InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secret Lovers ❯ Op-ed ( Chapter 12 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: saphira404 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.26.2012 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.8K | Visits: 315 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.26.2012 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.8K | Visits: 315 | Status: Work In Progress
Part 12: Op-ed
A/N: Hello dear readers of mine. Not to worry I am still very much alive. I have just been crazy busy with work and grad school applications. Since my birthday is coming up (March 27th) I decided to offer a gift to myself with this update, which marks a turning point in the story. I hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: Sadly even though I love writing AU stories on my OTP, they don't belong to me. I tried to buy them, but all I could afford were plushies. Oh well better than nothing lol.
“Talking”
'Thoughts'
Kagura Onigumo pushed her sunglasses higher on her nose. As much as she tried, she could not suppress the small smile that played on her lips. From as far back as she could remember she had always enjoyed investigating. This love of finding things out and figuring and putting things together had been behind her choice of a career path. She had after all embarked upon her journalistic studies even before her aunt Kaede had told her about her father, and Naraku being the owner of a magazine. The young woman was therefore tremendously enjoying her present situation.
‘Here’s the place.’ She pushed past the door of the college student infested casual restaurant, and a frown appeared on her face. ‘I’m way too old to be seen in a place like this…’ She thought as she removed her sunglasses and slipped them inside her purse. Her eyes were assaulted with groups of men and women a dozen years younger than her. ‘Good thing Sesshoumaru isn’t here to see me; he would have made fun of me and accuse me of trying to recapture my youth. Even if I had to shamefully sneak out of the office while he was busy with a phone call, it had the desired effect of making sure he wouldn’t find out where I was going.’ She did not want to outwardly lie to her lover, and the best solution to remedy that in her opinion had been to simply not run into him for the whole day. ‘He’s probably going to think I am avoiding him because of our argument.’
After their explosive sexual encounter, the two of them had carefully avoided speaking of anything closely related to Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru’s article or the Miko Powder.
“Mss Jiyuu! Over here!” A cheerful voice called over from Kagura’s left, cutting through her thoughts. Despite the loud noise of the many conversations going on around her, the young crimson eyed journalist had heard her name being called perfectly. She turned around, and sure enough saw none other than Kagome waving energetically.
‘Hopefully her joyfulness gets toned down.’ Kagura groaned to herself. She had never been able to stand overly cheerful people. Nevertheless she walked towards the younger dark haired woman, laboriously pushing and making her way through the throng of college students clustering around the bar area of the eatery.
“I thought you might have changed your mind.” Kagome declared on a nervous tone.
“Traffic.” Kagura simply answered. She was not about to reveal to the other woman that she was late because she had had to wait for the opportunity to sneak out of the office while Sesshoumaru was distracted.
“Oh okay…” Kagome was at a loss about what to say. She nervously cleared her throat, and pointed towards her plate. “Miss Jiyuu, would you like to order some lunch?”
“Don’t miss Jiyuu me. You can call me Kagura.” She quickly corrected Kagome. ‘It’s bad enough that I’m so much older than everyone around me, but to have her call me by my last name is way too much to bear.’
“Hum sure… Kagura then… The food is very good around here. I recommend the chicken sandwich; it’s my favorite.” The young woman really could not figure out any better way to start off the conversation with the intimidating older woman.
“No. I don’t have time for that. I am just here to get some answers.” Kagura chanced a quick look at her watch. She knew she needed to conclude her business with Inuyasha’s girlfriend as quickly as possible lest Sesshoumaru notice her absence and grow suspicious. If Kagome had any hesitations about how to proceed, this was not the case with Kagura. She opened her purse, and from it retrieved her faithful companions: a small tape recorder, a notebook and a pen. In a matter of a quick minute, she was ready. Her recorder was placed on the table between she and Kagome, and both her trusted notebook and pen were in her hands.
“First question.” Kagura announced even as she tried scribbling down on her notebook. “How long ago did the Miko Powder start appearing on the Edo campus?”
Kagome though for a little bit, then finally answered. “As far as I know about six months ago.” She then thought for a little more before quickly adding. “Yes it was six months ago. I can remember clearly when I and the other members of the Associated Students council received an anonymous tip about a drug that had become all the rage with the students of Edo.”
“I see. Do you know where exactly the drug originated on campus?”
“I think the first uses were spotted in the dorms. Not very surprising since our university unfortunately has a reputation for being a bit of a party school…especially in the dorms.” Kagome said wryly before interrupting herself to fork some of her side salad into her mouth. “…but if you’re asking who exactly introduced the Miko Powder, you should go visit the God tree again, and the Thunder Brothers which are sure to be lying uselessly under it.” Her last words were added without her bothering to mask her anger towards Hiten and the members of his band.
Kagura calmly recorded what she was told, and ignored the other woman’s rousing anger. “Other than Manten how many kids have overdosed on the Miko Powder?”
“Two. According to the board of directors of the university it’s not enough to warrant an official investigation. The only reason why they want to keep everything quiet is because they are afraid parents will find out, and the enrollment rate will go down. The only way in which they see students is as dollar signs…I really don’t understand why they haven’t kicked out those damn Thunder Brothers from the school yet.” Kagome spit out angrily before taking a generous bite out of her sandwich. She chased it down with a few sips of her ice tea, then remembering her manners, she quickly added “You don’t mind if I eat, do you?”
“No, knock yourself out.” Kagura answered as she jotted down notes. “About those Thunder Brothers, what makes you think they are behind the Miko Powder?”
As every time the band of delinquents was mentioned, the Associated Students president made a sour face. “Everyone knows they are involved in all the shady dealings that take place on campus. Any user looking for some drugs or pills knows to go to them; it’s not a secret.”
“Hum it seems that this Miko Powder is much more dangerous than some college kids trying to score some pot...” Kagura mentioned casually.
“Ugh don’t I know it.” Kagome sighed deeply. “This is exactly the message I have been trying to convey to the authorities at the school, but no one listens to me. This is why I am so glad your magazine is showing an interest in the story; at least some people seem to care.”
For the longest time Kagura had been battling a nagging feeling. She felt like she was missing something; something about the relation between the Thunder Brothers and the Miko Powder. ‘Something just doesn’t add up.’ She thought to herself. After pondering on the matter for a little while longer, with Kagome looking at her shut off face with worry, she managed to put her finger on it.
“I don’t think your theory is right. Someone else has to be manufacturing and distributing the Miko Powder. Based on what you told me, this drug is all the rage around campus, and if the Thunder Brothers were really behind it, they would be busy making the drug or selling it instead of spending their days drinking beer under a damn tree.” Kagura remarked as she started noting down her observations in her notebook. “Besides whatever is mixed inside this drug is dangerous, even deadly, and I doubt that their leader would allow any members of his little crew, least of all his brother to touch that nasty stuff.”
“Well it’s true that Hiten is very protective of his brother…” Kagome grudgingly agreed. “Well… then if not the Thunder Brothers… who could be behind the Miko Powder?” The young woman pushed her plate away as all her previous hunger had vanished. The thought that she could have been wrong about Hiten and his ‘brothers’ mortified her. As much as she hated the thought of it, she knew that if she had indeed been wrong, she would have to give the dark haired devil an apology. ‘I did accuse him of being the reason why his brother is in a coma…’
“You tell me. Has anyone been acting differently or suspicious in the past six months?” One thing Kagura had found out early on in her career was that looks could be deceiving. Just because someone appeared to be guilty did not mean he or she was, nor were the innocent looking people always as guilt-free as they appeared.
