Unliving by Gesserit

Prologue

UNLIVING

CHAPTER ONE - Prologue

"You do know that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, aren't you, chichiue?" She was giving her father a slightly annoyed and know-it-all look, much like the one she had given him when she announced she would be a journalist instead of taking over his business, five years ago.

Higurashi Kazuki stood behind his massive mahogany office, and looked out the window. Tokyo was as alive as ever. And as tiresome. The world spread at his feet, and he felt... old. Now, his only daughter, Kagome, was asking him to send her into this trip... in Europe, of all places!

"Why the sudden interest in my business, Kagome? You've made it clear five years ago that you wouldn't take over, under any circumstances. Why do you want to go to The United Kingdom in the company's behalf?" his words were calm, and he stroked his short beard, still eyeing the metropolis beneath him.

She shook her head a little, shifting her weight on the other foot, and crossing her arms.

"I'm not only doing this for you, dad! I mean, I could be doing both your... inspection and my story! I do have the proper qualification. You should know, you've forced me to work here sine I was sixteen!"

He ignored the emphasis on forced. He hadn't forced her, she was getting rebellious since her mother's death, and something had to be done. So he applied the only correction he knew of. Discipline by work.

"Your story?" his words were still calm. How she hated him being a hanyou! He still had that certain something from the demon side, the something she lacked. Her blood was too diluted from her mother's human side.

"That castle is practically an historical monument, dad. And that damn Sesshoumaru-sama-whatever-his-last-name-is won't even consider allowing visitation! It's a story waiting to be written!"

Higurashi-sama slowly turned his chair around. A sly smile was lighting his features.

"You need a cover." It was a statement. She simply shrugged her shoulders.

"He'd never let you in if he knew you were a reporter."

"Investigation journalist." She corrected. "And in charge of the cultural department, nonetheless." She seemed proud.

A few silent and awkward moments went by, as she awaited his answer. At some point, her patience –which in itself wasn't that much of an asset anyway! - ran out, and she insisted.

"Daad?" she dragged the word, and eyed him expectantly, eyes wide open and all.

"Come on, dad, please? What have you got to lose? My magazine's distributed worldwide, and this story's bound to raise some eyebrows! The cultural environment has to take a stand!"

"Well aren't you the unwavering one!" her father mocked her, still considering the request. She puffed out air, in a slightly unsympathetic manner, and fleetingly looked aside.

"With one condition." Her father said, coldly. She almost stepped back. He was giving her The Look. The look that said he meant business. Suddenly, she felt like one of the CEO's whose companies were taken over by Higurashi Inc.

"What?" she managed to ask, trying to keep her voice steady. She knew it would come, this moment. The moment in which her father would win over her.

"When you return, you will accept succession to my position in Higurashi Inc. No arguments. No bargains. Take it or leave it."

Ta-daa! There it was! The moment, in all its glory. She could have sworn she saw a lightning flash through his purple, inhuman eyes. But, there was no choice. At least, there would be several years - long years, she hoped – until her father would step down.

"Deal." She said, and he nodded in content.

"That's my girl." She threw her head back and let out a short laugh.

"You're something else, Kazuki." He leaned his head to the side, and she sighed.

"Okay, chichiue! I won't call you by your first name anymore..." she smiled, recalling that she had started to call him Kazuki when she ...ahem... went rebellious, and he threatened he would disinherit her. Since then, she would only call him "chichiue" when she wanted a favor. And this was a huge favor... which he had sucked of way more than it was worth, truth be told!

"I'll just go have some lunch and come back in an hour or so. You do the paperwork, okay? Bye-bye!" she waved her hand goodbye and threw him a schoolgirl's giggle, before exiting the large, luxurious office.

Kazuki sighed deeply, and shook his head. 'What's she planning this time, I wonder?' Kagome never gave up anything that easily. She was a fighter, he knew it all too well. Hell, she had fought him until she escaped the imprisonment from Higurashi Inc., didn't she? And he was no weak adversary, mind you.

"Sango?" he said, pushing a button on the board carved into the desk.

"Hai, Higurashi-sama." Responded a prompt, lively voice. His secretary was the most effective employee he had ever had... aside the fact that she was one of Kagome's best friends.

"Instruct my beloved daughter to stop smirking and go eat her lunch, we have much to work on later today." There was a slight click, and Sango had to hold back a giggle, while responding.

