InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secret Lovers ❯ Last Issue - Part 1 ( Chapter 28 )
[ 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: 01.09.2014 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.1K | Visits: 239 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.09.2014 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.1K | Visits: 239 | Status: Work In Progress
Part 28: Last Issue – Part 1
A/N: Happy New Year and all my best wishes to all of you!!! This last chapter was getting quite long, so I cut it up in two. Part 2 will be posted very soon following this update.
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 chanced one quick look in the rearview mirror. Her make up was perfectly applied, her clothes spotless and wrinkle free, and her hair smoothed and tucked in a tight bun.
“Perfect.”
She stepped out of her car and with long purposeful strides headed towards her goal. She found the clicking sound of her high-heeled red pumps on the asphalt highly satisfying. The shoes clashed a little bit with her severe looking grey pantsuit, but they always managed to boost her confidence like nothing else. She was not sure if everyone at Shikon Magazine knew of the reason behind her departure from the magazine, but just in case she intended to look as cold and impenetrable as possible. She would die before she let any of her former co-workers see her as weak, or feel any pity towards her.
Kagura had to admit she was surprised Sesshoumaru had not even attempted to dissuade her from responding to her father’s call.
‘Maybe he realizes I need some closure of my own when it comes to my dear old dad.’ Still recalling the admission of his feelings her lover had made to her earlier made Kagura feel positively giddy. Never could she have anticipated he would confide to her so completely. She was very much looking forward to finish things with Naraku so as to get back to Sesshoumaru.
‘If I’m lucky he might still be in bed when I get home.’ Just thinking of it made her shiver in anticipation.
As she came upon the glass doors at the entrance of her former place of work, the young woman pushed thoughts of the man she had left lying in her bed to focus back on the reason for her visit.
“Miss Jiyuu!”
A short man with curly red hair and green sparkling eyes shot up from his seat upon seeing her walk into the corridor.
“Did you come to pick up Mr. Tashio’s things? I have them all packed and ready to go.” The soon to be ex-intern said. Thanks to Ayame’s spreading of gossip around the office, he had been made privy of the secret relationship between the two co-editors. He also knew that Shikon Magazine did not officially employ the two of them any longer. This last fact was quite evident to him. The current week, which coincidentally was to be his last as an intern at the magazine, had been his busiest. Without Sesshoumaru and Kagura to keep an eye on things, every member of the staff had been called in to help get the next edition ready. On the one hand it had provided him with some nice hands on experience, but on the other, the long working hours were taking over his study time, and he knew that he had many sleepless nights ahead of him if he wanted to be ready for the upcoming final exams.
“Good to see you Shippou. I have a meeting with Naraku, but you can put Sesshoumaru’s stuff in my car. It’s parked in my usual spot.” With these words, she threw over her keys to the younger man. While she had been prepared with facing Ayame’s scorn and Touran’s mocking, she had not considered seeing the young man who had been witnessed to her meltdown the past week. She had assumed his internship had run its course, and had not expected to see Shippou again at least not until he called upon her for a favor. However Kagura was shocked to see that she was not as mortified as she would have expected to see him.
‘Must be because of the kid’s openness and trust.’ She reflected at seeing the way Shippou’s eyes lit up as he barely managed to take a hold of her keys.
“Sure thing. When you’re done, I’ll just be at my seat, so you can pick your keys on the way out.” Secretly Shippou was ecstatic at seeing how his idols, Sesshoumaru and Kagura, trusted him enough to allow him to touch their personal belongings. He of course would never dare give into another admission of his fanboy status. He was still embarrassed every time he recalled the way he had gushed over Kagura the last time they had seen each other.
‘Then again she was going through a rough patch, so I could say I was trying to pick her up.’
“Thanks. I’ll see you later then.” With a final nod towards the younger man, Kagura continued her progression inside the office building she knew so well. Everywhere her crimson eyes landed she was assaulted by a memory of the many years she had spent at the magazine, giving it her all, and working as hard as she could to help the publication reach the high standing it had now. Strangely she did not feel as nostalgic as had been expecting considering how much of her blood, sweat and tears had gone into the magazine.
“Wonder what she’s doing here?” Touran uttered in a fake whisper to Yura “Maybe she heard that Sesshoumaru quit, so she came to beg daddy for her job back.” The loud voice she had spoken in was a clear indication that she intended for everyone to hear her.
Kagura ignored her, and simply kept on walking towards her father’s office. A few months ago, she would have paused to rip her former co-worker a new one. However now, she was completely secured in Sesshoumaru, and their relationship. She was sure he would never cheat on her, and especially not with Touran.
‘That jealous bitch can say whatever she wants… she’s just upset that I’m the one who got Sesshoumaru.’ A smug smile found itself on her lips when she thought back as to how her lover had blown off Touran in order to wait in front of her condo when Kagura had lied she was meeting a male friend for dinner.
The young woman had just rounded the corner leading to the executive offices when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm, and dragged in what used to be her office. She looked and was not surprised to see Kouga was the one still holding on to her arm. With a shrug she broke the hold he had on her. Kagura was amazed that she had managed to not twist her ankle in the dragging process. Her crimson eyes quickly ran over the bare room, and she could not help but feel her heart pinch.
‘Huh funny. Without all of my stuff around, my office looks much bigger than I thought.’
“Kagura.” Kouga calling out to her grabbed her attention away from her perusal of her surroundings.
“What do you want?” She briefly glanced down at her watch, and relaxed. She still had a few minutes before she was to meet with Naraku. ‘Besides if what he wants to tell me is so important, he can wait. That will pay him right for all the time he made me wait on him.’
“I just wanted to check in, and see how you were doing.”
The young woman stared at her ex-boyfriend thoughtfully. Ordinarily she would have snapped at him and marched off, but this time, she could not quite put her finger on it, but something was different with Kouga. She could clearly see that his blue eyes were clouded, reflecting an emotion she was just not quite able to identify.
‘Is he nervous?’ She wondered. “If you’re afraid those gossip mongers outside are going to tattle tale about you talking to me to Ayame, why did you drag me in here?”
Kouga looked confused for a few seconds then his frown cleared up as he understood what Kagura was trying to tell him.
“Nah, Ayame’s on her maternity leave, and busy making our apartment ready for the baby. It’s only a matter of weeks until she gives birth, so I know that right now she’s too busy to think about me right about now.”
‘You’re as clueless as ever where she’s concerned.’ Kagura thought. She was willing to bet that Ayame would not overlook the fact that her husband had dragged his ex behind a closed door as easily as Kouga might think.
“So out with it, what do you want?”
“Kagura.” Kouga interrupted himself to take a brief pause. “I just want to make sure you’re alright. I know how much you love working at Shikon Magazine, and I just can’t figure out why you would willingly quit. Is it because of Sesshoumaru? If he’s pressuring you in any ways, you can tell me, and I can help… I know it may seem as if he’s the one for you right now, but if he’s pressuring you into doing things you don’t want to do, it’s not worth it.”
‘I know this came out all jumbled, but I hope Kagura understand that I care about her, and want the best for her. Her position at Shikon is the reason why we didn’t work out. She just enjoyed working here more than she did having a relationship, so I have a hard time believing she would throw it all away so carelessly.’ Kouga looked over his former girlfriend, hoping for a sign that his offer of help would be accepted.
Kagura tried her hardest to hold it in, but she could not help it. At first she had a grin on her lips, which quickly turned into a smile then before she knew it she was laughing out loud, her arms crossed over her stomach. She could not remember the last time she had laughed so hard. She felt out of breath, and her sides even started aching. Only after a long time was she able to smother her laugh into loud guffaws, which finally receded back to a smile, only after considerable efforts on her part.
“Oh man.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Thanks for the laugh, I had no idea how much I needed that.”
