InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kindergarten Flirting ❯ The Calm before the Storm ( Chapter 41 )

Kindergarten Flirting

Back in kindergarten, your mother would tell you that if a boy pulls your pigtails he likes you, and if he dips them in paint he loves you. That goes for the rest of your life too. Moreover, when you're an adult and work for the Hottest Man of the Year.

.xx.

Inuyasha dropped Kagome off to the shrine and even walked her up the steps. Standing in front of her as they lingered by the front gate of the house, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a tight embrace. His heart was still pounding over the confession she made earlier and he had told himself that, unlike what he did with the renchaku, he would make it a special moment when he asked her to be his intended mate.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," he told her, "we aren't going in to the office because we're prepping for Sango's mission." Kagome nodded and her hold on him tightened slightly.

"Naraku is meeting with us at exactly noon—I was hoping we'd grab some breakfast beforehand?"

Kagome grinned. "Sure. Bring Thunder?"

Laughing, Inuyasha rolled his eyes and hugged her to him once more. "I swear you love the motorcycle more than me."

"It comes close."

Inuyasha grabbed her chin and squared her jaw before dipping his head down to capture her moist lips with his very own. Languid and sexy, Kagome fell into the depths of his passion and allowed the momentary lapse of reality; a bit of normalcy in their lives. His tongue stroked hers and their grip on each other tightened. Finally, because of air, they pulled back. Inuyasha, however, continued to caress her cheek.

"Will you be dropping by tonight?" She whispered, her voice hardly audible. His ears twitched.

"Unfortunately no," he murmured. "Sessh and I have some paperwork to cover regarding the company."

Kagome frowned. "What?"

He immediately knew her concern. "Don't worry, after the papers are signed I'll tell you what's happening. After that, I'm headed down to Naraku's place to cover last minute details. So much shit to do, I swear."

Kagome smiled. "But, it'll be over soon. Speaking of which, all invites are out and Yura and I are doing a walk-through the venue tomorrow. The list of nominees for the promotions is being sent to us for Monday and you have to go through them. There's a meeting on Wednesday; you and the Board of Directors are going to judge the nominees and give out promotions."

Inuyasha groaned. "I hate doing that."

"But it has to be done. Anyway, I wanna see Souta. Call me tonight?" Her eyes searched his. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he softly responded.

"Of course. It might be late though."

"I'll wait," she breathed. Without word, his lips were against hers. Wordlessly, he told her that he would wait for her too.

For as long as it took…

.xx.

"Eighteen?" Sesshomaru inquired as he and his brother poured over documents in Inuyasha's study. It was early in the evening and they were catching up on paperwork that they should have done sooner but never had the time to.

"Can we make it sixteen?" Inuyasha looked up at his brother. "Shippo is at the age of consent then. At sixteen we'll give him the right to input his opinions with the company, and at eighteen he is eligible for choosing whether he wants to be heir to Takahashi Empire or hand it over to my kid – should I have one."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Sounds fair. You think your kid would like it much if you gave full ownership to Shippo?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "No idea. Probably not, but Shippo is the first Takahashi child, the true heir apparent. Besides, you were technically supposed to take over the Empire but you bypassed it. By right, Shippo would've been the true heir."

"Makes sense." Sesshomaru glanced at the document before him and quickly signed it before moving to the next set of documents. This was the reason Kikyo had left Inuyasha; he had always wanted Sesshomaru and Rin's first born to have the choice of taking over the empire. It was something that was supposed to be handed down to Sesshomaru, but because of interests, Inuyasha was heir instead. Because of Sesshomarus dislike in running the family business, Inuyasha found it unfair that any of Sesshomaru's offspring wouldn't be given the choice to take over something that was rightfully their father's.

And because Shippo was the first Takahashi child (although adopted, but that didn't make a difference to anybody), he would get first pick.

"Going out later?"

Absentmindedly, Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, Naraku and I have a meeting."

.xx.

"Scared?" Kagome asked into her phone. She was lying in a relaxing bubble bath and talking to her best friend. The lights were dimmed and the scent of Aloe Vera assaulted her senses—she loved it.