“I may be the president of the Associated Students organization, but I don’t know everyone who attends Edo University…” Kagome answered sheepishly. It would be easy enough for someone to stay out of sight and run their nefarious organization peacefully without anyone noticing. ‘Especially if I spent all my time and energy focusing on getting the Thunder Brothers expelled from the school…’ Kagome’s heart sank when she realized that her actions might have helped whoever was behind the Miko Powder hide among the student population.
“Good enough.” Kagura declared as she shut off the recorder placed on the table between the two of them.
“That’s it?” The younger woman exclaimed in shock.” She had expected for Kagura’s questioning to be much more extensive than that.
“I have all that I need… at least for now. This is just some preliminary work.”
“But… and how about…” Kagome blushed slightly. She hated the fact that she had had to lie to her boyfriend, but she knew all too well that Inuyasha would have done anything to prevent her from meeting up with Kagura.
“Don’t worry, I always fulfill my promises. I know just the way to make these two stubborn mules come together.” The crimson eyed woman knew exactly what Kagome had been about to ask her, so she responded accordingly.
Kagura’s confident statement surprised Kagome, but before she had the chance to ask what exactly was the crimson eyed woman’s elaborate plan, she filled her in an unexpected way. She quickly scribbled in a blank page of her notebook then tore the page out before sliding it across the table towards the younger woman.
“Be there Saturday evening at 8 with Inuyasha.”
“What? Where is this?”
“This is the address to my condo. We’re going to have a nice little family dinner.”
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Kagura Jiyuu smirked to herself as she applied the finishing touch to her dining table. When she had first put her plan together, she had not realized it would have been so hard to get Sesshoumaru to unknowingly participate. Little did she know he had plans of his own; in fact it was the kind of plans that would involve snooping around the Edo campus.
Since he had not planned to let Kagura know about his project, he had tried on several occasions to shake her off, but the young woman had not stepped away from him for more than a few minutes at a time during the entire day. In the late afternoon he had gone as far as the front door of her condo before she had almost literally tackled him to the ground. What ensued was a passionate, long and vigorous love making session. Later on while Sesshoumaru had taken a well deserved nap, his cunning lover had gotten herself cleaned up before implementing her own plan.
‘I’m just glad I wasn’t planning on actually cooking dinner…’ She thought to herself as she slid the last of the reheated food she had purchased earlier out of the oven. With her arms burdened with a large baking pan, she walked from her kitchen to her dining room.
“I am sure you worked up an appetite, but isn’t this a bit excessive?” Sesshoumaru asked in a mocking voice. His golden gaze had just been greeted by the highly domestic image of his lover carrying a large oven roasted chicken. His hair was still slightly damp from his shower, but he knew that Kagura would not mind his unusually less than perfect appearance. Even though he had just finished dressing, and was about to excuse himself before leaving for Edo University to further his investigation, the prospect of sharing dinner with her before he left did sound appealing at the moment. His recuperative nap had after all not been enough to have him regain all his energy after the long afternoon they had spent under the covers.
The light smile fell off his face when he noticed that Kagura’s dining table was set up for four and not two people.
“We’ll be having some company.” She let him know as she placed the large bird at the prized center place on her table. She gave her work one last critical gaze, and was glad to see that everything seemed to be in its rightful place, including the side dishes and wine bottles she had carefully planned for the evening.
“Are Kanna and Yukiyo coming for dinner?” He responded mentioning his lover’s sister and brother in-law. While he had met Kanna and her boys, and had quite liked the three of them, he had yet to meet the younger woman’s husband.
“Our guests are family… but maybe not what you might expect.” Kagura’s cryptic words made him raise an eyebrow in surprise. Her only other family members she knew about were her aunt Kaede and her father. He was sure she would have mentioned her aunt coming to town to visit her, so he ruled out that possibility. On the other hand the idea of Kagura inviting Naraku to share dinner with them was simply preposterous, but still he could not help but wonder.
Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to ask some more details about the mysterious dinner guests, but before the words could come out, her doorbell rang loudly.
“There they are!” Kagura faked a cheerful and excited voice as she walked towards the front doors on wobbly knees. She could not help but let out a quick prayer of hope that everything would go well that evening.
Sesshoumaru had been too curious to hang back in the dining room of Kagura’s condo while she went to welcome whoever her secret guests could be. The second she turned around and left the room, he had followed closely behind her. He arrived just in time to hear an angered male voice exclaim clear disapproval.
“Oh hell no! Why did you trick me like this?!”
As much as he wished he hadn’t, Sesshoumaru instantly recognized whom the voice belonged to. He suddenly wanted to repeat exactly the words his half brother had just spat out.
‘I should have known she was planning something… Kagura is not the clingy type, so seeing her decide to spend the entire day with me should have been a clear indication that something wasn’t right. How could I have been so stupid?!’ Sesshoumaru’s first instinct was to run away as quickly as possible from the uncomfortable situation his lover had thrown him in; however, he could not help but think back to the fact that Kagura had dared call him a coward after he had walked away from Inuyasha after their encounter at Edo University. He forced himself to face forward, and refused to back down.
‘Kagura wants to play? Well… let’s go.’ He forced himself to unclench his teeth, and before the words even registered in his mind, he heard himself speak them. “Dinner will turn cold.”
Kagura turned towards her lover with pure shock. After Inuyasha’s outburst, she had been too busy trying to think of a way to convince Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha to share a dinner while being civil to notice her co-worker had followed her into the entry way of her condo. She was completely at a loss for words upon hearing him agree so easily to take part in the dinner she was hosting. All she could do was look at him with bulging crimson eyes and a slackened jaw. Had Sesshoumaru not been seething because of her clear ambush, he would have been grossly amused by her reaction.
“Wait! What the hell is going on here? Are you trying to tell me that you are okay with the idea of all of us sitting down at the dinner table like one big happy family?!” Inuyasha exclaimed in pure shock. All his life he had been told by his parents that his older brother had turned his back on his family without ever looking back. It was only much later on that he realized what exactly had happened to cause Sesshoumaru to distance himself from the Tashio family. On the one hand Inuyasha could understand how what had occurred between their father and his mother had affected Sesshoumaru and tainted his relationship with Touga Tashio, but on the other hand he had always struggled with his brother’s rejection of him. So as much as he knew he should tread carefully, the little boy inside of him who had always wanted to know his older half sibling was screaming inside of him to jump forward, and take advantage of this rare opportunity.
“Inuyasha! He’s making an effort, and I think you should too.” Kagome gently scolded her boyfriend. Despite the uninterested look on his face, she knew him better than anyone, and was aware of how much it would mean to him to finally have a relationship with his brother. She leaned forward, and quickly whispered in his ear. “Besides they’re going to help me solve the Miko Powder crisis.”
“Keh! Fine, let’s just get on with this dinner then.” The younger silver haired man said doing his best to mask his excitement. He just hoped that his girlfriend inferred he was agreeing to the set up because of her.