Kouga scowled angrily at her reaction. “I don’t see what’s so funny about this.” He growled angrily. “You can be honest with me, is he the reason why you quit? Do you need help getting out of the relationship?”
“Kouga, while I appreciate your concern… you’re so misguided. I don’t know what gave you this impression, but Sesshoumaru is not an abuser, a violent man or whatever it is you’re thinking. I didn’t quit my job here because he asked me to. I did it because I wanted to. It’s high time for me to move on with my life, and grow professionally, so leaving Shikon makes sense.” Even if she had agreed to meet with Naraku, Kagura had no intention to actually resume her position at the magazine.
‘I would enjoy Naraku begging me though.’ As soon as the thought fluttered through her mind, she recalled that her father was presently waiting for her.
“Are you really sure that Sesshoumaru won’t do anything to you?” Without even realizing it, Kouga’s hand reached up to massage his throat. As long as he lived, he would never forget the way Sesshoumaru had almost chocked him only a week before.
“Of course, I’m sure. I’m in love with him, and he loves me.”
Kouga was shocked to hear her say that. While they had been dating, she had never been vocal about her feelings towards him. Even if he would not admit it aloud, it hurt.
‘Then again I just want her to be happy. I shouldn’t feel this way… I was the one who broke her heart.’
Kagura could tell her ex-boyfriend was shell-shocked by her words. Over the course of their long relationship, she could recall telling him she loved him only three times.
‘I shouldn’t have been so surprised when he dumped me. I wasn’t the best girlfriend in the world. I was so consumed with impressing Naraku and bringing Shikon to the top that Kouga became just an after thought to me… For so long I blamed him, but now I need to own up to my own faults, and admit that I contributed to our relationship failing.’ Never before had Kagura thought about things in that regard. It had been much easier to blame Kouga for cheating, and seeing herself as the blameless victim.
She of course realized that the fact that their relationship had not been the best, did not excuse Kouga for cheating.
‘Then again even if I had been the best girlfriend in the world, I know now that I’ve been with Sesshoumaru that things still would not have worked out between Kouga and me. He simply does not get me the way that Sesshoumaru does. Besides, seeing him with Ayame, I realize that Kouga is the kind of guy who needs his girlfriend to worship him, which is something I could never do. The two of us were just not meant to be, so I guess in a way it turned out to be a good thing that he cheated.’
“Look Kouga.” She finally said aloud. “I never said it, but I forgive you for cheating. I’m over it now, and I don’t have any ill feelings towards you and Ayame anymore. The two of you seem happy, and I can assure you I’m just as happy with Sesshoumaru. And that is the only thing that matters.”
While he had waited so long for Kagura to forgive him, he was still dubitative about her being with Sesshoumaru. ‘I guess I should let her make her own decisions. If she’s happy with him, I probably shouldn’t interfere. I can however keep an eye on things from a distance...’
“If you’re sure about your relationship…” He was still not convinced that Sesshoumaru was good enough for Kagura, but she seemed to be happy, so he decided to let it be, for now.
Kouga took a step towards Kagura, and before she could do anything, he took both of her hands in his. “Kagura” He stared right into her crimson eyes. “I know we’ve had our differences, but if you ever need anything, I’ll always be there.” ‘I hope she’ll see that we can be friends, no matter what.’
She pried her hands out of his as gently as possible. “Thanks…” She may have sounded dubious about him extending his friendship towards her, but she did mean what she had said earlier. ‘I’m done wasting energy on being mad at Kouga. It’s high time for me to move on from my relationship with him as well as deal with Naraku once and for all.’
Thinking about her tumultuous relationship with her father reminded her that Naraku was waiting for her in his office.
“Look, I’ve got to go. I have a meeting with Naraku right now.” ‘And way too many things to settle.’
“Yeah, sure. Okay.” Kouga nodded in understanding, and moved in even closer to her.
As she saw him move towards her, Kagura’s first instinct was to yell, ‘Don’t hug me!’, and taking a step back; however, she resisted the urge to hold her hands in front of her in protection.
To her own surprise, Kagura did not feel her skin crawl when Kouga gave her an awkward one-armed hug. She even found herself slightly returning the gesture. After a few seconds she did break the hold he had on her. She was glad Kouga did not resist.
“I’m glad we managed to squash things between us.” He commented as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. Now that he had said what he had wanted to, he felt awkward.
“Me too.” She was shocked to see that she actually meant it. For the longest time she had done her best to ignore him, but now that they had addressed things, she felt better, and knew she would not cringe the next time she would run into her ex. ‘Not that I expect us to become bff’s or anything like this.’ The mere thought made her shudder. ‘God no!’
Kouga sent her a tentative half smile. “Just don’t tell your boyfriend about that hug, okay?”
As she walked out of her former office, Kagura made a mental note to ask Sesshoumaru about what had gone down between him and Kouga. ‘First Kouga alleges that Sesshoumaru might be abusive towards me, and now that last comment? The two of them must have had an interesting conversation when I was away.’
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Several kilometers away, Kagura’s boyfriend was dealing with things of his own. After his lover’s hasty departure, Sesshoumaru had decided he also needed to get started with his day. After a quick breakfast, and taking the time to straighten things out in the condo he finally took the time to go through his emails. In the past few days he had been too consumed with being there for Kagura that he had seriously neglected his professional life. It was therefore not surprising to him to find out he had received several email messages from Jaken. He opened the latest one and quickly perused it. The main message in it was asking for an immediate answer regarding the position his former roommate had extended towards him.
‘I guess Jaken and his boss are eager for me to start while me winning the award is still fresh in everybody’s mind.’ Sesshoumaru was more than aware the increased appeal his award had given him. Any publication that would hire him would be able to boast having an award-winning journalist on staff, which he knew was a strong marketing appeal.
Something else then occurred to him. ‘Then again Jaken did have a strange case of hero worship towards me…’ One of the reasons why Sesshoumaru had ended up moving out of the apartment he had been sharing with Jaken before he had graduated was that on a few occasions he had caught his former roommate lurking in the hallway right when Sesshoumaru was exiting from the bathroom after taking a shower. The way Jaken’s small beady dark eyes were shinning in anticipation led Sesshoumaru to believe that the other man had just been waiting to catch a glance of him in all of his half naked towel covered glory.
Shaking his head to rid himself from unpleasant thoughts of his former roommate’s infatuation with him, Sesshoumaru focused back on the issue at hand.
‘In any case the position will bring exactly the change of pace I have been craving. I do not believe I can afford to pass up this opportunity.’
His golden eyes strayed once again to the title of the position he was being offered. ‘Head contributor to the international desk’
‘This new job would require for me to be traveling quite a bit… Maybe my father will get what he wanted in the end…’
A faint notification sound coming from his laptop signified to him that he had received a new email. His brows furrowed when he saw who the sender was.
‘I guess they really want an answer from me…’ He mulled over his decision for a short time then typed a short succinct message. ‘May the chips fall wherever they may now.’
After sealing his fate, Sesshoumaru wondered what to do for the rest of her day. Now that he had no ties to Shikon any longer, he thought it would be perfect timing to clean out some of the files he had meant to place in the office section he shared with Kagura in their home.
Taking to his feet, he headed towards the spare bedroom, which was mostly used as a storage unit at the moment since he had yet to unpack all of his belongings.
‘Funny that we will probably end up moving from here before I ever had a chance to really settle in the condo.’ Considering that Kagura might take the job offered by Katsuyama, and he the offer Jaken had made him, Sesshoumaru was fairly certain that he and his girlfriend would end up moving in the coming weeks. ‘An even greater incentive to finish sorting out my things.’ He thought to himself, a frown developing between his brows, upon seeing the unpacked boxes. For someone as neat and orderly as he was, it was an annoying sight.
