Chapter 3

Kagome had spent five days in the New York by now. She hadn't met anyone else brightly colored besides Hank, but she did meet many more fascinating people. One of the children that she found most interesting was Jimmy. The others had named him Leech because he had the tendency to stop the mutant gene from affecting them. She met the young man three days ago and since then she couldn't help but convince him to immobilize other mutants, young and old. Kagome's favorite time she had gotten Jimmy to relax and have fun was when she convinced him to hide under Hank's bed one night just before he woke up. He was sure surprised in the morning and Kagome and Jimmy had a laugh.

Besides having Jimmy assist her in her evil plans, Kagome had become pretty close with the young man. They spent several hours in his room chatting about life. Kagome found that because of his isolation he had more wisdom that many adults have. She also found that he had a problem with human contact; she therefore made it her mission to hug the young man as much as possible. Kagome and Jimmy both enjoyed the hugs.

Kagome realized that the reason she enjoyed the familiar contact was that Sesshomaru didn't really like hugs and since he was really her only familiar she didn't get the chance to experience skin contact often. And the last time she had had any type of intimate sexual relations was with Inuyasha. And that was way too long ago for her to accurately remember what being touched really felt like. Even though the contact was short and non-sexual, she couldn't find it in her to deny herself their sometimes tri-daily hugs.

Most nights, she found herself sitting in the parlor with Ororo and Hank and sometimes older students with a glass of brandy. They would usually either talk about Kagome's past or the recent trials that the X-Men had gone through with Magneto. She'd learned that the man had good intentions but his method was screwed up, and in his process of giving mutants freedom he killed a lot of people, non-mutants and mutants alike. She was happy that he became the human that he so desperately hated.

She'd gained a lot of knowledge from the people living in the mansion and she was grateful that she'd had the chance to meet all of them. And Kagome knew that the last week had gained her some life-long friendships that they could all continue to develop.

Unfortunately, on the morning of her sixth day there, Kagome had received a text from Sesshomaru asking where she was, because she'd never called the first day. Kagome was reluctant to pack her belongings but when she'd called Sesshomaru after his text he had reminded her of her duties back in Japan, nowhere near as important as putting the jewel back together but of importance to the dog demon hard at work. He'd given her the job of reorganizing the file room.

It wasn't something that Kagome had really wanted to do, but Sesshomaru insisted on giving her a job after a couple of years since she was living with him all the time. The filing was the third 'major' project that she's had in the last thirty years and they seemed to be growing in unimportance with each one.

Her first job was designing the building that would hold Sesshomaru's business, fairly important. But it took about five years for her to finish. Her second job was interviewing for Sesshomaru's personal assistant. She could definitely say that this was her favorite job; in her irritation at Sesshomaru for making her do something that he should have done she continuously hired people that she knew Sesshomaru would hate. His PA's for a couple years (three to be exact) didn't last more than a couple months each. She'd had too many laughs when Sesshomaru fired every one and requested that she hire a different one.

When the demon was finally fed up with her choosing capabilities he came up with a job that she knew he'd secretly had her do to serve as a punishment, completely re-organize the files of his corporation.

The phone call went a little something like this. "Sesshomaru, you seem to think that I care about when this filing gets done, you notice that I haven't finished it in nine years."

Sesshomaru sighed exasperatedly. "I know you don't care, however, Kira is unable to find anything in the mess that you've created and I need you to get files out of that room."

Kagome huffed. "You should go electronic."

"I'll make you be the one the type all of them up if you don't come back and find me those files." She could hear his smirk on the other end of the line.

"I'll be at the airfield in five hours. Have the plane waiting." Kagome knew that typing up the files would have been torture, but if he did force her to do it she would punish him by dragging out that project for even longer that she's dragged out the reorganizing.

She was unhappy with the turn of events but she knew that she could come back to the mansion at anytime.

Ororo walked down the hallway towards Kagome's room intending on asking the woman if she'd like to sit in on some of the day's classes, but when she got there she found the woman packing her bag. "Where are you going?"

Kagome faced Ororo. "Well, because I work with a demon that can't spend five minutes by himself, I need to head back to Japan to find things so he won't try and make my life miserable." Kagome went back to packing and mumbled, "He thinks my filing is out of order now? Just wait until I get back…"

Ororo stared at Kagome in confusion, "Filing?"

"Yes, the idiot put me in charge of re-organizing the file room and now his silly assistant can't find anything. Because of this, I must leave to find the files or he's going to make both our lives miserable."

"Oh, well I was going to ask if you wanted to attend some classes today but since you have to leave I guess we'll schedule it for some other time." Ororo smiled and Kagome was glad she wasn't upset about her abrupt departure.

"Thank you for understanding. That demon is a tyrant." Kagome went to her bed side stand and grabbed a pen and paper before scribbling down on the paper. "Here's my contact information in Japan. If you need to contact me for some strange reason you'll know how to get in touch. I know your information so it'll be a two way street. And I'm sure I'll be back soon enough, I just have to spend enough time there to make Sesshomaru happy. And let his assistant in on my filing secret." With a chuckle she zipped up her bag and followed Ororo out of the room.