Sesshoumaru simply nodded in the direction of the two guests, and headed back towards the dining room. Even if his anger was making his blood boil, and his jaw was locked so tightly that he was sure it would start hurting soon, he was surprised to see how easy it was for him to take one step after the other towards the room where Kagura had spread out a real feast.
Kagome and Inuyasha tentatively followed behind him, and Kagura after taking a few seconds to compose herself and wipe the look of pure shock off her face, trailed after them.
“There’s no assigned sitting, so settle down wherever you feel like it.” Even as Kagura spoke the words, her guests did as she asked. The young journalist then headed towards the chair opposite to the one Kagome had just occupied. She hoped that by having to sit across from his brother, Sesshoumaru would have no choice but to talk to Inuyasha. To her surprise, Kagura saw her lover standing behind the chair she wanted him to take, but instead on seating on it, he was holding it opened for her, silently inviting her to occupy it. She thought about refusing and sitting somewhere else, but decided against it when she noticed the dark gleam in his eyes.
‘I guess that I was wrong in thinking that he would be okay with this whole dinner…’ A shiver of fear ran down her spine as she slid on the chair Sesshoumaru wanted her to take. ‘I just hope this won’t backfire on me…’ She faked a smile, and as any good hostess would, decided to do her best to make her guests feel as well and comfortable as possible.
“Would anyone like some wine? I have a great red.” Kagura picked up the bottle she had purchased just for tonight, and despite her shaking hands, expertly opened it.
“Yes please!” Kagome exclaimed eagerly as she extended her empty glass towards Kagura. She too was feeling uncomfortable, and her nerves were as raw as possible. ‘Hopefully a glass of wine will help me relax…’
“Since when do you drink wine, wench?” Inuyasha questioned his girlfriend. He had known her most of his life, and knew that she only very rarely drank alcohol. He suspected that it had something to do with the fact that her father had been killed in a car accident by a drunk driver.
“For your information, I am sophisticated enough to drink wine. Kagura, could you please serve me a glass?” The female journalist did as told, and quickly filled out Kagome’s glass before serving herself generously as well. The scowl on Inuyasha’s face let his hostess know exactly where he stood on getting served some wine. Undeterred by his refusal, Kagura turned towards her lover. Without even bothering to open his mouth, Sesshoumaru waved away the bottle she had poised against the rim of his glass with a slight hand gesture.
‘I wonder if he’s actually going to speak or eat at all…’ She thought worriedly as she gulped down a big swallow of her wine, secretly wishing it was straight liquor.
“Keh! Don’t expect me to hold your hair up when you start puking your guts out tomorrow morning.” Inuyasha commented dryly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Geez! I’m having one drink not a whole bottle.” To emphasize her point, Kagome sipped some of her wine. The small grimace that appeared on her face when the wine reached her taste buds did not escape her boyfriend’s keen eyes. Inuyasha chuckled at seeing her reaction, but Kagome chose to ignore him. She even persisted by forcing herself to take an even larger swallow of her drink. “It’s really good.” She then commented with a forced smile. In truth she had never been a big fine of wine as her taste pointed towards sweeter and milder drinks, and was hoping that she had not offended her hostess or even worse, embarrassed herself in front of everyone.
Even if it caused a diversion, Kagura was not really amused by the bickering of her two guests, and decided to move all conversation onto safer grounds: food. “Well let’s not put all my efforts to waste. We should start eating before it all turns cold. Sesshoumaru, would you do the honors?” She handed the carding knives to him, which he accepted without speaking a word.
‘I guess he’s giving me the silent treatment…’ An annoyed Kagura thought.
For a long minute he simply struck the two knives against each other as if to sharpen the blades; the loud noise of steel hitting against steel as the only one disturbing the silence in the room. Just as Kagura was going to ask her lover to stop the nerve grating noise, he buried the knives deep into the defenseless large roasted chicken, and carved it quickly and efficiently. He did not take the time to ask everyone which part of the bird they would enjoy most as he started dishing out the meat; after all he planned on being done with this dinner as quickly as possible.
“Hum… I’m not a big fan of the wing….” Kagome started protesting as Sesshoumaru served her. He did not even pause in his action, and simply answered with a disinterested glance her way before dropping the piece of meat on her plate.
Inuyasha noticed the uncomfortable look on his girlfriend’s face, and switched out their plates since his was still empty. “Here. Take mine. Feh! You’re such a picky eater.”
Eager for what he considered to be useless chatter from Kagome to stop, Sesshoumaru purposely slid a plump chicken breast on the young woman’s now empty plate. Once he finished placing some of the chicken on both Kagura and his plates, he sat down. Still without speaking one word, he started eating some of his dinner.
Undisturbed by her lover’s clear refusal to participate in the event she had set up, Kagura decided to help move things along. “I picked up this food from one of my favorite restaurants downtown. Please don’t be shy, serve yourselves.” She pushed the bowls full of rice and greens across from her towards her two guests.
‘Thank you…” Kagome replied for both her and her boyfriend even as she served the two of them. “Would you like some?” She then addressed the stony man sitting across from her. Sesshoumaru’s face stayed as blank as ever as he kept on eating his chicken, his golden eyes trained on his plate. Even if she was hurt by his lack of response, the young woman pretended not to have been affected by his clear rejection. She simply faked a smile, and placed a large serving of buttered greens on her boyfriend’s plate.
“Keh! What are you doing wench?” He protested. Inuyasha had never been a big fan of vegetables; especially the leafy green kind, and was not to keen on the idea of having to eat a full serving. Even if he hated the mere thought of it, he knew he would be damned before he acted like a spoiled brat who refused to eat his vegetables in front of his brother, so down his mouth the greens would have to go.
“Your mom always says you need to stop feeding yourself like a carnivorous puppy, and have to eat more vegetables.” Kagome smiled sweetly at him, to which he responded with a scowl before stuffing a forkful of the hated green substance in his mouth.
“I have somewhere to be.” Sesshoumaru suddenly stood up. He had had enough. His plan to ensure that he and the other dinner guests survived the evening was to act like a real ice king, and so far he had been doing a good job at it, but the mere mention of Izayoi had been enough to squash down his good intensions and push him over the edge. Besides since he had done quick work of the small piece of chicken he had dished for himself, he esteemed that he had done his part in participating to the dinner for now. The only reason why he had agreed to go along with Kagura’s plan as long as he had was only so save face; he would be damned if he ran from his half brother once again.
‘Now that I have proven I can be in the same room as Inuyasha without turning away, I can leave. No to mention that I do have plans; I need to stop by the Edo campus. I have put off my investigation for too long.’ Sesshoumaru was not about to pass out the opportunity to go by the school campus on a Saturday. As a former student of Edo, he knew all too well that Saturday nights were the one evening where the students in the dorms partied, and he was sure there was going to be a large amount of Miko Powder being distributed.
“What? Where are you going?” Kagura protested. She too stood up, and placed a restraining hand on his arm as if to anchor him to her. Even if this was not turning out to be her worst case scenario, in which Sesshoumaru would have just left her condo without offering anyone a backwards glance, it was getting close to it since he had not even spoken one word to his brother.
“I have work to do and cannot afford to waste any time…” He gently shrugged off the hold his lover had on him. Even if she hated the coldness with which he was treating her, she did not know what to do.