He reached for the first box labeled ‘office’, and made short work of emptying it. He had easily come up with two piles, one for the Shikon related documents he, considering the present situation, had no interest in keeping any longer, and another with files he thought could be of use. When he reached the last item at the bottom of the cardboard box, he paused. It had been years since he had laid eyes on the long forgotten green folder.
When he had been moving out of his apartment, Kagura had been pressuring him to work faster, and when he failed to do as she wanted, she had taken charge of packing up his office. To his displeasure, she had ended up dumping his files in the moving box without the care he was accustomed to, which explained why he had not laid eyes on that particular folder at the time.
Refusing to be unnerved by the sight, he picked up the long forgotten folder. Before Sesshoumaru could talk himself out of it, he opened it, his golden eyes scanning the pages with his handwriting scribbled all over it.
‘It has been so long since I wrote this. I was only a boy at the time, a foolish boy with ridiculous ideas.’ Thinking with disgust about his old self, he slammed shut the folder.
Sesshoumaru hesitated for a long while about which pile the item belonged to. A part of him wanted to dump it with the non-relevant Shikon related articles heading for the recycle bin… but another growing part wanted to keep it. Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked up the pile of items he had decided to keep, and headed towards his desk. He unceremoniously dumped the files in the first half empty drawer he encountered.
‘I will leave it here until I decide what to do with it.’
He needed a distraction. Not only from the unsettling sight he had just come across, but also from thoughts about the emotional turmoil he was sure his girlfriend was presently putting herself through. He therefore decided to go out for a spell. While he may have refrained from making any comments earlier when Kagura had left, deep down he could not shake the feeling that something bad was about to go down when she squared off with Naraku. The prospect of her getting hurt, and him not being able to do anything to prevent it made Sesshoumaru feel useless; an emotion he was not familiar with.
‘Maybe picking up some lunch from Kagura’s favorite restaurant will make her feel better. I am sure she will need a pick me up after dealing with her father.’ As certain as Sesshoumaru was that Kagura had agreed to a meeting only because she wanted to send Naraku to hell in person, he was sure that facing off with her father would still be emotionally draining to her. The fact that running a few errands would be able to distract his mind was of course an added bonus.
With this last thought, he picked up his phone and keys, and headed for the door. He had a few things to plan out before his girlfriend made it home.
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Having survived her unexpected encounter with Kouga, Kagura rushed over to her father’s office. Normally she would have dreaded the idea of being late to a summons by Naraku, but today, she simply did not care.
‘It’s so refreshing to feel that way, to not give a damn about what dear old dad might think.’ She reflected as she knocked on the door of her father’s office.
“Come in!”
Without taking the time to brace herself, she did as she was bid.
“Ah Kagura, you finally decided to grace me with your presence.” Naraku’s crimson eyes were the only part of him reflecting how angry he really was. He was sitting behind his desk, his stance as straight as possible, the pale fingers of his right hand slowly twirling a pen around, and a placid smile on his thin lips.
“I was detained.” She said dryly, nonplussed by his comment. She walked towards his desk, and sat on the chair opposite his, for once without waiting to be invited to do so.
“So, what did you call me over for?” She had guessed that there were only two reasons why he had asked her to come: either he had heard Kanna had just had a baby, and he was showing a sudden interest in his youngest daughter, or the burden of looking after Shikon Magazine now that Sesshoumaru had quit had become too much for him, and he was only now realizing that he needed Kagura.
‘Well, something tells me that it is the latter. I can’t imagine him suddenly having an interest in Kanna and her life.’
She crossed her legs, and gently tapped the pointy toe of her left red leather pump against the smooth under surface of her father’s desk in a rhythmic gesture that she knew would grate on his nerves. When she saw his left eye twitch, she smiled to herself, and increased the speed of her tapping.
“Why can’t I just enquire as to how my dear daughter is doing? Considering that both you and your boytoy are now out of a job, I wished to see as to how you were doing financially?”
Kagura was not amused one bit by her father’s mock concern. “Enough with the bullshit. Just get to the point Naraku, what are you willing to offer me if I was to come back to Shikon?”
“Oh, and what makes you think that I would be interested in hiring you back? You’re the one who quit. Not to mention that you almost ruined my relationship with my good friend Shigeno by completely dishonoring his son.” He chuckled even as he burrowed his back deeper in the cushion of his plush office chair. “I had to convince his kid that you have some… issues in order for him to relent and agree to go on a date with another one of the employees. It seems he was well pleased with Yura since his father agreed to make a nice donation to the magazine.”
‘Oh so Naraku wants to play games? Not with me, and certainly not now.’ Usually she would have taken a more cautious or diplomatic stance, but not now, not anymore. ‘I don’t have time for this.’ Her mind strayed back to the delectable vision of the naked Sesshoumaru she had left in her bed. She would much rather go back to that than dealing with her annoying father.
“Well then, I guess we are done here.” Kagura sprang to her feet, and turned towards the door.
“Wait!” Naraku called out reluctantly.
Kagura struggled to get the smile off her lips before she turned around to face back Naraku. Under her gaze she saw his frown turn into a grin then a full-blown smile.
“Well, you might be my daughter yet.” Naraku declared a proud smirk on his lips.
It was not often that he outwardly acknowledged their familial bond, so Kagura could not help but wonder what had gotten into her father suddenly. Her curiosity was picked, and she was now dying to know just where this conversation would be heading.
“Sesshoumaru decided to leave a cushy well paid position at the magazine that allowed him to win a prestigious award just in order to be with you. I must really give you more credit than I would have expected. You must be very good in bed to have him willing to sabotage his career in such a way. You may be as manipulative, cunning and ruthless as I am. That over proud imbecile of Sesshoumaru will soon realize that once you throw him over now that you got him out of the way, and will have what you always wanted… You win. You can be sole editor in-chief of Shikon Magazine. I’ll increase your salary by 50% and give you more artistic license; including that restaurant critic section of yours. That’s what you wanted, no?”
As much as it pained Naraku to finally give in to his daughter, he knew he had no other choice. The past two weeks had shown him just how much he had come to rely on the two co-editors to make sure every monthly issues of the magazine came out. While he enjoyed the money and prestige associated with being the owner of a magazine, he had absolutely no interest in being involved in the nitty-gritty daily occurings of the office.
‘If I have to deal alone with these air brained writers at the next team meeting, I will go insane. Not to mention all those publishers and layout designers and advertisers…’ The mere thought of all the people he had had to deal with in the absence of Sesshoumaru and Kagura was enough to make his head spin in pain. ‘As annoying and undeserving as Kagura may be, hiring her back will allow me to focus back on things that matter to me. To think that I haven’t been out to a club in over two weeks…’
“Hum… let me think about that…” Kagura gently tapped her index finger on her cherry red lips, pretending to mull over her father’s proposition. “Nope. Not interested. To be honest, I never had any intention of coming back to work for you.” She forced her lips to stretch in a triumphant smile. Ever since she had quit the magazine, she had hoped and prayed there would be a time when Naraku would beg her to take her job back, and she would delight in denying him. As happy as she was that her plan had prevailed, she was feeling nauseated by what her father had just said.
‘To think that one of the few times when that jerk would actually openly recognize me as his daughter, he would do so in such a disgusting way. How could he ever imagine I would manipulate and lie to Sesshoumaru like that?!’ She fought the bile rising in her throat at the idea that her father thought her capable of heartlessly seducing her co-worker only to push him towards the exit so that she could take his job.
Naraku shot up straight with such force that the chair he had just been occupying flew backwards.
“You little bitch!”
He slammed his hands on the smooth surface of his desk. The loud resonating sounds made Kagura take a step back. She was shocked by the intensity of the anger and hatred burning in her sire’s eyes. Instead of recoiling, she stood her ground, and stared straight back into the crimson eyes that mirrored hers perfectly. The time had come for her to face her father, and she would not run away from the challenge.
