InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Himitsu ❯ Secret Chef ( Chapter 25 )

Title: Secret Chef

Author: aimee_blue

Prompt: Closet [oneshot#45]

Genre: humour romance

Words: 2,748

Summary: Continues from my Lace drabble Secret Intoxication. Sesshoumaru saves Kagome from an unwanted pursuer and demands repayment.

 

Sesshoumaru blinked down at Kagome as she glowered sheepishly back up at him. This was an unforeseen occurrence; he knew where she lived, but he had never utilised the privilege and gone to her home. Yet she utilised her own knowledge of his address and here she was, in his door, glowering menacingly... or rather, it would have been menacing were she not out of breath with rosy cheeks, soaked clothes and her hair swept up in tussled, saturated, disarray. Evidence of the storm that had just begun to stake its claim over the city outside.

 

Comparatively, he was the epitome of calm and collected. Donned in casual jeans and a white half-unbuttoned shirt, reading glasses perched rakishly on the end of his aristocratic nose.

 

“Yes?” he enquired, quite amiably considering his current bafflement at her sudden manifestation in his apartment building.

 

“Help me!” she demanded, tossing a panicky glance over her shoulder before turning back to glower at him.

 

“Speaking in that tone will not garner help,” he drawled, attempting to close the door on the harassed looking woman.

 

Thunder crackled to life outside as she stuck her foot in the door, preventing him from closing it. She looked up at him balefully and wrapped a tiny hand around his forearm constrictively. “Please.”

 

Now he was intrigued. Crooking a brow he looked her up and down again, noting the mud on her jeans. How had she gotten so dirty?

 

“What is it I am saving you from?” He sighed resignedly.

 

She grimaced and flicked a glance over her shoulder. “I seem to have acquired an overly amorous admirer.”

 

Chased by a man? He was simply stunned, she'd never been hounded that viciously before that she'd been forced to ask for his help. He knew she'd rather burn her own fingertips off than actually ask him for help, so she must be in some tricky bind.

 

Was the pursuing male that vivacious that she had to run to him?

 

Shrieking, she launched herself behind him and hid behind his torso, clinging to his shirt so tightly he would've thought she'd embedded her claws in the material, were she not human.

 

“What?” he asked pausing in bemusement as he heard it.

 

The pitter-pattering of clawed padded feet thundering across linoleum.

 

Kagome's assailant rounded the corner and set determined eyes on the small woman as she peered out from behind her shield.

 

It was a dog.

 

Specifically a Doberman with an insanely determined glint in its eyes.

 

This was her pursuer? And how did it get up the stairs?

 

The dog bounded up to them and snapped warningly at Sesshoumaru.

 

Sesshoumaru blinked languidly, unconcerned with the antics of the beast, he was not going to hand his pet over to some stubborn animal. She was his plaything, he didn't share well. With beast nor man.

 

The growling snapping noise was issued again and Sesshoumaru almost sniggered as he felt Kagome flinch and try to look as small as possible behind his back.

 

Golden eyes met those of inferior intelligence as he attempted to bestow his will upon the mutt without verbally issuing a warning. It was uncouth to snarl at stray dogs in corridors.

 

When the dog merely raised its hackled and snarled louder, Sesshoumaru's patience snapped, not that he'd ever been very patient with beings that didn't listen to him.

 

A booming, terrifying snarl ripped through the corridor, pressingly frightening in intensity; it made Kagome jump in shock.

 

The dog whimpered and, tail between its legs, bid a hasty retreat down the corridor.

 

Sesshoumaru smirked in petty satisfaction. It might have been a trivial victory but he revelled in every one he had ever achieved, from the petty child hood races through gardens with his half-brother to the academic achievement of staying indubitably ahead of all his peers, each victory was cherished.

 

“You seem to attract the strangest suitors,” he commented astutely as he turned back to the rumpled Kagome, fighting down a grin as she hit her nose against his chest and rubbed at it in mollification.

 

“Yeah well, I have a feeling I just fled from the dog to be ensnared by the dog demon,” she quipped irritably, starting to shove past him into the hall to escape, no doubt.

 

He snatched the back of her shirt and yanked her backwards into the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

 

“Wha—”

 

“Do you think you are escaping that easily?” he demanded, “I assisted you, now I expect something in return.”

 

She paled when he dragged her into his bedroom. He wasn't going to ask her to do that with him was he?

 

No way! Not even Sesshoumaru was that much of a jerk.

 

A towel clipped her in the side of the face and she nearly fell over from shock.

 

“Dry yourself, you'll get sick,” he coddled in an emotionless voice that juxtaposed the sentimentality of the statement.

 

“Um... sure,” she muttered, patting her hair softly with the towel that Sesshoumaru had tossed her whilst trying to hide her blush.

 

“Why are you blushing like a fool?” he inquired, leaning into her personal space with a gimlet stare on his face.