“Why won’t you talk to Inuyasha?!” Kagome’s sudden interruption prevented Sesshoumaru from saying anything more. She refused to back down or be cowered by the cold piercing glare Sesshoumaru was sending her. Squaring her shoulders, Kagome stood up to stare right back at the older man. “We came all the way here for the two of you to make amends. At least give him a chance, it’s the least you can do after you abandoned your family!” She had hoped that getting the two men in the same room would have been enough to have them reconcile. Dragging Inuyasha to Kagura’s condo had been hard enough since she could not answer his many questions and had had no choice but to give him half truths. The young woman had anticipated that getting to the dinner party was going to be the hardest part of her night. She really could not have anticipated Sesshoumaru being so dead set against being civil towards his own flesh and blood.
“How dare you say something like that!” Kagura exploded. The emotional rollercoaster of the day was catching up to her, and she could not help but speak the words that came to her mind. “It’s the family that let him down. Their father is a selfish asshole who destroyed him. If he had given a damn about his son and…”
“Enough!” Sesshoumaru roared. Kagura setting up a useless dinner reunion was something he could bear with… at least for a short time, but hearing her disclosing his personal business to his half brother’s girlfriend was simply unconceivable to him.
Even if he knew that there was some truth to Kagura’s insulting words, Inuyasha was not comfortable discussing that shameful part of his father’s life. He knew that Touga and Izayoi still felt incredible guilt about the adultery from which he was a result of. For a long time he too had been angry at his parents. He had been so disappointed to find out that they, who had always told him about how love, family and commitment were the most important things, had betrayed the latter two for the first.
‘I can’t really blame Sesshoumaru for not wanting anything to do with me or my parents. I would probably feel the same if I was in his shoes…’ Inuyasha thought sadly. He sighed heavily and readied himself to take his leave. His shoulders slumped, and his head hung low, he too took to his feet, readying himself to leave.
“Wait…what is she talking about?” Kagome asked. She had always liked and respected Touga Tashio, who had been like a father to her after her own dad has passed away, and never until today had she ever heard anyone speak ill about him.
“Nothing… Just let it go. Come on let’s head out of here.” Inuyasha took his girlfriend’s arm, with the aim of forcing her towards the front door.
“We can’t just leave now… you’re supposed to make up with your brother, and the four of us are going to work on finding out who is behind the Miko Powder.” The ever stubborn Kagome protested. She planted her feet firmly in the carpet, making it impossible for Inuyasha to move her without exerting force and therefore hurting her; something he of course refused to do. He had consequently no choice but to let her be for now. “Now that Kagura showed me that Hiten isn’t responsible for the Miko Powder, I am more determined than ever to find out who is.” She still felt bad for wrongly accusing Hiten to be responsible for his brother’s hospitalization.
Sesshoumaru’s previous irritation and anger escalated to full blown furiousness when he realized that Kagura had been interfering in more than just his family life.
“What do you mean?” Even as inside he was boiling with pure seething rage, he spoke his words as coolly and calmly as possible.
Before Kagura had a chance to send Kagome a warning signal, the younger woman was telling him about their other little secret. “When I met with Kagura for lunch, she pointed out to me that Hiten couldn’t be responsible for this damn drug…if only I hadn’t been so obsessed with the Thunder Brothers, I would have realized that, and I wouldn’t have accused him wrongly.” She hoped that disclosing all this to Sesshoumaru would cause him to reciprocate and offer some information about his past with Touga in return; needless to say she was sorely mistaken.
“I see…Kagura, may I have a word with you.” The coolly controlled voice in which Sesshoumaru spoke his request let her know that she was in no position to refuse. The fact that his face was void of emotions also let her know that he was beyond being furious.
“Sure… we’ll be right back.” She forced a smile on her red painted lips, and headed towards her room. Once inside she could not prevent her crimson eyes from straying to her unmade bed, where the scents of their entwined bodies still lingered. Her brief flashback about the lusty events which had taken place in that room only a few hours ago came to a crashing halt when Sesshoumaru came in behind her, and tightly shut the door.
“Whatever I did, I did for you.” She immediately started talking. She could only hope that she would be able to convince him about how genuine she was before he blew up on her. ‘Not that I’ve ever heard Sesshoumaru scream at someone. All he needs is to give them the icy look, and they quiver under his gaze.’
“Had this Sesshoumaru not explicitly asked you not to get involved in my familial issues?”
“I only…”
“Answer the damn question!” Never had he swore at her, so the harsh language took her aback.
“Yes.” She finally admitted.
“Then why did you take it upon yourself to meddle in affairs that did not concern you?” In a weary gesture, he ran his hand over his forehead, messing up his usually perfect silver bangs. “No, do not even bother answering.”
“Well I will nonetheless! The truth is that I care about you. You’re more than just a guy I sleep and work with. You’re my friend! I saw a situation that was broken, and I wanted to fix it. Yes, your father is an asshole, and no one is denying that, but don’t you think it’s a bit extreme to reject your brother because of that? He’s innocent.”
“You do not understand.” He grumbled. ‘How could she know that every time I see Inuyasha all I can think about is how father betrayed mother in her hour of need. He is the very embodiment of father’s infidelities and lies.’
“You can’t blame the poor kid for something he’s not a part of. He didn’t lie and cheat on anyone, and certainly never betrayed you. The way you’re acting towards him is just not fair to him, or to you. You deserve to be at peace, and to know what it’s like to actually have family members you get along with.”
Her tirade was followed by a long pregnant pause. When Sesshoumaru finally opened his mouth to speak, Kagura’s felt her pulse quicken. She could not wait to find out if her words had managed to get through to her lover’s tough exterior and iron emotional armor.
“When you decided to get involved in my professional life, I let it go… at least to an extent.” He referred to how she had invited herself to his investigation of the Miko Powder. “This time around you have however gone too far. I have told you on several occasions to stay out of my family business, but you do not listen!”
She could understand why he was angered, but she had really not expected for him to react this strongly. “I’m sorry if you’re upset. I really thought I was doing what was best.”
“This is an ongoing issue with you… you always assume that you always know what is best for everyone… you simply act without thinking about consequences.”
“What consequences are you talking about? I’m just trying to reconcile you with your family.” The few feet separating them felt like a wide opened ocean, so she decided to walk towards him. She hoped that by increasing their proximity, she would be able to remind him of everything they had shared in this very room only a few hours before, causing his anger to diminish.
He silently watched her approach him, the cold mask of indifference on his face not even slipping for a second. He waited until she was as close to him as possible without actually touching him to react, and not in the way she would have expected.
“We are done.” His short announcement was met by a deafening silence. The only thing registering through the young woman’s head was the thundering beat of her heart, and the blood rushing through her ears.
“What… what do you mean?” She asked with a breathy shocked voice. Even as she questioned him, she understood all too well where the conversation was headed, and she was not liking it one bit.
He took a deep breath, then staring inside her beloved crimson eyes pronounced. “Whatever arrangement we have had for the past few months is severed as of tonight.”