“I came here because I wanted to give my proper resignation, and because I wanted to see you ask me to come back. I deeply enjoyed that by the way, but I enjoyed more telling you ‘no’, so thanks for obliging me.”
“Who do you think you are?” Naraku was so enraged that he was shaking. “I don’t need you. I never needed you, you mean nothing to me.”
His words cut her deep. She realized that he was not talking merely about her position as editor of the magazine. From the moment her aunt had told her about her father, Kagura had made it her mission to have Naraku see her, acknowledge her, and finally maybe come to care for her if not on a personal level then at least a professional one. She had given her job at Shikon magazine everything that she had in the hopes that Naraku would do just that, but she was now realizing that all her hard work had been for naught.
At the moment Kagura envied Sesshoumaru. He had seemed so calm and content when he had told her earlier about mending fences with his brother, and coming at peace with his past and his relationship with his parents. She longed to have the same kind of catharsis where her father was concerned, and she knew this was the time for her to seek it.
“What in the world happened to you to make you such a vile human being, and lead you to live such a miserable life? I may be nothing to you, but at least some people love me. No one gives a damn about you. You could never hold on to any relationship for any length of time… and your youngest daughter gave birth to her third child yesterday, and no one, especially not her, thought about letting you know you got a new grandson.” She took a small break before speaking again. “The reason why no one gives a shit about you is because you’re a hateful person who’s unable to care about anyone but yourself.”
Even as Kagura spoke these harsh words to her father’s face, deep inside her heart was bleeding. ‘Why can’t he care about me?’ While she would never dare voice the question aloud, Kagura could not help but feel that way.
Naraku was furious. He had expected for Kagura to come begging on her knees for her job back. Seeing the haughty look on her face as she turned down his offer was maddening.
‘And then she dares speak to me in such a way.’ Her comments about his life, and his character had been the last straw.
“You are just like your ungrateful mother! And why should I care about that sister of yours? She is not my blood. She is just the bastard daughter your whore of a mother had with her pseudo friend Tomoyo. It wasn’t bad enough that your mother was a whore, but she tried to pass off some other man’s brat as mine, no thanks. If you ask me it was poetic justice that the two of them died in that plane crash. They got exactly what they deserved.” Simply recalling how he had been told about his ex wife’s accidental death was enough to make a smile of pure glee come to his lips.
Kagura took a step back. She had suspected for a long time that her father was an immoral prick who had hated his first wife, but never would she have imagined his hatred would go as far as making him rejoice over the death of the mother of his children.
“My God!” She brought a shaking hand to cover her mouth. As horrible as it may sound, she was not really surprised that Naraku would deny fathering Kanna, but the deep hatred he had for her mom shocked her. ‘How could I have ever thought that I would be able to make him respect me and care for me? He’s a monster. How could I have wasted so much time trying to make him see me?’ The nausea she had been able to push down was coming back to the surface.
“If Tomoyo really is Kanna’s father, then I am glad, and so jealous. I wish he were mine too. It would be better than knowing I am related to a monster such as you.” Even as Kagura spoke the spiteful words, she knew they were not true. Both she and Kanna had the same blood type as Naraku. Since both their mother and aunt had a different one, she was certain that Naraku was indeed Kanna’s biological father.
“Such hurtful words coming out of your mouth my dear daughter.” When Naraku rounded his desk to come stand in front of her, it took Kagura everything not to shrink back in disgust. He raised his hand, and ran a deceptively gentle palm down her cheek. “Ever since you came to see me for a job those many years ago, I’ve been watching you. Overall you had been a disappointment, but lately you showed a new side of your personality. You’ve been tougher, more determined and more like me.”
A dozen years ago, when she had first met him, she would have rejoiced at the idea of her father taking her in, and claiming her at his. Now that the veil had been pulled from her eyes, and that she finally saw Naraku for what he really was, she wanted to be as different from him as possible.
“I am nothing like you. As a matter of fact…” She took a short pause to collect herself before she spoke words that she knew she would never be able to take back. “As of now, I am not your daughter. I never want to see you again, or speak to you again.”
She shook her head, and stepped back, speaking more to herself than to her father. “I wasted so much time trying to make you notice me when in fact I should have realized sooner that I want nothing to have to do with you.
“Fine, then. If you want nothing to do with me, I am not holding you back. Go on ahead, the door is right behind you.” Naraku’s previous rage was replaced by an eerie calmness.
“Goodbye then. I doubt we’ll be seeing each other again.”
With these last words, Kagura took one last look at the man who had sired her, the man she had devoted such a long period of her life trying to impress, the man she was certain she would never see again. She nodded once at Naraku, and slowly walked towards the door of his office. She held her head high all the way to the parking lot, ignoring the curious looks sent her way by her former co-workers, and proudly held in her tears until she was safely locked in her car.
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If someone had asked Kagura how she had gotten home, she would not have been able to answer. Just going through the motions, she had managed to drive herself home.
‘All I need right now is a warm bath and some food.’ In her hurry to meet with her father she had skipped breakfast and had contented herself with a quick shower, decisions she was coming to regret now.
The young woman trudged up the stairs, and headed to the door of her condo. It was only at her second unsuccessful attempt to insert her key in the lock of her front door that she realized her hands were badly shaking.
From his seat in the living room, Sesshoumaru heard a scratching sound coming from the door. He checked through the peephole, and was surprised to see who was on the other side.
“Kagura…” Sesshoumaru threw open the door. He felt his heart squeeze painfully at seeing the bemused and pained expression on her face. He had planned on announcing to her the decision he had made concerning the position he was being offered, but seeing the state she was in, quickly discarded the idea.
“Sorry, I guess there’s something wrong with my keys… they don’t fit in the lock anymore.” She cleared her throat before raising the offending article to display it to her boyfriend’s gaze.
Sesshoumaru could tell she had been crying, and it killed him. The hatred he had felt for Naraku in the past had just been multiplied. Without even having Kagura tell him what had gone down, he was sure that the other man had somehow hurt his daughter again.
“Why don’t we go inside?” He affectionately wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and gently led her towards inside. After stripping her of her coat and putting her purse away, he led her to her favorite spot on the couch before seating next to her. The two of them sat in silence while he let her burrow herself against his side and rest her head on his shoulder. He knew Kagura well enough to know better than prod her for information about what she had just gone through.
“God I’m such an idiot!” Kagura finally exclaimed. “I went in there looking forward to hearing him beg me to come back, and finally admitting how much he needs me, but…” She paused, and forced herself to push down tears. “Instead I finally saw my dear old dad for what he really is, a freaking sociopath… the things he said…”
Sesshoumaru frowned. It pained him to only imagine the kind of words spoken by Naraku that could drive Kagura to such a state.
“He pretty much told me that by dying my mom got what she deserves, and then he said that I was as manipulative and uncaring as he is…”
Before Kagura had even the chance to finish retelling her father’s words, Sesshoumaru grabbed her by the shoulders, and turned her towards him, making her stare right at him. “You are nothing like him.”
She stared up into the golden eyes of her beloved, and smiled. His constant support meant more to her that she could ever put in words. “That’s exactly what I told that piece of shit.” She looped her arms around his neck, and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before letting him go, and jumping to her feet. “I’m just mad that I gave up so much time and effort trying to impress him.”
Kagura stretched up her spine, and proudly stood straight.
‘I need to stop thinking about that bastard of Naraku. If I keep wallowing in self-pity, and allow him to reside in my head, I am letting him win. Sesshoumaru managed to cut off his dad and step-mom and I can do the same. I need to stop letting Naraku have such an influence on me, and instead focus on the good things I have in my life. Like I told Kouga, it’s time for me to move forward.’ She thought to herself then turned towards her lover.