"Hai, Higurashi-sama." Click

Kagome was seated on Sango's office, a genuine haven when it came to order and discipline. It was like she was obsessive-compulsive, or something. She was so neat and orderly, all the time! As opposed to Kagome, who was a true mess! Hey, at least she did get the job done, right? And very damn well, if one might add!

"I'd better be going, or Kazuki will have my head on a silver platter, for dinner today." Kagome joked, and Sango gave her a look of disapproval.

"See ya later!" she yelled down the corridor, while heading for the elevator. Sango had an expression on her face that said "She's going to tear this place to shreds the moment she becomes in charge. God help us all!"

"See ya." Sango murmured, sure that her friend wouldn't hear her, even with all the echo on the floor.

'Damned, these hallways are long... And hollow.' Kagome thought, as she made her way to the elevator, still chewing on how to slip out of the deal she just made with her father. She simply could not stand to be in a place like this. It was... for all accounts... boring!

'There has to be some way I can escape this time, too!' But, first thing was first, and for now she had to figure out her cover. After she would return from Europe, she would think about ditching her father. She pressed the button, and the heavy doors of the elevator opened with a metallic sound.

A last glimpse towards Sango's office revealed the reason why Kagome could never work in this place. Order and discipline. 'Bleah!' she thought, as she entered the metallic cage, and pressed the last button. She was hungry.

Three quarters of her table were covered with paperwork, notes and sketches. The plate rested in front of her, half emptied, and she was waiting for her coffee to come. She was drinking too much coffee, she was aware of it. She waved the waitress to take away the leftovers. She hadn't been that hungry, after all.

Looking over the map, she thanked God she'd achieved the Cambridge Certificate for English; otherwise she couldn't have possibly made out that damned thing! Actually, English wasn't the only foreign language she spoke. There were French and Spanish too, but really... those were just for fun. English she needed.

"Where the hell is Ravenglass?" she murmured, following a railroad with her finger, along Cumbria, until she reached the train station. She hated trains.

"A-ha!" she exclaimed, when her finger reached Ravenglass. It was merely a village.

"Now... where's the damn airport?" she muttered, chasing a symbol across the map. She found it allright! No less than 43 miles away!

"Damn. What is this... Blackpool Airport." She announced, solemnly.

"What's with these people? Ravenglass, Blackpool... Creepy." She merely arched her eyebrows and proceeded to inspecting the map.

Muncaster Castle was placed at the crossing of three rivers, rather isolated in the middle of the estate. It was a beautiful site, and Kagome inwardly cursed its owner for not allowing visitation. It wasn't only a national treasure. Travelers from all around the world were supposed to be able to see it, and enjoy its beauty.

She didn't know if her mother being English had raised this aversion against the injustice she witnessed, but nevertheless she had to do something! And anyway, her English citizenship gave her many advantages in the matter. Sometimes, she wondered at the incredible mixture that collided to form her.

She was a quarter youkai, from her father's side, half Nippon, and half English. She had both citizenships, but she lived in Tokyo. And worked for a cultural magazine distributed worldwide. 'Great going, Higurashi!' she imaginarily winked at herself.

Looking at the map, she sincerely hoped that Lord Sesshoumaru would send a car for her. She hated trains.

"The Lake District of Cumbria. I wonder what's it like." She sighed, as a distant memory of her childhood in London came to her mind.

It was the time before her mother's death. All the money in the world couldn't save her from cancer, and that's why the young Kagome swore, the moment she touched her mother's pale and cold corpse, that she will never work to gain a fortune, like her father.

Instead, she worked to gain knowledge, she traveled across the world, in search of stories, in search of people and places worth seeing, and worth telling a story about. She didn't make as much money as she would have, if she was to work with her father, but it was enough, and she had the joy of traveling eight months per year.

Almost all her stories were written while traveling, not after she returned. She simply caught that moment when she was in the middle on her story, and described it truthfully. The coldness of a desk couldn't provide the feeling she needed to write it down.

"Your coffee, miss." The waitress woke Kagome from her memories. She vaguely looked up and smiled at the young woman, who left after placing the steaming cup in front of her. She absently took a sip, and returned her eyes on the map.

'At least the great Lord is Nippon. Won't have much trouble there...' she thought, wondering how a Japanese nobleman possessed an English estate. And for centuries. She shrugged her shoulders, coming to the conclusion that being one of the last pure-blooded youkai in the world certainly had its advantages. The guy must have been centuries old.