To be continued…
A/N: Notes to all even if you’re doing it out of love and concern, there are always consequences to getting involved in people’s lives, and sometimes it’s not good ones. Kagura might just have learned that the hard way. We will see next time how the relationship between the two will evolve, and the identity of the villain behind the Miko Powder will also be revealed. I’m not too sure how the chapter will be named, but I’ll think about something lol :)
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A/N: Hello dear readers of mine. Not to worry I am still very much alive. I have just been crazy busy with work and grad school applications. Since my birthday is coming up (March 27th) I decided to offer a gift to myself with this update, which marks a turning point in the story. I hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: Sadly even though I love writing AU stories on my OTP, they don't belong to me. I tried to buy them, but all I could afford were plushies. Oh well better than nothing lol.
“Talking”
'Thoughts'
Kagura Onigumo pushed her sunglasses higher on her nose. As much as she tried, she could not suppress the small smile that played on her lips. From as far back as she could remember she had always enjoyed investigating. This love of finding things out and figuring and putting things together had been behind her choice of a career path. She had after all embarked upon her journalistic studies even before her aunt Kaede had told her about her father, and Naraku being the owner of a magazine. The young woman was therefore tremendously enjoying her present situation.
‘Here’s the place.’ She pushed past the door of the college student infested casual restaurant, and a frown appeared on her face. ‘I’m way too old to be seen in a place like this…’ She thought as she removed her sunglasses and slipped them inside her purse. Her eyes were assaulted with groups of men and women a dozen years younger than her. ‘Good thing Sesshoumaru isn’t here to see me; he would have made fun of me and accuse me of trying to recapture my youth. Even if I had to shamefully sneak out of the office while he was busy with a phone call, it had the desired effect of making sure he wouldn’t find out where I was going.’ She did not want to outwardly lie to her lover, and the best solution to remedy that in her opinion had been to simply not run into him for the whole day. ‘He’s probably going to think I am avoiding him because of our argument.’
After their explosive sexual encounter, the two of them had carefully avoided speaking of anything closely related to Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru’s article or the Miko Powder.
“Mss Jiyuu! Over here!” A cheerful voice called over from Kagura’s left, cutting through her thoughts. Despite the loud noise of the many conversations going on around her, the young crimson eyed journalist had heard her name being called perfectly. She turned around, and sure enough saw none other than Kagome waving energetically.
‘Hopefully her joyfulness gets toned down.’ Kagura groaned to herself. She had never been able to stand overly cheerful people. Nevertheless she walked towards the younger dark haired woman, laboriously pushing and making her way through the throng of college students clustering around the bar area of the eatery.
“I thought you might have changed your mind.” Kagome declared on a nervous tone.
“Traffic.” Kagura simply answered. She was not about to reveal to the other woman that she was late because she had had to wait for the opportunity to sneak out of the office while Sesshoumaru was distracted.
“Oh okay…” Kagome was at a loss about what to say. She nervously cleared her throat, and pointed towards her plate. “Miss Jiyuu, would you like to order some lunch?”
“Don’t miss Jiyuu me. You can call me Kagura.” She quickly corrected Kagome. ‘It’s bad enough that I’m so much older than everyone around me, but to have her call me by my last name is way too much to bear.’
“Hum sure… Kagura then… The food is very good around here. I recommend the chicken sandwich; it’s my favorite.” The young woman really could not figure out any better way to start off the conversation with the intimidating older woman.
“No. I don’t have time for that. I am just here to get some answers.” Kagura chanced a quick look at her watch. She knew she needed to conclude her business with Inuyasha’s girlfriend as quickly as possible lest Sesshoumaru notice her absence and grow suspicious. If Kagome had any hesitations about how to proceed, this was not the case with Kagura. She opened her purse, and from it retrieved her faithful companions: a small tape recorder, a notebook and a pen. In a matter of a quick minute, she was ready. Her recorder was placed on the table between she and Kagome, and both her trusted notebook and pen were in her hands.
“First question.” Kagura announced even as she tried scribbling down on her notebook. “How long ago did the Miko Powder start appearing on the Edo campus?”
Kagome though for a little bit, then finally answered. “As far as I know about six months ago.” She then thought for a little more before quickly adding. “Yes it was six months ago. I can remember clearly when I and the other members of the Associated Students council received an anonymous tip about a drug that had become all the rage with the students of Edo.”
“I see. Do you know where exactly the drug originated on campus?”
“I think the first uses were spotted in the dorms. Not very surprising since our university unfortunately has a reputation for being a bit of a party school…especially in the dorms.” Kagome said wryly before interrupting herself to fork some of her side salad into her mouth. “…but if you’re asking who exactly introduced the Miko Powder, you should go visit the God tree again, and the Thunder Brothers which are sure to be lying uselessly under it.” Her last words were added without her bothering to mask her anger towards Hiten and the members of his band.
Kagura calmly recorded what she was told, and ignored the other woman’s rousing anger. “Other than Manten how many kids have overdosed on the Miko Powder?”
“Two. According to the board of directors of the university it’s not enough to warrant an official investigation. The only reason why they want to keep everything quiet is because they are afraid parents will find out, and the enrollment rate will go down. The only way in which they see students is as dollar signs…I really don’t understand why they haven’t kicked out those damn Thunder Brothers from the school yet.” Kagome spit out angrily before taking a generous bite out of her sandwich. She chased it down with a few sips of her ice tea, then remembering her manners, she quickly added “You don’t mind if I eat, do you?”
“No, knock yourself out.” Kagura answered as she jotted down notes. “About those Thunder Brothers, what makes you think they are behind the Miko Powder?”
As every time the band of delinquents was mentioned, the Associated Students president made a sour face. “Everyone knows they are involved in all the shady dealings that take place on campus. Any user looking for some drugs or pills knows to go to them; it’s not a secret.”
“Hum it seems that this Miko Powder is much more dangerous than some college kids trying to score some pot...” Kagura mentioned casually.
“Ugh don’t I know it.” Kagome sighed deeply. “This is exactly the message I have been trying to convey to the authorities at the school, but no one listens to me. This is why I am so glad your magazine is showing an interest in the story; at least some people seem to care.”
For the longest time Kagura had been battling a nagging feeling. She felt like she was missing something; something about the relation between the Thunder Brothers and the Miko Powder. ‘Something just doesn’t add up.’ She thought to herself. After pondering on the matter for a little while longer, with Kagome looking at her shut off face with worry, she managed to put her finger on it.
“I don’t think your theory is right. Someone else has to be manufacturing and distributing the Miko Powder. Based on what you told me, this drug is all the rage around campus, and if the Thunder Brothers were really behind it, they would be busy making the drug or selling it instead of spending their days drinking beer under a damn tree.” Kagura remarked as she started noting down her observations in her notebook. “Besides whatever is mixed inside this drug is dangerous, even deadly, and I doubt that their leader would allow any members of his little crew, least of all his brother to touch that nasty stuff.”
“Well it’s true that Hiten is very protective of his brother…” Kagome grudgingly agreed. “Well… then if not the Thunder Brothers… who could be behind the Miko Powder?” The young woman pushed her plate away as all her previous hunger had vanished. The thought that she could have been wrong about Hiten and his ‘brothers’ mortified her. As much as she hated the thought of it, she knew that if she had indeed been wrong, she would have to give the dark haired devil an apology. ‘I did accuse him of being the reason why his brother is in a coma…’
“You tell me. Has anyone been acting differently or suspicious in the past six months?” One thing Kagura had found out early on in her career was that looks could be deceiving. Just because someone appeared to be guilty did not mean he or she was, nor were the innocent looking people always as guilt-free as they appeared.