“Then again Shikon wasn’t such a loss of time. There is one major benefit I got from working there for so long.”
Sesshoumaru silently wondered if she would mention the impressive professional experience she had gained at the magazine.
“If I hadn’t worked at Shikon, I wouldn’t have met you, and that would have really sucked.”
Sesshoumaru was surprised, yet very pleased by her words and was humbled by the love she had for him. It was one thing for him to love admit to himself that he loved her, but quite another to see and hear his feelings being reciprocated. He had never experienced either before, and had to admit that the happiness and pleasure these emotions brought him were beyond what he could have ever expected.
“Geez enough mopping around.” Kagura’s exclamation thrust him out of his thoughts. “Seems like all I’ve been doing these past few days is act like an over-emotional wreck. Time to get back to my good old self. I need to cheer up! I’ll take a warm bath and grab some lunch before heading over to go see Kanna and the baby… wanna join me?”
“Sure, I can drive over to the hospital.” As much as he did not doubt Kagura’s driving skill, he could tell her confrontation with her father had been draining, and he was not comfortable with her driving for such a long distance when she could easily be distracted by all the horrible things Naraku had just thrown at her. The fact that he wanted to see how the newborn boy was getting on was of course also a big draw for him.
Kagura smirked mischievously. “While the offer is appreciated, I wasn’t talking about the hospital…” She threw away her jacket and slowly unbuttoned her dress shirt, revealing her dark red lacy bra to his appreciative gaze.
It was in times like these that he was grateful they had decided to live in her condo, the small bathtub in his former apartment would simply not be accommodating enough for half of the activities racing through his mind. In a few strides, he was by her side, and scooped her over in his arms, carrying her bridal style, before heading down the corridor towards the bathroom, Kagura’s amused laugh ringing in his ears.
To be continued…
A/N: That's it for part 1 of the big finale. Well Kagura got more than she bargained for in this one. Is a happier ending coming? We'll see...Part 2 will be posted very very soon! I have some of it written already. Until the next update loyal readers!
A/N: Happy New Year and all my best wishes to all of you!!! This last chapter was getting quite long, so I cut it up in two. Part 2 will be posted very soon following this update.
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 chanced one quick look in the rearview mirror. Her make up was perfectly applied, her clothes spotless and wrinkle free, and her hair smoothed and tucked in a tight bun.
“Perfect.”
She stepped out of her car and with long purposeful strides headed towards her goal. She found the clicking sound of her high-heeled red pumps on the asphalt highly satisfying. The shoes clashed a little bit with her severe looking grey pantsuit, but they always managed to boost her confidence like nothing else. She was not sure if everyone at Shikon Magazine knew of the reason behind her departure from the magazine, but just in case she intended to look as cold and impenetrable as possible. She would die before she let any of her former co-workers see her as weak, or feel any pity towards her.
Kagura had to admit she was surprised Sesshoumaru had not even attempted to dissuade her from responding to her father’s call.
‘Maybe he realizes I need some closure of my own when it comes to my dear old dad.’ Still recalling the admission of his feelings her lover had made to her earlier made Kagura feel positively giddy. Never could she have anticipated he would confide to her so completely. She was very much looking forward to finish things with Naraku so as to get back to Sesshoumaru.
‘If I’m lucky he might still be in bed when I get home.’ Just thinking of it made her shiver in anticipation.
As she came upon the glass doors at the entrance of her former place of work, the young woman pushed thoughts of the man she had left lying in her bed to focus back on the reason for her visit.
“Miss Jiyuu!”
A short man with curly red hair and green sparkling eyes shot up from his seat upon seeing her walk into the corridor.
“Did you come to pick up Mr. Tashio’s things? I have them all packed and ready to go.” The soon to be ex-intern said. Thanks to Ayame’s spreading of gossip around the office, he had been made privy of the secret relationship between the two co-editors. He also knew that Shikon Magazine did not officially employ the two of them any longer. This last fact was quite evident to him. The current week, which coincidentally was to be his last as an intern at the magazine, had been his busiest. Without Sesshoumaru and Kagura to keep an eye on things, every member of the staff had been called in to help get the next edition ready. On the one hand it had provided him with some nice hands on experience, but on the other, the long working hours were taking over his study time, and he knew that he had many sleepless nights ahead of him if he wanted to be ready for the upcoming final exams.
“Good to see you Shippou. I have a meeting with Naraku, but you can put Sesshoumaru’s stuff in my car. It’s parked in my usual spot.” With these words, she threw over her keys to the younger man. While she had been prepared with facing Ayame’s scorn and Touran’s mocking, she had not considered seeing the young man who had been witnessed to her meltdown the past week. She had assumed his internship had run its course, and had not expected to see Shippou again at least not until he called upon her for a favor. However Kagura was shocked to see that she was not as mortified as she would have expected to see him.
‘Must be because of the kid’s openness and trust.’ She reflected at seeing the way Shippou’s eyes lit up as he barely managed to take a hold of her keys.
“Sure thing. When you’re done, I’ll just be at my seat, so you can pick your keys on the way out.” Secretly Shippou was ecstatic at seeing how his idols, Sesshoumaru and Kagura, trusted him enough to allow him to touch their personal belongings. He of course would never dare give into another admission of his fanboy status. He was still embarrassed every time he recalled the way he had gushed over Kagura the last time they had seen each other.
‘Then again she was going through a rough patch, so I could say I was trying to pick her up.’
“Thanks. I’ll see you later then.” With a final nod towards the younger man, Kagura continued her progression inside the office building she knew so well. Everywhere her crimson eyes landed she was assaulted by a memory of the many years she had spent at the magazine, giving it her all, and working as hard as she could to help the publication reach the high standing it had now. Strangely she did not feel as nostalgic as had been expecting considering how much of her blood, sweat and tears had gone into the magazine.
“Wonder what she’s doing here?” Touran uttered in a fake whisper to Yura “Maybe she heard that Sesshoumaru quit, so she came to beg daddy for her job back.” The loud voice she had spoken in was a clear indication that she intended for everyone to hear her.
Kagura ignored her, and simply kept on walking towards her father’s office. A few months ago, she would have paused to rip her former co-worker a new one. However now, she was completely secured in Sesshoumaru, and their relationship. She was sure he would never cheat on her, and especially not with Touran.
‘That jealous bitch can say whatever she wants… she’s just upset that I’m the one who got Sesshoumaru.’ A smug smile found itself on her lips when she thought back as to how her lover had blown off Touran in order to wait in front of her condo when Kagura had lied she was meeting a male friend for dinner.
The young woman had just rounded the corner leading to the executive offices when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm, and dragged in what used to be her office. She looked and was not surprised to see Kouga was the one still holding on to her arm. With a shrug she broke the hold he had on her. Kagura was amazed that she had managed to not twist her ankle in the dragging process. Her crimson eyes quickly ran over the bare room, and she could not help but feel her heart pinch.
‘Huh funny. Without all of my stuff around, my office looks much bigger than I thought.’
“Kagura.” Kouga calling out to her grabbed her attention away from her perusal of her surroundings.
“What do you want?” She briefly glanced down at her watch, and relaxed. She still had a few minutes before she was to meet with Naraku. ‘Besides if what he wants to tell me is so important, he can wait. That will pay him right for all the time he made me wait on him.’
“I just wanted to check in, and see how you were doing.”
The young woman stared at her ex-boyfriend thoughtfully. Ordinarily she would have snapped at him and marched off, but this time, she could not quite put her finger on it, but something was different with Kouga. She could clearly see that his blue eyes were clouded, reflecting an emotion she was just not quite able to identify.
‘Is he nervous?’ She wondered. “If you’re afraid those gossip mongers outside are going to tattle tale about you talking to me to Ayame, why did you drag me in here?”
Kouga looked confused for a few seconds then his frown cleared up as he understood what Kagura was trying to tell him.
“Nah, Ayame’s on her maternity leave, and busy making our apartment ready for the baby. It’s only a matter of weeks until she gives birth, so I know that right now she’s too busy to think about me right about now.”
‘You’re as clueless as ever where she’s concerned.’ Kagura thought. She was willing to bet that Ayame would not overlook the fact that her husband had dragged his ex behind a closed door as easily as Kouga might think.
“So out with it, what do you want?”
“Kagura.” Kouga interrupted himself to take a brief pause. “I just want to make sure you’re alright. I know how much you love working at Shikon Magazine, and I just can’t figure out why you would willingly quit. Is it because of Sesshoumaru? If he’s pressuring you in any ways, you can tell me, and I can help… I know it may seem as if he’s the one for you right now, but if he’s pressuring you into doing things you don’t want to do, it’s not worth it.”
‘I know this came out all jumbled, but I hope Kagura understand that I care about her, and want the best for her. Her position at Shikon is the reason why we didn’t work out. She just enjoyed working here more than she did having a relationship, so I have a hard time believing she would throw it all away so carelessly.’ Kouga looked over his former girlfriend, hoping for a sign that his offer of help would be accepted.
Kagura tried her hardest to hold it in, but she could not help it. At first she had a grin on her lips, which quickly turned into a smile then before she knew it she was laughing out loud, her arms crossed over her stomach. She could not remember the last time she had laughed so hard. She felt out of breath, and her sides even started aching. Only after a long time was she able to smother her laugh into loud guffaws, which finally receded back to a smile, only after considerable efforts on her part.
“Oh man.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Thanks for the laugh, I had no idea how much I needed that.”
Kouga scowled angrily at her reaction. “I don’t see what’s so funny about this.” He growled angrily. “You can be honest with me, is he the reason why you quit? Do you need help getting out of the relationship?”
“Kouga, while I appreciate your concern… you’re so misguided. I don’t know what gave you this impression, but Sesshoumaru is not an abuser, a violent man or whatever it is you’re thinking. I didn’t quit my job here because he asked me to. I did it because I wanted to. It’s high time for me to move on with my life, and grow professionally, so leaving Shikon makes sense.” Even if she had agreed to meet with Naraku, Kagura had no intention to actually resume her position at the magazine.
‘I would enjoy Naraku begging me though.’ As soon as the thought fluttered through her mind, she recalled that her father was presently waiting for her.
“Are you really sure that Sesshoumaru won’t do anything to you?” Without even realizing it, Kouga’s hand reached up to massage his throat. As long as he lived, he would never forget the way Sesshoumaru had almost chocked him only a week before.
“Of course, I’m sure. I’m in love with him, and he loves me.”
Kouga was shocked to hear her say that. While they had been dating, she had never been vocal about her feelings towards him. Even if he would not admit it aloud, it hurt.
‘Then again I just want her to be happy. I shouldn’t feel this way… I was the one who broke her heart.’
Kagura could tell her ex-boyfriend was shell-shocked by her words. Over the course of their long relationship, she could recall telling him she loved him only three times.
‘I shouldn’t have been so surprised when he dumped me. I wasn’t the best girlfriend in the world. I was so consumed with impressing Naraku and bringing Shikon to the top that Kouga became just an after thought to me… For so long I blamed him, but now I need to own up to my own faults, and admit that I contributed to our relationship failing.’ Never before had Kagura thought about things in that regard. It had been much easier to blame Kouga for cheating, and seeing herself as the blameless victim.
She of course realized that the fact that their relationship had not been the best, did not excuse Kouga for cheating.
‘Then again even if I had been the best girlfriend in the world, I know now that I’ve been with Sesshoumaru that things still would not have worked out between Kouga and me. He simply does not get me the way that Sesshoumaru does. Besides, seeing him with Ayame, I realize that Kouga is the kind of guy who needs his girlfriend to worship him, which is something I could never do. The two of us were just not meant to be, so I guess in a way it turned out to be a good thing that he cheated.’
“Look Kouga.” She finally said aloud. “I never said it, but I forgive you for cheating. I’m over it now, and I don’t have any ill feelings towards you and Ayame anymore. The two of you seem happy, and I can assure you I’m just as happy with Sesshoumaru. And that is the only thing that matters.”
While he had waited so long for Kagura to forgive him, he was still dubitative about her being with Sesshoumaru. ‘I guess I should let her make her own decisions. If she’s happy with him, I probably shouldn’t interfere. I can however keep an eye on things from a distance...’
“If you’re sure about your relationship…” He was still not convinced that Sesshoumaru was good enough for Kagura, but she seemed to be happy, so he decided to let it be, for now.
Kouga took a step towards Kagura, and before she could do anything, he took both of her hands in his. “Kagura” He stared right into her crimson eyes. “I know we’ve had our differences, but if you ever need anything, I’ll always be there.” ‘I hope she’ll see that we can be friends, no matter what.’
She pried her hands out of his as gently as possible. “Thanks…” She may have sounded dubious about him extending his friendship towards her, but she did mean what she had said earlier. ‘I’m done wasting energy on being mad at Kouga. It’s high time for me to move on from my relationship with him as well as deal with Naraku once and for all.’
Thinking about her tumultuous relationship with her father reminded her that Naraku was waiting for her in his office.
“Look, I’ve got to go. I have a meeting with Naraku right now.” ‘And way too many things to settle.’
“Yeah, sure. Okay.” Kouga nodded in understanding, and moved in even closer to her.
As she saw him move towards her, Kagura’s first instinct was to yell, ‘Don’t hug me!’, and taking a step back; however, she resisted the urge to hold her hands in front of her in protection.
To her own surprise, Kagura did not feel her skin crawl when Kouga gave her an awkward one-armed hug. She even found herself slightly returning the gesture. After a few seconds she did break the hold he had on her. She was glad Kouga did not resist.
“I’m glad we managed to squash things between us.” He commented as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. Now that he had said what he had wanted to, he felt awkward.
“Me too.” She was shocked to see that she actually meant it. For the longest time she had done her best to ignore him, but now that they had addressed things, she felt better, and knew she would not cringe the next time she would run into her ex. ‘Not that I expect us to become bff’s or anything like this.’ The mere thought made her shudder. ‘God no!’
Kouga sent her a tentative half smile. “Just don’t tell your boyfriend about that hug, okay?”
As she walked out of her former office, Kagura made a mental note to ask Sesshoumaru about what had gone down between him and Kouga. ‘First Kouga alleges that Sesshoumaru might be abusive towards me, and now that last comment? The two of them must have had an interesting conversation when I was away.’
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Several kilometers away, Kagura’s boyfriend was dealing with things of his own. After his lover’s hasty departure, Sesshoumaru had decided he also needed to get started with his day. After a quick breakfast, and taking the time to straighten things out in the condo he finally took the time to go through his emails. In the past few days he had been too consumed with being there for Kagura that he had seriously neglected his professional life. It was therefore not surprising to him to find out he had received several email messages from Jaken. He opened the latest one and quickly perused it. The main message in it was asking for an immediate answer regarding the position his former roommate had extended towards him.
‘I guess Jaken and his boss are eager for me to start while me winning the award is still fresh in everybody’s mind.’ Sesshoumaru was more than aware the increased appeal his award had given him. Any publication that would hire him would be able to boast having an award-winning journalist on staff, which he knew was a strong marketing appeal.