Suddenly, she felt a tremendous urge to rush her departure. She took another sip from the coffee, and gestured to the waitress to bring her the check. Within twenty minutes, she was in the elevator, heading for the last floor in Higurashi Inc., with a thick file in hands and the bag with her laptop inside.

The doors opened and she again dreaded the metallic, hollow noise, shaking her head. She rapidly walked down the corridor, at the end of which opened a large hall with Sango's office, guarding two very high, massive, dark doors. Her father's office.

"Hi, I'm back." She waved at her friend, pushing the large door open, not noticing Sango's protests.

Kagome stood in the doorframe, wondering what the hell her boyfriend was doing there. He had met her father two years ago, and seen him ...like... two times since then.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing here?" she entered the office, shooting a confused glimpse at her father. Higurashi-sama was calmly seated at his desk, resting against the large chair's back. Sango discretely closed the door, and returned to her desk.

"I don't want you to go, Kagome." He said, in that annoying tone of voice she always heard from him, when he wasn't pleased with something.

She almost laughed.

"What? And you're asking Kazuki... uhm... chichiue, not to let me go? I am a grownup for quite some time, you know!" she could feel her temper getting the better of her, looking into his fiery eyes. Another damn hanyou at her throat. Will this never end?

"Look, Inuyasha..." she cut him off, before he could get a chance to say something

"... I'm going, and that's that. I don't care you're afraid of Lord Sesshoumaru! I am not. And chichiue trusts me with this, so what's any concern of yours?" She knew her words would anger him. Yet, it was what she felt, and thought, and she always spoke out what she thought.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed a bit, and she could hear a growl from his chest.

"I'm not afraid of him! I'm worried for you. He's dangerous, and you know that. You can't ignore his past, Kagome. Stop being so stubborn!" he breathed heavy, which told her he was restraining his anger.

"We live in the twenty-first century, and he will not kill me if I lack manners at dinner, Inuyasha! He can't just do that, even if he does control an empire!"

'An empire built on industrial espionage, although never proved...' she added, to herself.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and shook his head helplessly, then he turned his head to Kazuki.

"Please talk her out of this, Higurashi-sama. It's nothing but trouble." He said, but the hanyou behind the desk seemed in no hurry to step into this fight. Eventually, the only thing he said was:

"My daughter is old enough to know what she wants, and old enough to know what she can do. This is her choice and I will not interfere."

"Thank you!" Kagome shouted, and threw Inuyasha an I-told-you-so look.

All he could do was close his eyes for a moment and walk out, after a bow towards her father.

"See ya when I get back!" she said, flatly, but he didn't respond.

"I think he's not happy with my choices..." Kagome sarcastically said, looking at her father. Higurashi-sama shook his head.

"Do you even love him?" he asked, calmly.

She shrugged her shoulders, and he huffed.

"Dear God, Kagome, why do you complicate your life so much?" She simply looked aside and returned his stare a moment later, seeming refreshed.

"Let's get to work, chichiue. What has Sango come up with for my cover?"

"Don't you mean what have I come up with?" he corrected. She smiled, skeptically.

"You? You couldn't fabricate a reliable cover if your life depended on it! And besides, you've gone soft, dad! Sango does all these minor stuff for you, now."

He had to agree. Maybe he had gotten soft. Maybe he was just tired of it all.

"Well, as of today, you are in charge of the External Relations Department. You are to contact all our major partners and provide Higurashi Inc. with prospects of future partnerships. At least, this will justify your presence there."

"So, are you really going to close the deal with Sesshoumaru-sama? Even with all the controversy his name involves? You are aware that it's rumored he practices industrial espionage, right?" Kagome looked at her father, a little amused. She herself couldn't care less about the aspect, but her father had always chosen his partners from the most respectable ones.

Not that Sesshoumaru-sama wasn't that. It was just... he was weird.

"Yes, Kagome, I'm considering it. The partnership with his company could provide a wide market in western Europe, for us."

"Oh, come on! Do you really need a wider market? I mean, you already have Asia and The United States, which is a few times the size of Europe!" she knew it wasn't all about power, but she liked pushing her father's buttons.

Kazuki narrowed his eyes.

"It's not about that, Kagome. You know it. It's about bonds between cultures. You should be happy, this is what you seek also, with your articles." She smiled.