“I may be the president of the Associated Students organization, but I don’t know everyone who attends Edo University…” Kagome answered sheepishly. It would be easy enough for someone to stay out of sight and run their nefarious organization peacefully without anyone noticing. ‘Especially if I spent all my time and energy focusing on getting the Thunder Brothers expelled from the school…’ Kagome’s heart sank when she realized that her actions might have helped whoever was behind the Miko Powder hide among the student population.
“Good enough.” Kagura declared as she shut off the recorder placed on the table between the two of them.
“That’s it?” The younger woman exclaimed in shock.” She had expected for Kagura’s questioning to be much more extensive than that.
“I have all that I need… at least for now. This is just some preliminary work.”
“But… and how about…” Kagome blushed slightly. She hated the fact that she had had to lie to her boyfriend, but she knew all too well that Inuyasha would have done anything to prevent her from meeting up with Kagura.
“Don’t worry, I always fulfill my promises. I know just the way to make these two stubborn mules come together.” The crimson eyed woman knew exactly what Kagome had been about to ask her, so she responded accordingly.
Kagura’s confident statement surprised Kagome, but before she had the chance to ask what exactly was the crimson eyed woman’s elaborate plan, she filled her in an unexpected way. She quickly scribbled in a blank page of her notebook then tore the page out before sliding it across the table towards the younger woman.
“Be there Saturday evening at 8 with Inuyasha.”
“What? Where is this?”
“This is the address to my condo. We’re going to have a nice little family dinner.”
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Kagura Jiyuu smirked to herself as she applied the finishing touch to her dining table. When she had first put her plan together, she had not realized it would have been so hard to get Sesshoumaru to unknowingly participate. Little did she know he had plans of his own; in fact it was the kind of plans that would involve snooping around the Edo campus.
Since he had not planned to let Kagura know about his project, he had tried on several occasions to shake her off, but the young woman had not stepped away from him for more than a few minutes at a time during the entire day. In the late afternoon he had gone as far as the front door of her condo before she had almost literally tackled him to the ground. What ensued was a passionate, long and vigorous love making session. Later on while Sesshoumaru had taken a well deserved nap, his cunning lover had gotten herself cleaned up before implementing her own plan.
‘I’m just glad I wasn’t planning on actually cooking dinner…’ She thought to herself as she slid the last of the reheated food she had purchased earlier out of the oven. With her arms burdened with a large baking pan, she walked from her kitchen to her dining room.
“I am sure you worked up an appetite, but isn’t this a bit excessive?” Sesshoumaru asked in a mocking voice. His golden gaze had just been greeted by the highly domestic image of his lover carrying a large oven roasted chicken. His hair was still slightly damp from his shower, but he knew that Kagura would not mind his unusually less than perfect appearance. Even though he had just finished dressing, and was about to excuse himself before leaving for Edo University to further his investigation, the prospect of sharing dinner with her before he left did sound appealing at the moment. His recuperative nap had after all not been enough to have him regain all his energy after the long afternoon they had spent under the covers.
The light smile fell off his face when he noticed that Kagura’s dining table was set up for four and not two people.
“We’ll be having some company.” She let him know as she placed the large bird at the prized center place on her table. She gave her work one last critical gaze, and was glad to see that everything seemed to be in its rightful place, including the side dishes and wine bottles she had carefully planned for the evening.
“Are Kanna and Yukiyo coming for dinner?” He responded mentioning his lover’s sister and brother in-law. While he had met Kanna and her boys, and had quite liked the three of them, he had yet to meet the younger woman’s husband.
“Our guests are family… but maybe not what you might expect.” Kagura’s cryptic words made him raise an eyebrow in surprise. Her only other family members she knew about were her aunt Kaede and her father. He was sure she would have mentioned her aunt coming to town to visit her, so he ruled out that possibility. On the other hand the idea of Kagura inviting Naraku to share dinner with them was simply preposterous, but still he could not help but wonder.
Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to ask some more details about the mysterious dinner guests, but before the words could come out, her doorbell rang loudly.
“There they are!” Kagura faked a cheerful and excited voice as she walked towards the front doors on wobbly knees. She could not help but let out a quick prayer of hope that everything would go well that evening.
Sesshoumaru had been too curious to hang back in the dining room of Kagura’s condo while she went to welcome whoever her secret guests could be. The second she turned around and left the room, he had followed closely behind her. He arrived just in time to hear an angered male voice exclaim clear disapproval.
“Oh hell no! Why did you trick me like this?!”
As much as he wished he hadn’t, Sesshoumaru instantly recognized whom the voice belonged to. He suddenly wanted to repeat exactly the words his half brother had just spat out.
‘I should have known she was planning something… Kagura is not the clingy type, so seeing her decide to spend the entire day with me should have been a clear indication that something wasn’t right. How could I have been so stupid?!’ Sesshoumaru’s first instinct was to run away as quickly as possible from the uncomfortable situation his lover had thrown him in; however, he could not help but think back to the fact that Kagura had dared call him a coward after he had walked away from Inuyasha after their encounter at Edo University. He forced himself to face forward, and refused to back down.
‘Kagura wants to play? Well… let’s go.’ He forced himself to unclench his teeth, and before the words even registered in his mind, he heard himself speak them. “Dinner will turn cold.”
Kagura turned towards her lover with pure shock. After Inuyasha’s outburst, she had been too busy trying to think of a way to convince Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha to share a dinner while being civil to notice her co-worker had followed her into the entry way of her condo. She was completely at a loss for words upon hearing him agree so easily to take part in the dinner she was hosting. All she could do was look at him with bulging crimson eyes and a slackened jaw. Had Sesshoumaru not been seething because of her clear ambush, he would have been grossly amused by her reaction.
“Wait! What the hell is going on here? Are you trying to tell me that you are okay with the idea of all of us sitting down at the dinner table like one big happy family?!” Inuyasha exclaimed in pure shock. All his life he had been told by his parents that his older brother had turned his back on his family without ever looking back. It was only much later on that he realized what exactly had happened to cause Sesshoumaru to distance himself from the Tashio family. On the one hand Inuyasha could understand how what had occurred between their father and his mother had affected Sesshoumaru and tainted his relationship with Touga Tashio, but on the other hand he had always struggled with his brother’s rejection of him. So as much as he knew he should tread carefully, the little boy inside of him who had always wanted to know his older half sibling was screaming inside of him to jump forward, and take advantage of this rare opportunity.
“Inuyasha! He’s making an effort, and I think you should too.” Kagome gently scolded her boyfriend. Despite the uninterested look on his face, she knew him better than anyone, and was aware of how much it would mean to him to finally have a relationship with his brother. She leaned forward, and quickly whispered in his ear. “Besides they’re going to help me solve the Miko Powder crisis.”
“Keh! Fine, let’s just get on with this dinner then.” The younger silver haired man said doing his best to mask his excitement. He just hoped that his girlfriend inferred he was agreeing to the set up because of her.
Sesshoumaru simply nodded in the direction of the two guests, and headed back towards the dining room. Even if his anger was making his blood boil, and his jaw was locked so tightly that he was sure it would start hurting soon, he was surprised to see how easy it was for him to take one step after the other towards the room where Kagura had spread out a real feast.