"Would you mind if I stopped by Jimmy's room to say goodbye?" Ororo shook her head no and Kagome turned to go down the hallway to say goodbye. She knocked on the familiar door and entered when she heard Jimmy say come in, Ororo stayed outside to give the pair some time to say goodbye.

"Hey Kagome!" Jimmy greeted her when she came in the door with a hug and a smile but his excitement faded when he saw her bag. "What's up? Where are you going?"

Kagome sighed. "I have to get back to Japan for a while. I don't expect to be long, maybe a month? It's hard to say, I'm going to try and hire someone do figure out what I did to help when I'm not there. And I should be back soon enough." She leaned against the door and watched Jimmy become more upset about her leaving. "Sorry."

"It's alright; I'm just going to miss having you around for a while." Jimmy shrugged and sat on his bed. "Who's going to help me surprise the other students?"

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, just make sure you're silent when you're on the move. They're starting to suspect what we're doing." Kagome whispered the last part and moved away from the door. She embraced the young man, "I have to get going, I'm expected back at JFK Airport in a couple hours. I need to get on the road." Jimmy nodded and let her go. Kagome once again grabbed a pen and paper from her bag and wrote down her number. "Here, in case you want to talk while I'm gone."

"Thanks." Jimmy smiled again and led her to his door. "Have a nice trip and I'll see you soon."

"You sure will." Kagome smiled, leaving the room. Soon she was back in New York City and on a plane to Japan, already ready to go back to the mansion.

Kagome had been back in Japan for two weeks now and she felt like nothing had gotten done. She seemed to spend all her time trying to figure out where she put some files (because she honestly didn't remember where she'd stashed them) and all her extra time on the phone trying to get people in for interviews to figure out the mess that she'd created. For once it seemed her plan to irritate Sesshomaru had come full circle, and she started to hate herself for it.

The first couple people she had interviewed seemed like they could handle the job, but when she took them to the basement their eyes widened in amazement and she could sense the dread that came over them. Immediately she knew that they couldn't handle it.

The second group all didn't have the dedication that would need to be applied and they never even saw the room.

Now she was trying to line up the times for the third set of interviews and some of them wouldn't be able to come on the same day. This was a problem for Kagome considering she needed to spend one day interviewing and three days organizing to make up for the time she spent interviewing inefficient people. She was becoming exhausted, and needed to find someone fast.

"Hello, this is Kagome Higurashi with Tashio Industries. Is Shuichi Minamino available?"

"This is Shuichi, how may I help you?"

"Well, as I've already stated I'm from Tashio Industries and I came across your application. I would love it if you would be able to come in for an interview tomorrow around ten."

"I would be able to make it then yes, I appreciate that you gave me a call."

"No problem, Mr. Minamino. I'm looking forward to meeting you tomorrow. When you come in the building tell the receptionist that you have an interview with Kagome and she'll bring you to my office."

"Thanks again, Ms. Higurashi. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Many thanks to you as well. Have a good day."

"Goodbye."

Kagome was terribly happy that she ended up scheduling at least one interview for the next day, and the man sounded nice enough. The thought that she might hire someone was squished by the overwhelming thought that no one in their right mind would ever want to organize that many files. Ever. But there was still a semblance of hope in her mind and she would cling to that hope, cling tighter than anyone had ever clung before.

The next day at 9:57 am Kagome found herself arguing with Sesshomaru over Skype. And it was about nothing she decided, he had issues with her listening to television when she went to sleep and the noise prevented him from getting sleep which made him late. Kagome figured they had this conversation at least once a month and she always won. It was quite exciting to win against him all the time over that same thing and still continue to win.

Unfortunately, today wasn't a day that she could be having this argument. Shuichi Minamino was due in her office in any second and she didn't want to look unprofessional arguing with her pseudo-boss. "I have to go Sesshomaru. We can continue this over dinner tonight. You're buying." And she hung up just as a knock came at her door. She stood and smoothed her jeans and went to open the door.

When Shuichi answered the phone yesterday he sure wasn't expecting to get a call from Tashio Industries. And when he knocked on the door he definitely wasn't expecting this woman to claim to be Kagome Higurashi, the woman who would be interviewing him. The fact that she was wearing jeans made him feel slightly over dressed wearing a suit, but he wasn't one to judge, and he just wanted a job that would give him something to do.

"Hello, I'm Shuichi Minamino. You're Ms. Higurashi?"

"Hi Shuichi, yes I'm Kagome. It's nice to meet you. Did you have problems finding my office?" Kagome let him in the room and pointed to a chair for him to sit and she went to her chair.

"No ma'am."

"Excellent. Now I'd like to keep this interview short, if you don't mind so I'll ask you some key questions and we'll go from there. Why do you want to work here?"