 

“I'm not!” she protested adamantly, pulling the towel to hide her face and burning cheeks whilst inhaling the scent clinging to it discretely. It smelt woodsy, manly, pure Sesshoumaru. She was kind of embarrassed she knew what Sesshoumaru smelt like. How'd that happened? When had she become so familiar with him?

 

“Indeed,” he shoved her towards his closet, “change into one of my shirts and I'll dry your clothes for you.”

 

She blinked and he fought the urge to roll his eyes as he slowly backed her into the wardrobe. “Get changed and stop gawking at me.”

 

Obediently, she plucked a nondescript light blue shirt from a hanger and still slightly bewildered at his almost caring actions, she dumped her soaking shirt with a splat onto the hardwood floor and her shirt soon followed. Sesshoumaru's shirt was huge on her, sleeves that hung past her arms so she looked like a child wearing her father's shirt. It hung down past her knees too, so huge it was farcical.

 

She pondered the Doberman incident mournfully as she adjusted her makeshift outfit. If she'd known she was going to be chased by a Doberman intent on having its way with her she wouldn't have been anywhere near Sesshoumaru's house in the first place; he was not the person you went to in a crisis. However, he was the nearest available assistance and she had been desperate. The dog hadn't seemed to comprehend boundaries between species.

 

Wrinkling her nose she gathered the wet clothes into her arms and progressed tentatively to the kitchen where she could hear Sesshoumaru pottering around with tea cups. Spoons clinked amiably creating a feeling of normalcy that she had never really expected from Sesshoumaru.

 

“Where do I put my clothes?” she asked tentatively, wondering if her voice would break the spell and he'd stop being nice and start being Sesshoumaru-ish once more. Sure, she knew he could be nice sometimes like with Rin, no one could argue that he was anything other than tender and careful when with her. Plus, he was always catching her when she fell and, if she disregarded the taunting about her fear of heights, he had shown her that beautiful sunset on his cloud.

 

But was she fishing for something that wasn't there?

 

Miroku, upon hearing all of her complaints had decided that Sesshoumaru was flirting. Kagome had killed herself laughing for three solid minutes before she realised he wasn't joking. Well, if all this time Sesshoumaru had been trying to flirt he was going about it in a horribly obtuse manner.

 

Languidly blinking at her, he took the clothes from her arms and chucked them haphazardly into the dryer before slamming the door shut and twirling the knobs to get the machine started. She smirked; she'd never seen him look so domesticated.

 

Kagome shifted from foot to foot as she realised that she was suddenly the centre of Sesshoumaru's attention, which had never been a good thing before.

 

Fetching. Yes, that was an accurate description of the woman. She was dwarfed by his clothing but the physical embodiment of his claim over his toy was a joy to behold.

 

Golden eyes perused her form carefully. “Hn. That shirt makes you look tiny,” he scoffed, “positively miniscule.”

 

He really knew how to make her scrap all her considerably good feelings about him in the blink of an eye.

 

Stomping her foot against the kitchen tiles lightly; not aggravated enough to throw a full scale tantrum, she folded her arms and demanded, “So, what do you want from me?”

 

“Melodramatic,” he uttered under his breath, running a hand through his hair in a cavalier fashion, “You make it sound like I've kidnapped you.”

 

“Well you are the big bad demon, plus you did cart me in here, who's to say you aren't trying to kidnap me!”

 

“You are entirely impossible,” he allowed one fang to show over his bottom lip, “but then, the games we play would be no fun if you were not.”

 

Her head canted to one side as she considered his word; was that how he saw their relationship? As a game?

 

“Game?” she asked softly, unsure why she felt slightly disappointed at the revelation. Maybe her feelings for him had grown? His endless torments had garnered some sort of emotional response?

 

“Yes,” he inclined his head, “It is my most favoured game.”

 

Well, if it's his `most favoured' game, she thought dryly, cocking one eyebrow in exasperation.

 

“You sure you aren't just flirting?” she asked, snagging the kettle and arranging their cups on saucers for the tea.

 

“Hn,” he replied, watching her potter around from the other side of the kitchen, where he leant against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest, “that depends entirely on you.”

 

“It does?” she inquired.

 

“Indeed, if you see it as flirting, then so be it,” he purred deviously, earning himself a half-glare as she passed him his tea.

 

“I don't want to know how to elucidate it,” she haggled, sipping gently from her cup before wincing as it burned her tongue. Blowing into the tea whimsically, she turned a soft glare on him. “I want to know how you meant it.”

 

Calculating topaz eyes surveyed the one with questions as she observed him from over the rim of her cup with large doe-like blue eyes.

 

Well, he hadn't expected this line of questioning. His brother's words about Kagome being `for keeps' filtered into his mind even as he mentally shook his head to clear away such ludicrous thoughts.

 

Tilting his head slightly to one side, he pondered her question. The answer was simple, right? She was his toy, he enjoyed playing with her. There was nothing more to it.