Kagome and Inuyasha tentatively followed behind him, and Kagura after taking a few seconds to compose herself and wipe the look of pure shock off her face, trailed after them.
“There’s no assigned sitting, so settle down wherever you feel like it.” Even as Kagura spoke the words, her guests did as she asked. The young journalist then headed towards the chair opposite to the one Kagome had just occupied. She hoped that by having to sit across from his brother, Sesshoumaru would have no choice but to talk to Inuyasha. To her surprise, Kagura saw her lover standing behind the chair she wanted him to take, but instead on seating on it, he was holding it opened for her, silently inviting her to occupy it. She thought about refusing and sitting somewhere else, but decided against it when she noticed the dark gleam in his eyes.
‘I guess that I was wrong in thinking that he would be okay with this whole dinner…’ A shiver of fear ran down her spine as she slid on the chair Sesshoumaru wanted her to take. ‘I just hope this won’t backfire on me…’ She faked a smile, and as any good hostess would, decided to do her best to make her guests feel as well and comfortable as possible.
“Would anyone like some wine? I have a great red.” Kagura picked up the bottle she had purchased just for tonight, and despite her shaking hands, expertly opened it.
“Yes please!” Kagome exclaimed eagerly as she extended her empty glass towards Kagura. She too was feeling uncomfortable, and her nerves were as raw as possible. ‘Hopefully a glass of wine will help me relax…’
“Since when do you drink wine, wench?” Inuyasha questioned his girlfriend. He had known her most of his life, and knew that she only very rarely drank alcohol. He suspected that it had something to do with the fact that her father had been killed in a car accident by a drunk driver.
“For your information, I am sophisticated enough to drink wine. Kagura, could you please serve me a glass?” The female journalist did as told, and quickly filled out Kagome’s glass before serving herself generously as well. The scowl on Inuyasha’s face let his hostess know exactly where he stood on getting served some wine. Undeterred by his refusal, Kagura turned towards her lover. Without even bothering to open his mouth, Sesshoumaru waved away the bottle she had poised against the rim of his glass with a slight hand gesture.
‘I wonder if he’s actually going to speak or eat at all…’ She thought worriedly as she gulped down a big swallow of her wine, secretly wishing it was straight liquor.
“Keh! Don’t expect me to hold your hair up when you start puking your guts out tomorrow morning.” Inuyasha commented dryly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Geez! I’m having one drink not a whole bottle.” To emphasize her point, Kagome sipped some of her wine. The small grimace that appeared on her face when the wine reached her taste buds did not escape her boyfriend’s keen eyes. Inuyasha chuckled at seeing her reaction, but Kagome chose to ignore him. She even persisted by forcing herself to take an even larger swallow of her drink. “It’s really good.” She then commented with a forced smile. In truth she had never been a big fine of wine as her taste pointed towards sweeter and milder drinks, and was hoping that she had not offended her hostess or even worse, embarrassed herself in front of everyone.
Even if it caused a diversion, Kagura was not really amused by the bickering of her two guests, and decided to move all conversation onto safer grounds: food. “Well let’s not put all my efforts to waste. We should start eating before it all turns cold. Sesshoumaru, would you do the honors?” She handed the carding knives to him, which he accepted without speaking a word.
‘I guess he’s giving me the silent treatment…’ An annoyed Kagura thought.
For a long minute he simply struck the two knives against each other as if to sharpen the blades; the loud noise of steel hitting against steel as the only one disturbing the silence in the room. Just as Kagura was going to ask her lover to stop the nerve grating noise, he buried the knives deep into the defenseless large roasted chicken, and carved it quickly and efficiently. He did not take the time to ask everyone which part of the bird they would enjoy most as he started dishing out the meat; after all he planned on being done with this dinner as quickly as possible.
“Hum… I’m not a big fan of the wing….” Kagome started protesting as Sesshoumaru served her. He did not even pause in his action, and simply answered with a disinterested glance her way before dropping the piece of meat on her plate.
Inuyasha noticed the uncomfortable look on his girlfriend’s face, and switched out their plates since his was still empty. “Here. Take mine. Feh! You’re such a picky eater.”
Eager for what he considered to be useless chatter from Kagome to stop, Sesshoumaru purposely slid a plump chicken breast on the young woman’s now empty plate. Once he finished placing some of the chicken on both Kagura and his plates, he sat down. Still without speaking one word, he started eating some of his dinner.
Undisturbed by her lover’s clear refusal to participate in the event she had set up, Kagura decided to help move things along. “I picked up this food from one of my favorite restaurants downtown. Please don’t be shy, serve yourselves.” She pushed the bowls full of rice and greens across from her towards her two guests.
‘Thank you…” Kagome replied for both her and her boyfriend even as she served the two of them. “Would you like some?” She then addressed the stony man sitting across from her. Sesshoumaru’s face stayed as blank as ever as he kept on eating his chicken, his golden eyes trained on his plate. Even if she was hurt by his lack of response, the young woman pretended not to have been affected by his clear rejection. She simply faked a smile, and placed a large serving of buttered greens on her boyfriend’s plate.
“Keh! What are you doing wench?” He protested. Inuyasha had never been a big fan of vegetables; especially the leafy green kind, and was not to keen on the idea of having to eat a full serving. Even if he hated the mere thought of it, he knew he would be damned before he acted like a spoiled brat who refused to eat his vegetables in front of his brother, so down his mouth the greens would have to go.
“Your mom always says you need to stop feeding yourself like a carnivorous puppy, and have to eat more vegetables.” Kagome smiled sweetly at him, to which he responded with a scowl before stuffing a forkful of the hated green substance in his mouth.
“I have somewhere to be.” Sesshoumaru suddenly stood up. He had had enough. His plan to ensure that he and the other dinner guests survived the evening was to act like a real ice king, and so far he had been doing a good job at it, but the mere mention of Izayoi had been enough to squash down his good intensions and push him over the edge. Besides since he had done quick work of the small piece of chicken he had dished for himself, he esteemed that he had done his part in participating to the dinner for now. The only reason why he had agreed to go along with Kagura’s plan as long as he had was only so save face; he would be damned if he ran from his half brother once again.
‘Now that I have proven I can be in the same room as Inuyasha without turning away, I can leave. No to mention that I do have plans; I need to stop by the Edo campus. I have put off my investigation for too long.’ Sesshoumaru was not about to pass out the opportunity to go by the school campus on a Saturday. As a former student of Edo, he knew all too well that Saturday nights were the one evening where the students in the dorms partied, and he was sure there was going to be a large amount of Miko Powder being distributed.
“What? Where are you going?” Kagura protested. She too stood up, and placed a restraining hand on his arm as if to anchor him to her. Even if this was not turning out to be her worst case scenario, in which Sesshoumaru would have just left her condo without offering anyone a backwards glance, it was getting close to it since he had not even spoken one word to his brother.
“I have work to do and cannot afford to waste any time…” He gently shrugged off the hold his lover had on him. Even if she hated the coldness with which he was treating her, she did not know what to do.