"Scared is an understatement," Sango murmured, "will you be in there?"

"Inuyasha said no, but I talked Naraku into getting an invitation with my name on it." Kagome said. "I'll try to sneak my way in. You have a script?"

"No," Sango sighed, "I'm winging the entire thing. They're micing me up, though, so anything he says will be recorded."

"I'm scared for you." Kagome admitted. "Miroku is shitting bricks at the office too. I don't think his testicles can take any more stress."

"Tell him to keep them securely on him," Sango snorted, "he's gonna need them when I make it out alive."

"Ugh, too much info, Miyagi."

"There's never too much information between us," Sango laughed, "so, I'm gonna have to drop Kohaku over off to your place tomorrow. Naraku said to be at his house by noon, sharp."

"Yeah," Kagome sank a little further into her tub, "Inuyasha's picking me up for breakfast before we head over to Naraku's. How is Miroku getting there?"

"Driving."

Kagome nodded, even though she knew her friend couldn't see. The anticipation was rising and both girls were getting more anxious by the minute. This was it—everything would be revealed tomorrow. "Say," Sango murmured, "who was with Kikyo at the mall that day?"

"No idea. Inuyasha still hasn't gotten the report back. I'm sure Naraku will have some information on it tomorrow."

"Sigh," Sango said and Kagome had to snort. Leave it to her friend to say the action that she should have performed. Only Sango.

"Everything'll be fine," Kagome comforted, "remember, Inuyasha would tear through the building and save you before Morimoto even has the thought of hurting you."

"Well gee, that makes me feel a whole lot better." Sango sarcastically muttered.

"It's true!"

"I know," Sango murmured, "I'm just scared. But, I know things will be okay. Kind of."

"They will be –beep beep- hold up, incoming." Kagome pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the number. It was Inuyasha. Quickly telling Sango that she'd call her back in a bit, she switched the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey, beautiful." He breathed into the phone. Kagome had to supress the shudder that ran up her spine. "What're you up to?"

Kagome wiggled her toes in the greenish water. The bubbles were subsiding, but the smell of aloe was still as strong. "Taking a bath. Was talking to Sango but I told her I'd call her back."

"Sorry, did I take you away from something important?"

Kagome smiled. He was so sweet. "Not really. We were talking about tomorrow."

"Nervous?"

"More than ever." Kagome mumbled. "Can I please go in with her—" Before Kagome could finish, Inuyasha firmly told her no and that he wasn't risking sending her in. He told her that Morimoto knew how she looked and that sending her in would be like running through a park naked: obvious.

"But…" She mumbled cutely but didn't say anything after. She knew Inuyasha was right- one of the few times that he was.

"No buts." He firmly instructed. "No means no."

Kagome exhaled loudly. "Fiiiiine." She muttered, exasperated.

"I'm driving to Naraku's now," Inuyasha informed her, "Sessh and I finished our paperwork. Took forever."

"What were you paperworking?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "Long story short, we're handing the company over to Shippo when he's of right age. Since Sesshomaru was supposed to be the one to takeover, it's only right that is son is given the opportunity. Shippo shouldn't be penalized for something his father chose not to do."

Kagome squealed. "That's so cuteeee!"

"Woman, you're making my ear hurt." He mumbled. "Watch the high-pitched screaming."

"But it's so adorable," Kagome mumbled, "its cute how you're taking that into account. Not many rich snobby famous guys do that."

"You calling me rich and snobby?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "If you heard me correctly, Takahashi, I said that not many rich snobby famous guys do that. So yes, I was."

"I'll make you take that back," he playfully snarled. "But I can't right now. Just arrived at Naraku's place. Call you later tonight?"

"Yeah, I'll wait. I love you."

He smiled. "Love you too baby."

.xx.

Leaning against the wall, Kagome had her legs crossed Indian style and was thoroughly engrossed in her novel. It was one of those rare nights where she didn't have to follow up on paperwork from the office; a night to herself. Chewing on her thumb, Kagome drank in the words on the page and quickly turned it, wanting to know what was going to happen next.

She was too engrossed to realize her phone vibrated on the bed beside her. Three times.

Finally, a rather loud tapping on her window broke her out of her dream world. Gasping, she ran to unlock and open her window to let a tired-looking Inuyasha in. As soon as she undid the latch, he pulled the frame up and crawled in.

"I thought you weren't dropping by?"

"I called your ass three times. I thought you were hurt?"

Kagome laughed sheepishly. "I'm not. But Clare is."

Inuyasha frowned. "Who?"

"Clare… in my book. Some creepy guy is about to hurt her and her man, Beckett, is on his way to her rescue. So romantic," she sighed dreamily and jumped back onto her bed, picking up her book. Inuyasha twitched.

"You made me run here to find out you're falling in love with a fictional character?"

"Why?" Her eyes flashed with playful anger. "Jealous?"

"Yeah. What do I have that can possibly compare to a fake character who you conjure up in your mind?"

"Flexibility to be whoever I want him to be?" Kagome winked at him. "I dunno, imagining a snake demon is kinda interesting. Imagine the sex."

Inuyasha choked on air. Kagome burst into laughter. "I'm kidding, Inuyasha."

"Better be," he pouted playfully. Crawling into bed beside her, he gently placed a soft kiss on her cheek and leaned his head against the wall. Kagome read a few more words of her book before placing it gently down beside her and taking Inuyasha's hand into her own.

"Tired?"

He nodded.

"Figured everything out with Naraku?"

He shook his head.

"Wanna sleep?"

He nodded again. Smiling softly, she got out of bed and went to get her larger comforter; something that'll be able to cover the both of them. Coming back to her bed, she saw that he was already lying down, reading the first page of the novel that she was previously engrossed in. "Seems interesting. Kind of girly though."

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes and threw the blanket on him. "Mister manly macho Inuyasha wants to read about guns and shoot outs, right?"

"Exactly." He shut the book and put it on her nightstand before ushering her to go cuddle with him. Without hesitation, she did as she was asked for. She was nestled comfortably against his torso, her head fitting nicely underneath his chin.

"Goodnight," she whispered and placed a gentle kiss on his chest. He smiled.

"Night, wench."

.xx.

Hand-in-hand, Inuyasha and Kagome walked into a rather fancy breakfast restaurant. Dressed rather casually (Inuyasha in khaki shorts and a black button down shirt and Kagome in a pink sundress), they decided to take a seat in the outdoor patio. Immediately, a waiter brought them some orange juice and said that he would return shortly to take their orders.

"Does Yura know what to do today?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha shrugged.

"Dunno. The French toast looks amazing."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded. He looked up at her.

"What?"

Groaning, Kagome pulled out her cell phone and quickly called Yura. In a matter of five minutes, she explained everything that needed to be done that day. She told Yura that Inuyasha, herself, and Miroku wouldn't be in the office and to get Bankotsu to finish up the list of interns. With a few more words exchanged, Kagome hung up.

"I love it when you go femme-CEO on me."

She raised both her eyebrows. "Femme-CEO?"

"It's sexy!" Inuyasha defended. "You get this look of… power in your eyes. Turn on."

"Right," She snorted. "With neither of us in the office, aren't you remotely worried that somebody is gonna run the company to ashes?"

"No." He cheekily admitted. "Because I know you'd look after all of that for me."

She narrowed her eyes. "I should take a year-long vacation."

He had a horrified look cross his face. "No! Then whose gonna revive the company when it burns down into ashes and goes bankrupt?"

Kagome smirked. "Why else is there a CEO for?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Behind every great CEO, is a femme-CEO that does all the thinking—hey!" He dodged a breadstick that was thrown at him.

"Idiot," she murmured. "Besides you're lack of ability in running the company-" she laughed at the look thrown at her. "What's the details of today?"

"Naraku will reveal them later," he stated. "Is Sango mentally prepared?"

"Nope," Kagome sighed, "but she'll be fine. I know her. She had to take the day off of work too—I owe her big time."

Inuyasha reached over and grabbed her hand. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she's repaid generously."

"Don't go overboard now," Kagome snorted. "She doesn't like charity."