 

Except, once he'd met her for the first time he had dropped all of his former toys in order to best concentrate his devious attentions on her - that was simple, he merely found her more fascinating than the others, plus he had been growing tired with the previous fickle girls on his arm anyway.

 

Then there was the fact that he chased all her would-be suitors away before they could properly engage with her - but that was simply because he didn't share his precious toys.

 

She was also his only toy and unusual occurrence considering he had previously kept five girls to play with - but that was merely so he could devote all his time to annoying her.

 

He'd settled for a salary man job when he was actually probably wealthy enough to buy the company he worked in just so he could be near to her - but that was merely to ensure her every moment was filled with agitation; so she could delight him with her obstinate nature more often.

 

He wanted to know everything about her, all of her secrets were his to decipher - but that was because he needed to know everything about his toy in order to best enjoy tormenting her.

 

Exactly! She was a simple toy, nothing more.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Jolted back to the world of the living by the hand being waved in his face, he went slightly cross-eyed at her sudden close-proximity.

 

She was standing so close to him that counting her eyelashes would be an easy feat, but her befuddled face was precious. Precious? He promptly erased that word from his vocabulary.

 

Unable to resist the urge to taunt her once more, deft fangs deftly grasped her nose softly for a moment, before releasing the poor bemused girl who had nearly dropped her tea in her astonishment.

 

“Why'd you do that?” she demanded.

 

“You put your nose near my mouth then I am obliged to bite it,” he scoffed haughtily, “I am after all a predator Yokai.”

 

“But I didn't think you hunted poor defenceless noses!” she protested, holding her nose as if she were afraid it would fall off at the hands of his abuse.

 

“Ridiculous,” he grumbled, the woman poked her tongue out at him and he bit back the urge to laugh. Where had the sure questioning woman from before retreated too? Now she was as childish as she always was when he managed to rile her.

 

“So,” she regained a modicum of composure and sipped at her almost-forgotten tea, “You said you wanted something in return for helping me, what is it?”

 

“Hn,” Sesshoumaru stared into his teacup for a moment; he'd almost forgotten about that.

 

Groaning, Kagome smacked her free hand to her head, “You'd forgotten hadn't you?”

 

“Indeed, but thank you for the reminder,” he hummed smugly, she scowled at him. Sipping his tea thoughtfully he wondered about a way to tease her whilst she repaid him. He was falling into a repetitive pattern of taunts so he wanted something to liven up his repertoire.

 

Something that would make her fume... or make her bemused.

 

“Daifuku,” he decided with an affirming nod of his head, “make me Daifuku mochi.”

 

“Daifuku mochi, really?” she asked, a bemused expression painting its way across her nubile features. He didn't strike her as the type to enjoy the sweet glutinous rice cake with sweet filling.

 

“Hn,” he treated her to a stern glance that promised no escape. She sighed exasperatedly at the strange demon.

 

“It'll take a while,” she warned.

 

“I am aware of that,” he answered evenly.

 

“I need some shiratama-ko do you have any? And some katakuriko and anko powder and -”

 

“I will get you what you need,” he fended her questions off, “just obey, Kagome.”

 

“Hey, don't tell me to obey like I'm some mutt!”

 

“Then refrain from insulting Inu,” he bartered haughtily.

 

“Hmph, fine!” she huffed, folding her arms and putting on her best business face, “I'll make your Daifuku!”

 

***

 

Nearly four hours and a few culinary disasters later, Kagome sighed as she set the tray of strawberry Daifuku down and placed the sweet treats onto a plate. She was swamped in Sesshoumaru's large apron and her hair had been tied back with chopsticks to stay out of her way as she worked. Her hair had nevertheless managed to get sprinkled with anko powder but she wore a triumphant grin as she presented the works of her labour up for Sesshoumaru's perusal.

 

He inspected them with a critical eye and she waited with narrowed eyes for his verdict.

 

“They are charming enough,” he mumbled, “outwardly.”

 

Taking one from the plate he bit into it daintily and chewed thoughtfully for a while before nodding his approval.

 

Grinning, she plucked one from the plate and eagerly bit into the sweet treat with a happy relish.

 

“Mmm,” she mumbled, “it's good!”

 

“Indeed,” he allowed, “but there is no need to stuff your face, they will not run away.”

 

“Oh, shut up and enjoy it!” she scolded, finishing off her Daifuku exceedingly quickly and snagging another from the plate.

 

“Glutton,” he chastised.

 

Poking her tongue out she proceeded to devour the second as if it was a competition. Pausing in her quest to eat them all before Sesshoumaru could, she glanced at him questioningly. “Why'd you want me to make you these anyway?”

 

“Obedience is taught progressively by a good master, then a pet learns its place,” he informed her.

 

“I'd throw one of these at your smug head, but I like them too much.”

 

A/N: Daifuku Mochi mentioned here are delicious, if you want a recipe then follow this link: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesedessertsweet/r/daifuku.htm< /div>