“Why won’t you talk to Inuyasha?!” Kagome’s sudden interruption prevented Sesshoumaru from saying anything more. She refused to back down or be cowered by the cold piercing glare Sesshoumaru was sending her. Squaring her shoulders, Kagome stood up to stare right back at the older man. “We came all the way here for the two of you to make amends. At least give him a chance, it’s the least you can do after you abandoned your family!” She had hoped that getting the two men in the same room would have been enough to have them reconcile. Dragging Inuyasha to Kagura’s condo had been hard enough since she could not answer his many questions and had had no choice but to give him half truths. The young woman had anticipated that getting to the dinner party was going to be the hardest part of her night. She really could not have anticipated Sesshoumaru being so dead set against being civil towards his own flesh and blood.
“How dare you say something like that!” Kagura exploded. The emotional rollercoaster of the day was catching up to her, and she could not help but speak the words that came to her mind. “It’s the family that let him down. Their father is a selfish asshole who destroyed him. If he had given a damn about his son and…”
“Enough!” Sesshoumaru roared. Kagura setting up a useless dinner reunion was something he could bear with… at least for a short time, but hearing her disclosing his personal business to his half brother’s girlfriend was simply unconceivable to him.
Even if he knew that there was some truth to Kagura’s insulting words, Inuyasha was not comfortable discussing that shameful part of his father’s life. He knew that Touga and Izayoi still felt incredible guilt about the adultery from which he was a result of. For a long time he too had been angry at his parents. He had been so disappointed to find out that they, who had always told him about how love, family and commitment were the most important things, had betrayed the latter two for the first.
‘I can’t really blame Sesshoumaru for not wanting anything to do with me or my parents. I would probably feel the same if I was in his shoes…’ Inuyasha thought sadly. He sighed heavily and readied himself to take his leave. His shoulders slumped, and his head hung low, he too took to his feet, readying himself to leave.
“Wait…what is she talking about?” Kagome asked. She had always liked and respected Touga Tashio, who had been like a father to her after her own dad has passed away, and never until today had she ever heard anyone speak ill about him.
“Nothing… Just let it go. Come on let’s head out of here.” Inuyasha took his girlfriend’s arm, with the aim of forcing her towards the front door.
“We can’t just leave now… you’re supposed to make up with your brother, and the four of us are going to work on finding out who is behind the Miko Powder.” The ever stubborn Kagome protested. She planted her feet firmly in the carpet, making it impossible for Inuyasha to move her without exerting force and therefore hurting her; something he of course refused to do. He had consequently no choice but to let her be for now. “Now that Kagura showed me that Hiten isn’t responsible for the Miko Powder, I am more determined than ever to find out who is.” She still felt bad for wrongly accusing Hiten to be responsible for his brother’s hospitalization.
Sesshoumaru’s previous irritation and anger escalated to full blown furiousness when he realized that Kagura had been interfering in more than just his family life.
“What do you mean?” Even as inside he was boiling with pure seething rage, he spoke his words as coolly and calmly as possible.
Before Kagura had a chance to send Kagome a warning signal, the younger woman was telling him about their other little secret. “When I met with Kagura for lunch, she pointed out to me that Hiten couldn’t be responsible for this damn drug…if only I hadn’t been so obsessed with the Thunder Brothers, I would have realized that, and I wouldn’t have accused him wrongly.” She hoped that disclosing all this to Sesshoumaru would cause him to reciprocate and offer some information about his past with Touga in return; needless to say she was sorely mistaken.
“I see…Kagura, may I have a word with you.” The coolly controlled voice in which Sesshoumaru spoke his request let her know that she was in no position to refuse. The fact that his face was void of emotions also let her know that he was beyond being furious.
“Sure… we’ll be right back.” She forced a smile on her red painted lips, and headed towards her room. Once inside she could not prevent her crimson eyes from straying to her unmade bed, where the scents of their entwined bodies still lingered. Her brief flashback about the lusty events which had taken place in that room only a few hours ago came to a crashing halt when Sesshoumaru came in behind her, and tightly shut the door.
“Whatever I did, I did for you.” She immediately started talking. She could only hope that she would be able to convince him about how genuine she was before he blew up on her. ‘Not that I’ve ever heard Sesshoumaru scream at someone. All he needs is to give them the icy look, and they quiver under his gaze.’
“Had this Sesshoumaru not explicitly asked you not to get involved in my familial issues?”
“I only…”
“Answer the damn question!” Never had he swore at her, so the harsh language took her aback.
“Yes.” She finally admitted.
“Then why did you take it upon yourself to meddle in affairs that did not concern you?” In a weary gesture, he ran his hand over his forehead, messing up his usually perfect silver bangs. “No, do not even bother answering.”
“Well I will nonetheless! The truth is that I care about you. You’re more than just a guy I sleep and work with. You’re my friend! I saw a situation that was broken, and I wanted to fix it. Yes, your father is an asshole, and no one is denying that, but don’t you think it’s a bit extreme to reject your brother because of that? He’s innocent.”
“You do not understand.” He grumbled. ‘How could she know that every time I see Inuyasha all I can think about is how father betrayed mother in her hour of need. He is the very embodiment of father’s infidelities and lies.’
“You can’t blame the poor kid for something he’s not a part of. He didn’t lie and cheat on anyone, and certainly never betrayed you. The way you’re acting towards him is just not fair to him, or to you. You deserve to be at peace, and to know what it’s like to actually have family members you get along with.”
Her tirade was followed by a long pregnant pause. When Sesshoumaru finally opened his mouth to speak, Kagura’s felt her pulse quicken. She could not wait to find out if her words had managed to get through to her lover’s tough exterior and iron emotional armor.
“When you decided to get involved in my professional life, I let it go… at least to an extent.” He referred to how she had invited herself to his investigation of the Miko Powder. “This time around you have however gone too far. I have told you on several occasions to stay out of my family business, but you do not listen!”
She could understand why he was angered, but she had really not expected for him to react this strongly. “I’m sorry if you’re upset. I really thought I was doing what was best.”
“This is an ongoing issue with you… you always assume that you always know what is best for everyone… you simply act without thinking about consequences.”
“What consequences are you talking about? I’m just trying to reconcile you with your family.” The few feet separating them felt like a wide opened ocean, so she decided to walk towards him. She hoped that by increasing their proximity, she would be able to remind him of everything they had shared in this very room only a few hours before, causing his anger to diminish.
He silently watched her approach him, the cold mask of indifference on his face not even slipping for a second. He waited until she was as close to him as possible without actually touching him to react, and not in the way she would have expected.
“We are done.” His short announcement was met by a deafening silence. The only thing registering through the young woman’s head was the thundering beat of her heart, and the blood rushing through her ears.
“What… what do you mean?” She asked with a breathy shocked voice. Even as she questioned him, she understood all too well where the conversation was headed, and she was not liking it one bit.
He took a deep breath, then staring inside her beloved crimson eyes pronounced. “Whatever arrangement we have had for the past few months is severed as of tonight.”
To be continued…
A/N: Notes to all even if you’re doing it out of love and concern, there are always consequences to getting involved in people’s lives, and sometimes it’s not good ones. Kagura might just have learned that the hard way. We will see next time how the relationship between the two will evolve, and the identity of the villain behind the Miko Powder will also be revealed. I’m not too sure how the chapter will be named, but I’ll think about something lol :)
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