Something else then occurred to him. ‘Then again Jaken did have a strange case of hero worship towards me…’ One of the reasons why Sesshoumaru had ended up moving out of the apartment he had been sharing with Jaken before he had graduated was that on a few occasions he had caught his former roommate lurking in the hallway right when Sesshoumaru was exiting from the bathroom after taking a shower. The way Jaken’s small beady dark eyes were shinning in anticipation led Sesshoumaru to believe that the other man had just been waiting to catch a glance of him in all of his half naked towel covered glory.
Shaking his head to rid himself from unpleasant thoughts of his former roommate’s infatuation with him, Sesshoumaru focused back on the issue at hand.
‘In any case the position will bring exactly the change of pace I have been craving. I do not believe I can afford to pass up this opportunity.’
His golden eyes strayed once again to the title of the position he was being offered. ‘Head contributor to the international desk’
‘This new job would require for me to be traveling quite a bit… Maybe my father will get what he wanted in the end…’
A faint notification sound coming from his laptop signified to him that he had received a new email. His brows furrowed when he saw who the sender was.
‘I guess they really want an answer from me…’ He mulled over his decision for a short time then typed a short succinct message. ‘May the chips fall wherever they may now.’
After sealing his fate, Sesshoumaru wondered what to do for the rest of her day. Now that he had no ties to Shikon any longer, he thought it would be perfect timing to clean out some of the files he had meant to place in the office section he shared with Kagura in their home.
Taking to his feet, he headed towards the spare bedroom, which was mostly used as a storage unit at the moment since he had yet to unpack all of his belongings.
‘Funny that we will probably end up moving from here before I ever had a chance to really settle in the condo.’ Considering that Kagura might take the job offered by Katsuyama, and he the offer Jaken had made him, Sesshoumaru was fairly certain that he and his girlfriend would end up moving in the coming weeks. ‘An even greater incentive to finish sorting out my things.’ He thought to himself, a frown developing between his brows, upon seeing the unpacked boxes. For someone as neat and orderly as he was, it was an annoying sight.
He reached for the first box labeled ‘office’, and made short work of emptying it. He had easily come up with two piles, one for the Shikon related documents he, considering the present situation, had no interest in keeping any longer, and another with files he thought could be of use. When he reached the last item at the bottom of the cardboard box, he paused. It had been years since he had laid eyes on the long forgotten green folder.
When he had been moving out of his apartment, Kagura had been pressuring him to work faster, and when he failed to do as she wanted, she had taken charge of packing up his office. To his displeasure, she had ended up dumping his files in the moving box without the care he was accustomed to, which explained why he had not laid eyes on that particular folder at the time.
Refusing to be unnerved by the sight, he picked up the long forgotten folder. Before Sesshoumaru could talk himself out of it, he opened it, his golden eyes scanning the pages with his handwriting scribbled all over it.
‘It has been so long since I wrote this. I was only a boy at the time, a foolish boy with ridiculous ideas.’ Thinking with disgust about his old self, he slammed shut the folder.
Sesshoumaru hesitated for a long while about which pile the item belonged to. A part of him wanted to dump it with the non-relevant Shikon related articles heading for the recycle bin… but another growing part wanted to keep it. Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked up the pile of items he had decided to keep, and headed towards his desk. He unceremoniously dumped the files in the first half empty drawer he encountered.
‘I will leave it here until I decide what to do with it.’
He needed a distraction. Not only from the unsettling sight he had just come across, but also from thoughts about the emotional turmoil he was sure his girlfriend was presently putting herself through. He therefore decided to go out for a spell. While he may have refrained from making any comments earlier when Kagura had left, deep down he could not shake the feeling that something bad was about to go down when she squared off with Naraku. The prospect of her getting hurt, and him not being able to do anything to prevent it made Sesshoumaru feel useless; an emotion he was not familiar with.
‘Maybe picking up some lunch from Kagura’s favorite restaurant will make her feel better. I am sure she will need a pick me up after dealing with her father.’ As certain as Sesshoumaru was that Kagura had agreed to a meeting only because she wanted to send Naraku to hell in person, he was sure that facing off with her father would still be emotionally draining to her. The fact that running a few errands would be able to distract his mind was of course an added bonus.
With this last thought, he picked up his phone and keys, and headed for the door. He had a few things to plan out before his girlfriend made it home.
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Having survived her unexpected encounter with Kouga, Kagura rushed over to her father’s office. Normally she would have dreaded the idea of being late to a summons by Naraku, but today, she simply did not care.
‘It’s so refreshing to feel that way, to not give a damn about what dear old dad might think.’ She reflected as she knocked on the door of her father’s office.
“Come in!”
Without taking the time to brace herself, she did as she was bid.
“Ah Kagura, you finally decided to grace me with your presence.” Naraku’s crimson eyes were the only part of him reflecting how angry he really was. He was sitting behind his desk, his stance as straight as possible, the pale fingers of his right hand slowly twirling a pen around, and a placid smile on his thin lips.
“I was detained.” She said dryly, nonplussed by his comment. She walked towards his desk, and sat on the chair opposite his, for once without waiting to be invited to do so.
“So, what did you call me over for?” She had guessed that there were only two reasons why he had asked her to come: either he had heard Kanna had just had a baby, and he was showing a sudden interest in his youngest daughter, or the burden of looking after Shikon Magazine now that Sesshoumaru had quit had become too much for him, and he was only now realizing that he needed Kagura.
‘Well, something tells me that it is the latter. I can’t imagine him suddenly having an interest in Kanna and her life.’
She crossed her legs, and gently tapped the pointy toe of her left red leather pump against the smooth under surface of her father’s desk in a rhythmic gesture that she knew would grate on his nerves. When she saw his left eye twitch, she smiled to herself, and increased the speed of her tapping.
“Why can’t I just enquire as to how my dear daughter is doing? Considering that both you and your boytoy are now out of a job, I wished to see as to how you were doing financially?”
Kagura was not amused one bit by her father’s mock concern. “Enough with the bullshit. Just get to the point Naraku, what are you willing to offer me if I was to come back to Shikon?”
“Oh, and what makes you think that I would be interested in hiring you back? You’re the one who quit. Not to mention that you almost ruined my relationship with my good friend Shigeno by completely dishonoring his son.” He chuckled even as he burrowed his back deeper in the cushion of his plush office chair. “I had to convince his kid that you have some… issues in order for him to relent and agree to go on a date with another one of the employees. It seems he was well pleased with Yura since his father agreed to make a nice donation to the magazine.”
‘Oh so Naraku wants to play games? Not with me, and certainly not now.’ Usually she would have taken a more cautious or diplomatic stance, but not now, not anymore. ‘I don’t have time for this.’ Her mind strayed back to the delectable vision of the naked Sesshoumaru she had left in her bed. She would much rather go back to that than dealing with her annoying father.
“Well then, I guess we are done here.” Kagura sprang to her feet, and turned towards the door.
“Wait!” Naraku called out reluctantly.
Kagura struggled to get the smile off her lips before she turned around to face back Naraku. Under her gaze she saw his frown turn into a grin then a full-blown smile.
“Well, you might be my daughter yet.” Naraku declared a proud smirk on his lips.
It was not often that he outwardly acknowledged their familial bond, so Kagura could not help but wonder what had gotten into her father suddenly. Her curiosity was picked, and she was now dying to know just where this conversation would be heading.
“Sesshoumaru decided to leave a cushy well paid position at the magazine that allowed him to win a prestigious award just in order to be with you. I must really give you more credit than I would have expected. You must be very good in bed to have him willing to sabotage his career in such a way. You may be as manipulative, cunning and ruthless as I am. That over proud imbecile of Sesshoumaru will soon realize that once you throw him over now that you got him out of the way, and will have what you always wanted… You win. You can be sole editor in-chief of Shikon Magazine. I’ll increase your salary by 50% and give you more artistic license; including that restaurant critic section of yours. That’s what you wanted, no?”
