Fandom: Inuyasha
Title: The Unquiet Winds
Chapter Title: New Management
Author: Paynesgrey
Characters: Kagura's reincarnation (inevitable Kagura/Sesshoumaru)
Genre: Fantasy/Supernatural/Suspense
Rating: PG-13 (overall)
Universe: Canon divergence, Modern
Notes: This new serial was started to follow the themes for contests at Livejournal. This is the third installment, written for the "red" theme at
iy_themes. Winner first place.
Story Summary: Natsumi dreams of another woman's past, a woman who desperately wants to reunite with the man she loves, even if Natsumi has to suffer in the end.
Back to Chapter 1 Natsumi punched her time card and went to her station. Like every day, she worked on punching rivets and buttons into knock-off designer bags manufactured in a local factory. Then, they would sell them in various kiosks all over many districts of Japan.
Today, her company was changing owners. Natsumi hadn’t heard much about the new owner of the company, and she didn’t think much of it because she was a lower rung employee in the factory. She sat at her station and heard her co-workers mumble about it, but it was all chatter to her. She’d rather just get back to work.
Ayako-san was settling down to her own station next to her, and she turned to Natsumi with concern. “Hey, Natsumi-san, you don’t look so well.”
Natsumi sighed, shaking the rain off her jacket and draping over the pegs by their station. She gave Ayako a weak smile. “Bad storm.”
Ayako nodded, opening her mouth to say something else until the hiring manager came through the door and ordered their attention.
“It’s the new boss!” Ayako whispered, and Natsumi’s gaze circled around the room at everyone’s curious attention. She paused when she saw a tall man with unworldly pale skin and long dark ponytail briefly meet her eyes. He seemed familiar to her, like someone famous or a rich businessman on the cover of a magazine.
He opened his mouth to speak to them, but after that, Natsumi felt a strange headache in her eye and then fell into a trance, unable to really process a word he was saying. He spoke his greeting to the factory employees, hoping for their best efforts and promising to change very little in how the company operated. After he bowed, the headache in Natsumi’s eye subsided, and she released a sigh and blinked. The new manager was gone and everyone had gone back to their duties.
She felt a tap on her shoulder, taking her out of her daze. “Natsumi, are you sure you’re alright?” asked Ayako, concerned. Natsumi turned her head to coworker slowly, confused. She felt something wet fall onto her fingers in her lap. She sniffled as she drew her hand up to her eyes.
Fresh, red blood dribbled over her fingers, but curiously enough, she hadn’t felt any pain - just a numbing ache in her head and a strange hitch in her chest.