"Gomen, chichiue." She took the papers from his desk a threw a look at them. She raised her eyebrows and shot her father an astonished gaze.

"You faked my paperwork?" she was truly impressed. Her father blinked and sighed.

"Oh, I see, Sango did. Smart girl. It has to appear like I've worked here for at least some years. The great Higurashi-sama wouldn't send a rookie to deal with such an important thing."

She winked at her father, who looked at her expectantly. Sometimes, she was the spitting image of her mother. Personality-wise, of course.

"I trust you remember what to do, Kagome." She knew he was talking about the report she had to put together, about Sesshoumaru-sama's company, and himself as a person. It was the Higurashi policy. Know your... partners.

"Sure, chichiue. I've assisted you several times, remember? It was a long time ago, but still..."

"See that Sango hasn't exaggerated with your work here. It simply says that you were on a collaboration contract, and that you've worked on several important deals. Us being public figures, it would still be easy to find out that Higurashi-sama's daughter is a reporter."

"Ahem..." she cleared her throat.

"Oh, gomen nasai. Investigation journalist." He smiled.

"A-ha! Well, this should do it. I'll just introduce myself as Higurashi Kagome, head of the External Relations Department... Hey, who's the real deal, by the way? I'm guessing he didn't welcome the idea of getting cast aside..."

"It bares little significance. You concentrate on your job. That's all there is to paperwork." Her father nodded to the file in her hand, then leaned back and took a more comfortable stance.

"You'll fly there tomorrow and a car will be waiting for you at the airport. There's a railway too, but I think you still hate trains, right? You know, that's odd. Aren't you supposed to go by train through all those secluded places you visit?"

"Sure dad, but if I can get away with not taking the train, why not size the opportunity?" She winked (again) at him, and smiled.

"Stop it with that habit, Kagome. It's so annoying."

"What, winking?" She was surprised.

"Can't. It's in my blood." She stood up and bent over the desk, giving her father a kiss on the cheek.

"It wasn't in your mother's blood, and it certainly is not in mine. So quit it." He mustered, grumpy. She didn't seem to mind him, though.

"Bye dad. I'll see you in a month or so."

"Good bye..." she slammed the heavy door shut.

"... tornado!" he finished his sentence, and smiled at the closed door. The giggles he could hear from outside his office made him wish his doors were soundproof.

:---:

"You're so clever, Sango. I love my resume! It's a veritable work of fiction..." Kagome laughed out, and Sango prepared to disregard her comment.

"You may not have done all of it, but you are certainly capable of it, and much more, Kagome." Sango said, and her friend's face settled into a serious expression.

"I know. I'm a very fast learner, and I do have my father's instincts, don't I?" Kagome answered.

"Yep." Sango replied, promptly

"Well anyway, thanks, and I'll see you when I get back, okay?"

Sango smiled back at her friend, wishing she would be safe at that monster's castle, in Europe.

She herself was terrified of what she had heard of him. Truth be told, for a human like her, a taiyoukai was certainly to be feared, but Sesshoumaru-sama was maybe the worst of all. Cruel and cold. Maybe that was to be expected of somebody who had lived for so long... Nobody really knew how old he was... Around 700 years or so.

One is bound to lose his emotion in that amount of time. If he even had any, to start with. Kagome entered the elevator, for the God-knows-how-many time that day. She was going to see Sesshoumaru-sama's splendid estate. A shiver passed through her body, but she cast it aside.

She wasn't afraid of him. She had traveled through the Amazonian Jungle and the Himalayans, for God sakes! She was not afraid. Yet, a constant shimmering thought in the back of her head testified that she was.

Sesshoumaru-sama was dangerous, her boyfriend was right. His past shouted out his cruel acts, during the youkai wars, and although he was decorated many times for bravery in combat, she knew that "bravery" meant "cruelty" while in war.

She really couldn't remember when the last youkai war took place. Maybe 400 years ago... she wasn't sure. His life resembled a legend, to most humans. Even to her, such a lifespan seemed unbelievable. And she was well accustomed with the youkai. Well, better said, hanyou, given the fact that pure-blooded youkai were now so rare.

He was so little seen outside his estate, although he was running his industrial empire so well. So he was old, pure-blooded, nobody knew how he looked like anymore, and had a legendary life. Noble, cruel and murderous. Cold and mysterious. But he wouldn't harm her... would he?

:---: