InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love Reigns Down ❯ The Meeting ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: The Meeting

 

 

The scenic drive was punctuated with teasing, touching and innuendos as Yash and Kagome sped to work. Being married for only three months they were still in the honeymoon phase. Only problem was that they hadn't taken a honeymoon as of yet. Work kept them too busy and Kagome would have felt too guilty if she went on a holiday and left Kazuki to run the lab by himself. Yash wanted nothing more than to whisk his wife away to some secluded spot and shut the world away, but the businessman in him understood the nature of the industry they were in so he didn't push very hard for a honeymoon. But now that the transformation charm was completed and ready for production, perhaps they could take the much needed break that they longed for. At least he hoped so.

 

They pulled up to the Takahashi Group thirty minutes after leaving the house. Yash could have driven there faster — and he had in the past— but he liked spending time with Kagome, and he took advantage any opportunity he could. They were already late, so what was 10 more minutes?

 

Ever the gentleman, he opened the door for his wife and silently watched as she gracefully exited the car. His gaze couldn't help but travel to the small of her back down to her sleek calves prominently displayed by the two inch heels she wore. His eyes quickly turned upward when she tossed him a sunny smile. Returning it, he reached for her hand and they walked in comfortable silence into the building.

 

Entering the reception area, they were greeted with the rush of youkai and humans alike hurrying through doors and security personnel busily scanning screens, ever on the alert for anything suspicious. It was the hum of a typical Monday morning that filled the air. A security guard glanced up as they passed, gave Yash a brief nod before going back to his monitoring duties. Other than that brief acknowledgement, no one paid any attention to them as they crossed the lobby towards the elevators. Upon entering the lift, Yash punched a code into the side panel and waited until the red light turned off before pressing the button to take them up to the boardrooms. He gave his wife her a cocky smile before he drew her into his arms. “Hmmm... you smell so good,” he murmured as he nuzzled her hair. “Like vanilla and cream.”

 

“It must be the shampoo.” Kagome's laugh turned into a gasp as InuYasha moved his mouth slowly across her brow and cheekbones before reaching her lips. Lost in the tidal wave of heat and emotion, Kagome eagerly kissed him back, both of them oblivious to their surroundings until the chime of the elevator disrupted them.

 

“InuYasha…” Kagome managed to breathe out as his tongue lightly traced the hollow of her throat as his hands wandered over the curves of her hips and thighs. “Stop scenting me.”

 

A husky chuckle sounded in her ear. “Never.”

 

“I think everyone knows by now that I'm your wife. I don't need to smell like you all the time.”

 

“No,” he admitted grudgingly, “but it is fun.” With an exaggerated sigh that made Kagome giggle, he let her go and stepped back to allow her to exit the elevator first.

 

 

 

-x-x-x-x-

 

“Sorry, we're late.” Yash and Kagome entered the boardroom as ten pairs of eyes centered on the couple. “Ah… car trouble,” Yash explained as he took his seat beside Sesshomaru.

 

“Hn.” Giving the couple a disapproving look, Sesshomaru raised a brow and let the matter drop.

 

Kagome sat down beside her research partner, took out her files and proceeded to organize them in front of her.

 

“Car trouble, huh?” Kazuki Matsumoto leaned in to whisper, “Then how come Yash has lipstick on his neck?”

 

Kagome whipped her eyes to said hanyou, noticing no lipstick on his neck. Turning to glare at her partner and catching his amusement, she hissed under the breath, “Not funny, Kaz.”

 

Trying to suppress his mirth, Kazuki murmured, “Yeah, it is.”

 

“Kaz, I swear—”

 

“Ahem.” Sesshomaru cleared his throat while fixing a look on the two.

 

Kagome blushed as she noticed that everyone, with the exception of InuYasha and Sesshomaru's secretary, Rini — who gave her a sympathetic glance — was now staring at her and Kazuki. Great, why do all my meetings start out like this? the miko thought as she shot Sesshomaru an apologetic look.

 

The inu-youkai proceeded to start the meeting, going swiftly through the agenda and getting updates from his department heads.

 

Sneaking a peek at InuYasha, Kagome's heart fluttered as she discreetly watched the way he tilted his head as he studied the papers in front of him, his one ear flickering like it was swatting a pesky bug. A secret smiled played on Kagome's lips; she was still caught up in the amorous feelings that their elevator ride had created. As if he felt her gaze, Yash looked up slowly. Smirking slightly, he cocked his brow before he gave her a saucy wink.

 

Smiling broadly back at him, Kagome suddenly forgot about everyone else in the room, until a quick nudge to her right brought her back to reality. Quickly shooting an irritated glance at her lab partner, who simply shook his head, she focused her attention to Dr. Juro Watanabe who was currently speaking.

 

“… and we've been featured in all the scientific journals and their reports have been very favourable.” He gestured at the pile of magazines in front of him. “We will complete production in one month.” He basked in Sesshomaru's approval as the older youkai nodded. Throwing a smug look at the other scientists, he continued, “And scenting project 365 will be completed in the next two weeks. The formula gave us no problems.”

 

Juro finished his update with a smirk in Kagome's direction. Luckily for him, at that exact moment, Yash was looking the other way and missed it. Kagome, on the other hand, caught the arrogant expression aimed at her.

 

Feeling happy and content only seconds before, Kagome's mood took a tumble as she looked away from Juro. While she had never personally worked with the inu-youkai before, she had always tried to be cordial whenever she was in his presence. And to be fair, most times he reciprocated and acted in kind as well. But the times, like now, when he was all pompous and arrogant, it took all of her will not to wipe that smirk off his face. Sure, InuYasha smirked at her all the time, but when her husband did it, it was sexy, never condescending like the one presented to her now. Tempering her annoyance, she pointedly ignored Juro to concentrate her attention on the meeting.

 

Sesshomaru turned to Kazuki and Kagome and asked about the hanyou transformation charm.

 

“We did more testing after the press conference and the results were conclusive. Operations has given Gourou the green light. He's working his PR magic and the final marketing push will start this fall with production slated for the new year as planned. Here's our final project report.” Kazuki slid two documents down the table. Yash flipped through the report, but Sesshomaru — after a cursory glance — handed his copy to his secretary.

 

Kazuki sat back in his chair, a wide smile of satisfaction on his face, not bothering to hide his sigh of relief. This project was the accumulation of five years of hard work and it finally paid off. All the long hours in the lab, the sleepless nights, the frustration, sometimes the anger, it had all been worth it in the end. And with the sense of accomplishment came the feeling of satisfaction of a job well done. But Kazuki was a professional; the feeling of contentment that came with putting a project to rest would soon fade as he delved hard into the next assignment.

 

“And the osteoarthritis injection?” Sesshomaru asked.

 

“The project's been delayed twice because we were waiting for the rheumatology department to free up one of their doctors. We now have Taec on board working with Fuji and Sakura,” Kagome said. “Kazuki and I have started on the neurological sensing.”

 

“Hn.” Sesshomaru's non-committal reply gave Kagome pause and before she could open her mouth to question the inu-youkai, he side-stepped her and addressed the other scientists in the room. Forty-five minutes later when everyone had given their updates, the meeting dispersed in a flurry of shuffling papers. Sesshomaru watched silently as his staff gathered up their files and left the room before he turned his attention to the three research chairs that he had asked to stay behind.

 

It was quiet in the room as the remaining occupants waited for Sesshomaru to begin, but the inu-youkai simply stared at them. Kagome shifted uncomfortably in her seat and casted a questioning glance at Yash, who gave her a slight shrug signaling that he had no idea what his brother was thinking.

 

Finally Sesshomaru said, “General Haru Matsumoto has requested a special assignment. Since it is a highly confidential one, I have decided to put together a small team to run it. Juro, Kazuki, I'm pulling you both from your current projects to work on this together. Kagome, we may need your miko powers at a later stage, but for now I want you to proceed with your current assignments.”

 

“What kind of project are we talking about?” Kazuki asked.

 

“We have a meeting set up with General Matsumoto this afternoon. We will discuss the details then.”

 

Kazuki was a scientist and damn if he let things bother him, but he couldn't control the anxious feeling creeping into the pit of his stomach. Highly confidential? Hell, if the Army was involved, highly suspicious was more like it. Sesshomaru was looking at him as if expecting a retort. Not wanting to create a scene, he simply nodded his agreement. What choice did he have? But he was still curious enough to ask, “Why us?” He glanced at Juro. “It's no secret that we're not… compatible work partners.”

 

Juro snorted. “It's obvious why you were asked to be on the project. If it wasn't for the fact that he's your uncle—”

 

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

 

“It has everything—”

 

“Enough.” Sesshomaru cut in. He frowned at his research chairs. It was no secret that there was no love lost between the two scientists, but when Haru came to him with the request, he had no choice.

 

Kagome laid her hand on Kazuki's arm to try to calm her partner down. She could feel his anger pulsing beneath her fingers but as the seconds passed, she felt the knotted muscles under her hand slowly drain of tension. Kazuki was very much a touchy-feely individual and he responded well to touch, especially from someone as close to him as Kagome.

 

“Kagome, will you have enough resources to continue with your projects?” Yash, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. A scowl crossed his face as he fixated his attention to her slender hand on Kazuki's arm.

 

Smiling understandably, she removed her hand before she answered, “If we can have Taec full time, he can continue working with Sakura and Fuji can assist me. It'll be tight, but manageable.”

 

Satisfied now that she was no longer touching the bastard, Yash nodded, hopes of a honeymoon dissolving with this newest revelation. “Pull whatever resources you need for either project, including any of Juro's staff as well.”

 

“You're pulling my staff?” Juro protested as he looked over at Sesshomaru for confirmation. “I wasn't informed of that decision!”

 

“You are now.”

 

Juro scowled and shot Kagome a dark look as he made no effort to hide his distaste. “Fine, but they're not going to like working under a—”

 

“Juro.” Sesshomaru's sharp reprimand sliced through the air.

 

Sesshomaru didn't need to look at his brother to know that Yash was ready to jump up and vehemently defend his wife. With his fists. “Your staff will assist Dr. Takahashi where they are needed. If they have a problem with that, they can come talk to me,” Sesshomaru interjected as he placed a firm grip on his brother's arm before he could react. He shot a glance at Kagome and noted with approval that she had a firm grip on Kazuki's arm as well. Good. Between the two of them, they could keep the two hanyou from tearing the room and Juro apart.

 

Yash slouched back into his chair and internally seethed. Fucker.

 

Juro had the wisdom to shut up before he pushed the Takahashi brothers too far. He almost did and he had no doubt it would have landed him out on his ass. Literally. He would have to watch his words around Sesshomaru. He sat back and clamped his mouth shut but not without casting a look at Yash and Kazuki.

 

Kagome was still staring at Juro and was the only one who noticed that something flashed in his eyes as he looked at both hanyou. Disdain? Mockery? Contempt? Hatred? Before Kagome could decipher what it was, his dark countenance masked into a blank expression. Uneasiness curled in the pit of her stomach. She never did think too highly of the other scientist. Sure, his academic record was impeccable, but talent could only get you so far. Kagome secretly thought that the inu-youkai harboured deep-rooted prejudices against humans, but she always pushed those thoughts away. Always one to give someone the benefit of the doubt, she was sometimes too kind-hearted for her own good. Too trusting was what InuYasha always said. She couldn't help it. It was her nature, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling whenever she was around Juro, especially given the fact that he took an extreme dislike to her and Kazuki from the first time they met. From the looks of it, he wasn't a big fan of her husband's either. Unsettled by her thoughts, she made a mental note to ask InuYash about Juro later.

 

“We are professionals here. You will act as such.” Sesshomaru's tone dared anyone to argue with him. No one did.

 

The tension in the room was still palpable, but it was no longer thick enough to cut with a knife. It only needed a few words laced with underlying threats from Sesshomaru to disperse the hostility. “Good. It's settled then.”

 

The intercom on the side table came to life as a voice said, “Mr. Takahashi, your 11:00 appointment has arrived.”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Ito.” Sesshomaru asked if there was anything else that needed to be discussed. At the shake of heads, he pushed his chair back and stood up, signaling the end of the meeting. He watched as the occupants filed out of the room one by one, leaving only Sesshomaru and Yash standing by the table.

 

“He needs to be reprimanded,” Yash said darkly.

 

“He will be. His behavior was uncalled for,” Sesshomaru said in agreement.

 

Not mollified, Yash muttered, “I still don't understand why you keep him around.”

 

“Because he's good. He's been our best scientist for years. Until Kagome and Kazuki joined The Group.” Sesshomaru pondered for a minute. “Perhaps that is the problem.”

 

“Jealousy? You think that's an excuse to act like a pompous ass?”

 

“Hn. Let me handle this.”

 

Yash nodded and started to exit the room. “And Yash.” He paused and turned at Sesshomaru's voice. “Don't deactivate any more security cameras in the elevators.”