InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Into the Night ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Trailed by a cloud of billowing dust, the truck rolled to a sedate stop at the base of the hundred-and-thirty-three stairs. Sesshomaru got out and gazed up the steps at the shrine. The buildings had always given him a feeling of foreboding, despite the purity and innocence of the girl that lived there. He did not trust Kagome’s mother. He did not trust his father, and while he did not fear that punk InuYasha for his own sake, he worried a great deal on behalf of Kagome and his pup. He flipped open his cell phone and hit speed dial.

Nori picked up immediately, which was disconcerting. She never answered on the first ring.

“Mother...”

“Have you decided upon a course of action, my son?” Nori tapped her long, hard, pink-and-white claws on the surface of her desk. The wood was marred with thousands of crescent-moon shaped indentations caused by her nervous habit. She must have been a very bad woman in her previous life for the Kami to give her a mate like the Inu Taisho and a son like Sesshomaru. While her son was molded in her image, he had inherited his father’s tendency to rely solely on his strength and training, regarding any kind of planning as ignoble. Even a mother with nerves of steel would be driven to worry over such a son.

“I need you to hide Kagome, and watch over her for me.”

“It would not be possible to hide her from the Inu Taisho.”

“You will take her to your little love nest.”

A long silence filled the airwaves. Her son was a lot sneakier than she had thought, to have discovered her retreat, or as he called it, her ‘little love nest’. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

“What if you do not come back? Caring for a ningen girl and the birth of a hanyou will cost money. Your father has left me with nothing, as you know.”

“On the spare key ring in your office safe, you will find the key to a safe deposit box.”

Visions of sugarplums danced in Nori’s head. She adored money and all the wonderful things it could buy. Cars, designer clothing, jewelry…

“There is cash, but not much. Enough to take care of Kagome and you for a few months, if you are careful. It also contains the titles to my automobiles. If the worst happens, take the titles to Eduardo. He will know how to sell my automobiles to get money for you.”

Rudolph Valentino was to blame for Sesshomaru’s love of the automobile.

During the ‘twenties, Izayoi had hosted regular weekly soirees at the ranch. All of the movers and shakers of the film industry were on her guest list.

At that time, two leading men dominated the box office. Douglas Fairbanks was considered the ‘All American Man’. Izayoi was frequently cast as his leading lady. Her dark hair and shadowed eyes played well against his fair features and athletic build, and she was short enough that she made him look taller than he really was. Rudolph Valentino was a newcomer to the industry, but was just as popular. Women everywhere swooned over the sultry, dark and mysterious ‘Sheik’.

Izayoi demanded that Sesshomaru attend. While his personality was bland, his good looks made him excellent stage dressing at her parties. He always made sure to show up as late as possible, not to be fashionably late, but to avoid the attention of the avid females that made up the Hollywood elite.

Apparently, Valentino had the same plan.

Drinking straight out of the bottle of De Rochegres he held in his left hand, he was attempting to steer and shift the gears of his automobile with his right. The clashing of gears startled Sesshomaru’s horse, nearly unseating him. Sesshomaru immediately recognized the driver of the infernal contraption as the latest reincarnation of the mercenary Jakotsu, who seemed cursed to always die young. They had crossed paths, and swords, several times over the years.

The party was held in the orange groves. Hundreds of paper lanterns hung from the branches of the trees. Little café tables were scattered across the grass, and a string quartet played unobtrusively in the background, a welcome change from the loud jazz that usually played during parties at that time. Champaign and caviar were served in abundance. Sesshomaru and Valentino sat at a remote table and drank and talked far into the night.

By August, Jakotsu was dead again. Sesshomaru did not attend his funeral, but he did manage to buy the Model A Duesenberg from his estate.

Sesshomaru overcame his normal reserve and sought out the local mechanic. He approached automobile ownership in true Samurai fashion. He learned the function of the valves and rods and gears that drove his new iron steed, and kept it tuned and functioning in top form at all times. In the process of learning the mechanics of the automobile, Sesshomaru made one of the few friends of his lengthy existence. Miguel, the mechanic, was the great-grandfather of Miguel, the current ranch foreman.

In 1929 Duesenberg introduced the Model J. Sesshomaru still loved the Model A, but Miguel was eager to get close to the advanced new luxury automobile, so at his urging, Sesshomaru became the proud owner of one of the first to be manufactured.

The Great Depression of the 1930s brought the downfall of many of Southern California’s well-to-do, and Sesshomaru could not resist buying the best of the luxury automobiles that were being sold off at bargain prices.

Sesshomaru frequently visited his automobiles, which he kept in storage at a facility operated by Eduardo, another of the original Miguel’s grandchildren. Sesshomaru’s car collection was a little secret he kept from his father.

Nori realized that her son understood exactly how much danger they were all in, if he spoke of selling his precious automobiles.