"I'm not giving her charity." Inuyasha defended. "I'm paying her for her work. Labour isn't free, Higurashi. You should know that," he sent her a slow but sensually sexy wink, "you do payroll for the company sometimes."

"I know," she groaned, "don't remind me. Pay clerk error is forcing me to review a year's worth of pay for the custodial services in the building. Apparently there's been an overpayment somewhere and I have to find it. Otherwise there'll be a ledger escalation."

"The hell?" Inuyasha raised both eyebrows. "And you're looking for it? Why?"

"Because payroll has no idea what they're doing."

Inuyasha rubbed his face. "I should fire everybody and pay you dectuple your pay. How the hell can they not know how to find an escalation?"

"Beats me. I have enough stuff on my plate with this issue, Puppy Trails, Cepheus, my potential relocation, and my thesis." Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows as he heard her reveal her thoughts.

"Don't bother with it," he said "you do have too much on your plate. I'll go yell at payroll and then make them do it." He grinned with superiority when Kagome gave him a relieved look.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." He confirmed. "You're only human."

"Says the half human?"

"Says the half demon."

"Right." Kagome rolled her eyes. Before he could retort, the waiter arrived, ready to take their orders.

.xx.

"How long before Sango gets here?" Inuyasha asked, watching his girlfriend dial her best friend's number. Sango hadn't picked up the first two phone calls, and Kagome was trying for the third time. Third time's the charm, Kagome thought as she heard Sango pick up.

"Hey, sorry. On my way. Kohaku had a man-accident and cut himself shaving."

Kagome snorted. "Way to go, 'Haku. How long?"

"Ten minutes? I'll be there soon, I promise. Everybody's there?"

"Yep," Kagome responded. "Drive safe; Morimoto's shindig starts at five sharp."

"Right. Gotchya. Be there soon." And the two ladies hung up. Turning to the men, Kagome informed them that Sango was on her way and that she would be coming through the door in about ten minutes. Nodding, Naraku said that they could do whatever they wanted for the next ten minutes, except take part in sexual activities. Inuyasha snapped his fingers in disappointment.

"Gosh darnit."

"Shut up," Kagome shoved him and Miroku and Naraku laughed. Getting up, Kagome decided to go chat with Kagura and play with Kanna for a little bit. Inuyasha sunk in his chair and Naraku threw a bottle of beer at him. Using his claws, Inuyasha pulled the top off and took in a good few gulps.

"Tensed?"

Inuyasha nodded, the veins in his neck popping. "Very. Kagome is dying to go in with Sango. I keep telling her Morimoto will recognize her."

Naraku agreed and Miroku remained quiet.

"Yeah," Naraku murmured. At that moment, Ryuukotsusei came in through the door and kicked his shoes off.

"Sorry I'm late—where's Sango and Kagome?"

"Sango's on her way," Miroku said, "Kagome's playing mommy."

Ryuukotsusei sent a wink to Inuyasha. "Practice makes perfect, eh man?"

"Shut up." Inuyasha playfully spat and took another swig of his beer. Ryuukotsusei flopped onto the seat that Kagome was in just moments prior. They were silent for a few moments longer.

"Time's a'ticking." Ryuukotsusei muttered finally. "You know Kikyo'll be there?"

Naraku and Inuyasha nodded grimly. "Yeah. Say," Inuyasha turned to Naraku. "Ever figure out who was with Kikyo at the mall?"

Naraku perked up. "Yeah! I totally forgot about that, hold up—let me go get the files." Getting off of his seat, Naraku bounded into his house and left the other three men to wallow in their thoughts. Ryuukotsusei grabbed a bottle of his own beer and Miroku stuck to sipping on some iced tea.

"Who was it?" Inuyasha asked Ryuukotsusei. He knew Ryuukotsusei was the one that did the background research on whoever was with Kikyo that day.

Ryuukotsusei smirked. "Naraku has the details but, it was Chiisu."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and Ryuukotsusei leaned forward.

"And get this: Chiisu is the baby daddy."

.xx.

Next chapter: Sango's mission!