Love and Windball by Serinasu InuMiko
Tell Me
Hello all! Happy Mother's Day!! This story was inspired by a song from my favorite recording artist Corinne Bailey Rae. Didn't really intend for it to be a songfic... This is my first posted fanfic, just a cute little SessKag pairing short story. It'll only be about 10 chapters, enjoy!! MA rating for small parts and especially the last chapter. I'll try to update at least twice a week.
I'm a henna artist and I did my best to relate the first chapter to my own experiences with my henna appointments.
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or the characters associated. I do not own the lyrics in this story.
Ch 1: Tell Me
"Oh my gosh, look!!" Kagome shoved her phone in her friend's face. Said friend had to back up and refocus her eyes. She looked at Kagome's face, which held a bright smile and bulging eyes, then turned back to the phone. Her eyes grew wide.
"Oh wow!! That's the singer Reika! That's major!!"
"I know!! Sango!! This is so cool! I have to respond. How am I going to respond?!" Kagome panicked.
"It's ok. Just tell her you are looking forward to painting her and ask what would be the best time and day to do it."
"Ok, thank you!!" Kagome typed her response and set her phone down like it was on fire. "This is so exciting! A celebrity!" Kagome clasped her hands together in her lap.
"Congratulations Kagome!! I'm so proud you!" Sango cheered.
Kagome Higurashi was an artist at heart, she mainly engrossed herself in painting. She worked full time as a buyer for a museum, but painting was her passion, and she made a little money from it too. It worked well as her play money. After she graduated from Tokyo U three years ago, she found she had a lot of free time. So art filled the gap.
As of late, she'd been doing small pieces and getting a few self-portrait commissions. This time she caught the break of a lifetime. A celebrity in her area contacted her for a self-portrait and she couldn't believe it. The celebrity found her through a previous client of hers. Once Reika saw the art, she mentioned she was interested in Kagome's talent.
Mondays were usually a drag but this was the best Monday ever!!
Over the course of the next day or so, Reika was scheduled and Kagome had an idea of what she would be putting on the canvas. Reika wanted to celebrate her music with a portrait of herself holding a lotus flower with twelve petals, a petal for each number one hit she's had in her career.
The smile stayed on Kagome's face all day and nothing would ruin it.
~~
A few days passed and THE day came swiftly. Kagome was setting up the studio for Reika's arrival with vigor. The platform was clean and clear, the backdrop was up, the canvas and easel were perfectly positioned, brushes were laid out, and all that remained was getting the paint out on her palette and her model to take her place.
Her phone chimed and a familiar voice met her ears.
"Hi! Reika here." Kagome's stomach did flips and she could hardly contain her excitement.
"Hi Reika!"
"I'm here at your studio."
"Great! Come on up, I'm opening the door for you now."
"Ok, thank you!" The call ended and Kagome did a cartwheel to the door. She giggled at her childish behavior, she has to be a professional from here on out, but she had to allow herself that bit of enjoyment. As she went to the door, Reika stood there, a bright smile and flawless skin, along with two men behind her and a shorter woman to her right.
Kagome bowed and stepped to the left, "Please come in!" Reika slightly bowed back and walked in.
"It's beautiful in here. I love your skylights."
"Thank you very much Reika! This is where you'll be." Kagome guided her over to the platform.
"You're so cute! Great, I'll get dressed and you can show me how to sit."
"Of course, the dressing room is this way."
Kagome positioned Reika on the platform, her body, cocooned in a sheer blush dress, faced the right side of the room with her head turned towards Kagome, and she rested the lotus on her right hand on top of her bent legs. Reika's long red braid rested on her left shoulder and fell down her chest to dangle, nearly touching the platform. Kagome clasped her hands together with a smile.
"Let's get started."
The painting started off well, Kagome started with a soft background, but with enough color to contrast the dress Reika wore. Once she got into the rhythm, the nervousness faded and she was in the zone. Her brush would glide and sway with grace as her painting came to life.
"So Kagome. Is it alright if I speak? Will that distract you?" Reika spoke softly, looking as if she hadn't spoken at all.
"Sure, it's fine. It helps a little actually."
"How long have you been doing this?"
"Portraits, about three years. I've always loved drawing, but I picked up painting because of my brother. I painted with him before he went to the U.S. a few years ago and I've loved it ever since."
"Oh. Nice. You know you are really a little cutie."
Kagome giggled with a bit of embarrassment and briefly lowered her brush. Was Reika hitting on her?
"Thank you. I think you're pretty too."
"Tell me something. If there was any guy you would like to see as the leading guy in a music video, who would it be?"
'Wow that was random, but way cool of her to ask me something like that.' Kagome thought as she put her finger on her chin and looked up.
"Well, I can say if I had a choice, it would definitely be Sesshomaru Taisho of the Tokyo Falcons."
"Falcons? What sport is that? I don't keep up with sports that well."
Kagome blushed a little, "Oh, that's ok. It's windball." Reika's assistant walked over to her with her phone out, she glanced at the picture on the screen.
"Ah, Sesshomaru huh? He is a cutie. Says he's 26, a young inu." Reika giggled and a tinge of jealousy touched Kagome's mind, but she immediately pushed it away. The seriously influential youkai that Reika was and Sesshomaru wasn't hers, though she wished he were, Kagome had no room to be jealous. Who was she kidding, she was a museum buyer and he was a famous millionaire athlete. The odds were slim at best.
~~
Kagome walked up the stairs to her studio the next day. She was still beaming from doing the portrait of the famous fox youkai Reika from the day before. It gave her inspiration for a lotus flower series that she wanted to name after Reika. None too soon, the intercom of her studio went off.
"Is there a Miss Higurashi in?" Kagome lifted an eyebrow and answered the stranger.
"Yes. How may I help you?"
"I have a delivery from Reika Mitsugi. Could you come sign for it please?"
"Yes. Be right there."
Kagome returned to her studio with a huge vase of flowers almost half her height. She didn't know if she'd make it without dropping it. Finally she was able to ease it down on the table and took a minute to catch her breath and sniff the blooms. It was a burst of purple and white lilies with splashes of green from the leaves. It was simply beautiful. She hummed pleasantly and reached for the card in the middle.
It read:
Sweet Kagome,
Thank you so much! I absolutely adore my painting and it hangs right in my studio. I would like to invite you to my video shoot next Saturday at 10 am. Just bring yourself and enjoy! Call my assistant Aiya 01 375 000 3955 to confirm! See you then cutie!
Love,
Reika
Kagome wasn't sure if she would ever get used to her calling her cute, but at the moment she didn't care. She was going to watch a celebrity shoot a music video in person!! She screamed and immediately called Reika's assistant, then her mom, then Sango.
Sango squealed in her ear, but that didn't dampen her mood either. Kagome just squealed back and ran around her studio.
"I'm going to see Reika shoot a video!! What am I going to wear?!"
"Shopping!!" Sango answered.
~<*>~
Thank you for reading! Here's a link to my cover art for this story :) http://www.dokuga.com/gallery?func=detail&id=11086