time. Kagome had slumped in defeat and went off to phone her mother.

And that, she thought grimly, was why she was crouched here on her aching hands and knees many hours after the official close of the lab, attempting to sound like a large, friendly rat, the kind of rat that inspired other rats to come out for a friendly chat and a bit of cheese. Or whatever it was rats did in their spare time.

It was spooky in the lab at that time of evening, the quiet magnifying every little noise she made. Luckily, it also magnified the scratching of the rats, which made her job slightly easier. Well, that and the fact that she had sneakily put some food in opportune places earlier that evening in order to lure them into certain parts of the building, and away from others.

She creeped forward slowly, her eyes intent on the rat that she was currently stalking. It was a small, brown one. Probably female, and currently huddled against the wall nibbling on the bait.

"Ah ha, got you, you little disease-ridden creep!" Kagome exclaimed, swooping down on the rat. Not that she didn't feel somewhat sorry for it, after all, if she were locked up and experimented on daily, she would probably take any opportunity for freedom that came up. That didn't mean she was happy about having to stay there hours after closing time to recapture them. "Take that," she added, as she popped the rat into the portable cage which was already holding three of its peers. "Just one more 'serious sanitation threat' to go!"

"Talking to yourself?" a handsome man with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail asked from behind her.

Kagome jumped and turned with a squeak, idly noting that she had to stop impersonating the rodents before she turned into one. "Who the hell are you?" she asked, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. Her mother would not be pleased if she ever heard words like that coming out of her mouth; she had raised Kagome to be extremely polite, especially under high-stress situations.

The man dipped the mop in his hand, and swept Kagome a courtly bow. "Name's Miroku," he said, "night janitor. I was just admiring your lovely form. And you are?"

Taken aback by his formal-yet-nonchalant manner, he seemed to be hitting on her, of all things, Kagome gave her name, "Part-time employee," she added.

"Ah, that explains it," Miroku grinned, "I knew I wouldn't have missed a face like yours."

Kagome buried the aforementioned face in her hands. Yep, definitely hitting on her, and not very subtly either. Unless that was an ambiguously expressed insult? She shook her head before she got too wrapped up in analysis. "Umm, I'm sorry, I'd love to stay and talk, but I've gotta go. Kikyo's put me on a job, and if I don't do it..." She let her voice trail off, hoping the man would take the hint and leave her alone.

"Right, right, sorry," Miroku gave her a grin and walked away down the hall, whistling a catchy tune. Somehow, against all the laws of physics that she was aware of, the notes seemed to physically fall away from him and slide up her arm.

Right, thought Kagome, shaking her head, back to work. The weird ones definitely came out at night, didn't they? As she was considering this, she saw a small dark shadow slide under a door at the end of the hall. "Authorized Personnel Only" read a forbidding sign in clear black letters. Well, Kagome reasoned, she was authorized to get that rat, and the rat, who obviously couldn't read, had just gone under that door, so that should mean that she was authorized to go through, too.

With the end of her long night in sight, Kagome, ignoring the false logic of her impressive feat of rationalization, eagerly caught at the doorknob and gave it a quick twist. Or tried to, anyhow, since the knob refused to twist with her.

Kagome cursed under her breath, but, never one to quit a job once she had given her word, decided to go and find some keys. She knew Kikyo kept a bunch in her office, and she sure hoped the older woman was authorized. With barely a moment of hesitation, Kagome trotted off to go and pillage her beloved boss's desk.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ha!" Kagome grinned triumphantly a few minutes later as she snatched Kikyo's key card and key ring from a drawer. "Now for the moment of truth," and she headed back down the five zillion miles of beige corridors separating her from the rat-door.

Soon she was standing in front of the door, trying out the keys. Finally, a large, silver one fit, and she twisted it, listening as the heavy bolt drew back. This time, the knob twisted, but when she shoved against the door, it still didn't move. She cursed, but then noticed a slot to the side, and inserted Kikyo's key card. This time, the door swung open.

The room was small and dark. Kagome stood still for a minute, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark, or for her searching fingers to find a light switch. Instead, she was getting the creepy feeling that she was not alone. This was only confirmed a moment later when a pair of large hands fastened around her neck and a nearby voice growled out, "Who the fuck are you?"