"Just to have something to do, mostly. Some of my days get long and slightly boring and I need something to break the monotony."

Kagome smiled a little. "So you're not in this job for the money?"

Shuichi shrugged. "Not really, I'm fairly well off and this, while it would be income would only be extra."

Kagome nodded. "Alright, I'm not going to lie to you. This job is crap. I hate it, everyone in this building likes me, but they all hate me because I did this. And it's super boring, and I'm going to show you the file room and you'll want to leave immediately. However, if you actually want to pursue this job opportunity I will love you forever and I will write you any recommendation that you need. However we'll see after I take you to the room. Sound good?" Shuichi nodded and Kagome lead them towards the elevator.

"If I may ask a question, why do you have an office on a different floor than the file room?"

They entered the elevator. "Well this wasn't my first job here and this office is closer to Sesshomaru's office. Easier to irritate the man." Shuichi nodded but was still horridly confused.

They made it to the basement and Kagome looked at Shuichi expecting a look of horror that she'd resigned herself to. But the calm response she got was almost shocking. "I know why you need the help."

"You don't know how happy I am that you're not running away. I hate that I did this, but I really wanted to piss off Sesshomaru at the time and this happened and I can't get away from it for more than a week and I need someone to fix it."

Shuichi nodded. He could do it, and it would definitely give him something to do during the long days. "I'm your man then. I can get this done in… I can't even give you a prediction, but I can get it done."

Kagome started hopping. "I will love you for the rest of my life, I can't thank you enough-"

An over-com came on and stopped Kagome's sentence. "Kagome," It was Sesshomaru. "There's a man in my office saying that you weren't in yours and he needs to see you. I refuse to let him stay here for much longer. And it is not my responsibility to redirect people to find you."

Kagome shook her head and went over to the wall where an over-com was a pushed a button. "Don't be mad because I won our fight today. And I don't tell people to go find your office when I'm not in mine; they all somehow manage that by themselves. Anyways, send him down." And she released the button.

"Sorry about that, he has a short fuse sometimes and doesn't know how to control his irritation. Anyways, you'll be working directly 'under' me. I use quotes because your position isn't technically needed by the company, but by me so I'm in charge of you." Shuichi nodded to show his understanding. "This means if someone bugs you about finding a file or not doing something fast enough I'll take care of it; that means Sesshomaru too. Also, I don't mind it if you don't come in sometimes, chances are I'm going to be in America for a while anyways and I wouldn't have come to work so you don't need to everyday either."

The elevator then binged and the last person Kagome expected to see walked out. Logan had the same look on his face that the last ten people she interviewed had, shock and fright. But she was still happy to see the man again. "Logan!" Kagome ran and jumped into his leather covered arms for a hug.

"Hey Kagome." Logan looked at Shuichi and released Kagome. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No, I was just telling Shuichi here, the newest member of Team Tashio, everything he needs to know about working here." She turned to him and waved him over. "Shuichi, this is Logan, a friend I haven't seen for quite some time and wasn't expecting today. But if you'll follow me upstairs we'll sign some paper work and I'll get you your schedule." Shuichi nodded and followed Kagome and Logan into the elevator and up to her office.

Half an hour later Kagome excused Shuichi with instructions to come in the next day for his first official day as 'file fixer'. When he left the room Kagome immediately turned towards Logan. "So, what'd you find in Canada and why exactly are you in Japan?"

Logan leaned back in his chair and put his foot on Kagome's desk. "Well, I followed the trial you sent me on and I did find where I used to work and live."

"In the deepest part of the mountains, right? I thought it was an odd place to live."

Logan nodded, "It was, and it wasn't hard to find the deed on the house."

"Has anyone lived there since you and Kayla?"

"No," Logan shook his head. "I don't think anyone even knows that the house was there. It's been abandoned since I lost my memory…" He trailed off and starred at Kagome's wall.

Determined not to let Logan wallow for too long Kagome struck up conversation again. "Did you find out anything about you losing your memory?"

"No, the only people who seemed to know about what happened were Charles and Stryker. And they're both dead so I don't know who would know anything."

Kagome nodded, "I'm sure that we'll find out something eventually."

Logan dropped his feet to the ground and grinned largely, "Now tell me about this Sesshomaru Tashio…"

Kagome groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "I'm so sorry that you had the meet his darling personality… I really wish I would have been in my office to meet you, he can be such a demon."

Kagome's office door suddenly swung open and tall demon stepped through. "Was someone talking about me?"

So it's a little later than planned. I actually had over half the chapter written for quite a while but I hit a stupid wall then college started and BAM! Bunch of stuff to do in small amounts of time.

Hope everyone enjoys this chapter! I thought connections to some students was important and if anyone can guess who the 'file fixer' is I'll give you some Phish Food (which is Ben and Jerry's if anyone doesn't know).

Let me know what you think!

Bn'C