As much as it pained Naraku to finally give in to his daughter, he knew he had no other choice. The past two weeks had shown him just how much he had come to rely on the two co-editors to make sure every monthly issues of the magazine came out. While he enjoyed the money and prestige associated with being the owner of a magazine, he had absolutely no interest in being involved in the nitty-gritty daily occurings of the office.
‘If I have to deal alone with these air brained writers at the next team meeting, I will go insane. Not to mention all those publishers and layout designers and advertisers…’ The mere thought of all the people he had had to deal with in the absence of Sesshoumaru and Kagura was enough to make his head spin in pain. ‘As annoying and undeserving as Kagura may be, hiring her back will allow me to focus back on things that matter to me. To think that I haven’t been out to a club in over two weeks…’
“Hum… let me think about that…” Kagura gently tapped her index finger on her cherry red lips, pretending to mull over her father’s proposition. “Nope. Not interested. To be honest, I never had any intention of coming back to work for you.” She forced her lips to stretch in a triumphant smile. Ever since she had quit the magazine, she had hoped and prayed there would be a time when Naraku would beg her to take her job back, and she would delight in denying him. As happy as she was that her plan had prevailed, she was feeling nauseated by what her father had just said.
‘To think that one of the few times when that jerk would actually openly recognize me as his daughter, he would do so in such a disgusting way. How could he ever imagine I would manipulate and lie to Sesshoumaru like that?!’ She fought the bile rising in her throat at the idea that her father thought her capable of heartlessly seducing her co-worker only to push him towards the exit so that she could take his job.
Naraku shot up straight with such force that the chair he had just been occupying flew backwards.
“You little bitch!”
He slammed his hands on the smooth surface of his desk. The loud resonating sounds made Kagura take a step back. She was shocked by the intensity of the anger and hatred burning in her sire’s eyes. Instead of recoiling, she stood her ground, and stared straight back into the crimson eyes that mirrored hers perfectly. The time had come for her to face her father, and she would not run away from the challenge.
“I came here because I wanted to give my proper resignation, and because I wanted to see you ask me to come back. I deeply enjoyed that by the way, but I enjoyed more telling you ‘no’, so thanks for obliging me.”
“Who do you think you are?” Naraku was so enraged that he was shaking. “I don’t need you. I never needed you, you mean nothing to me.”
His words cut her deep. She realized that he was not talking merely about her position as editor of the magazine. From the moment her aunt had told her about her father, Kagura had made it her mission to have Naraku see her, acknowledge her, and finally maybe come to care for her if not on a personal level then at least a professional one. She had given her job at Shikon magazine everything that she had in the hopes that Naraku would do just that, but she was now realizing that all her hard work had been for naught.
At the moment Kagura envied Sesshoumaru. He had seemed so calm and content when he had told her earlier about mending fences with his brother, and coming at peace with his past and his relationship with his parents. She longed to have the same kind of catharsis where her father was concerned, and she knew this was the time for her to seek it.
“What in the world happened to you to make you such a vile human being, and lead you to live such a miserable life? I may be nothing to you, but at least some people love me. No one gives a damn about you. You could never hold on to any relationship for any length of time… and your youngest daughter gave birth to her third child yesterday, and no one, especially not her, thought about letting you know you got a new grandson.” She took a small break before speaking again. “The reason why no one gives a shit about you is because you’re a hateful person who’s unable to care about anyone but yourself.”
Even as Kagura spoke these harsh words to her father’s face, deep inside her heart was bleeding. ‘Why can’t he care about me?’ While she would never dare voice the question aloud, Kagura could not help but feel that way.
Naraku was furious. He had expected for Kagura to come begging on her knees for her job back. Seeing the haughty look on her face as she turned down his offer was maddening.
‘And then she dares speak to me in such a way.’ Her comments about his life, and his character had been the last straw.
“You are just like your ungrateful mother! And why should I care about that sister of yours? She is not my blood. She is just the bastard daughter your whore of a mother had with her pseudo friend Tomoyo. It wasn’t bad enough that your mother was a whore, but she tried to pass off some other man’s brat as mine, no thanks. If you ask me it was poetic justice that the two of them died in that plane crash. They got exactly what they deserved.” Simply recalling how he had been told about his ex wife’s accidental death was enough to make a smile of pure glee come to his lips.
Kagura took a step back. She had suspected for a long time that her father was an immoral prick who had hated his first wife, but never would she have imagined his hatred would go as far as making him rejoice over the death of the mother of his children.
“My God!” She brought a shaking hand to cover her mouth. As horrible as it may sound, she was not really surprised that Naraku would deny fathering Kanna, but the deep hatred he had for her mom shocked her. ‘How could I have ever thought that I would be able to make him respect me and care for me? He’s a monster. How could I have wasted so much time trying to make him see me?’ The nausea she had been able to push down was coming back to the surface.
“If Tomoyo really is Kanna’s father, then I am glad, and so jealous. I wish he were mine too. It would be better than knowing I am related to a monster such as you.” Even as Kagura spoke the spiteful words, she knew they were not true. Both she and Kanna had the same blood type as Naraku. Since both their mother and aunt had a different one, she was certain that Naraku was indeed Kanna’s biological father.
“Such hurtful words coming out of your mouth my dear daughter.” When Naraku rounded his desk to come stand in front of her, it took Kagura everything not to shrink back in disgust. He raised his hand, and ran a deceptively gentle palm down her cheek. “Ever since you came to see me for a job those many years ago, I’ve been watching you. Overall you had been a disappointment, but lately you showed a new side of your personality. You’ve been tougher, more determined and more like me.”
A dozen years ago, when she had first met him, she would have rejoiced at the idea of her father taking her in, and claiming her at his. Now that the veil had been pulled from her eyes, and that she finally saw Naraku for what he really was, she wanted to be as different from him as possible.
“I am nothing like you. As a matter of fact…” She took a short pause to collect herself before she spoke words that she knew she would never be able to take back. “As of now, I am not your daughter. I never want to see you again, or speak to you again.”
She shook her head, and stepped back, speaking more to herself than to her father. “I wasted so much time trying to make you notice me when in fact I should have realized sooner that I want nothing to have to do with you.
“Fine, then. If you want nothing to do with me, I am not holding you back. Go on ahead, the door is right behind you.” Naraku’s previous rage was replaced by an eerie calmness.
“Goodbye then. I doubt we’ll be seeing each other again.”
With these last words, Kagura took one last look at the man who had sired her, the man she had devoted such a long period of her life trying to impress, the man she was certain she would never see again. She nodded once at Naraku, and slowly walked towards the door of his office. She held her head high all the way to the parking lot, ignoring the curious looks sent her way by her former co-workers, and proudly held in her tears until she was safely locked in her car.
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If someone had asked Kagura how she had gotten home, she would not have been able to answer. Just going through the motions, she had managed to drive herself home.
‘All I need right now is a warm bath and some food.’ In her hurry to meet with her father she had skipped breakfast and had contented herself with a quick shower, decisions she was coming to regret now.
The young woman trudged up the stairs, and headed to the door of her condo. It was only at her second unsuccessful attempt to insert her key in the lock of her front door that she realized her hands were badly shaking.
From his seat in the living room, Sesshoumaru heard a scratching sound coming from the door. He checked through the peephole, and was surprised to see who was on the other side.
“Kagura…” Sesshoumaru threw open the door. He felt his heart squeeze painfully at seeing the bemused and pained expression on her face. He had planned on announcing to her the decision he had made concerning the position he was being offered, but seeing the state she was in, quickly discarded the idea.
“Sorry, I guess there’s something wrong with my keys… they don’t fit in the lock anymore.” She cleared her throat before raising the offending article to display it to her boyfriend’s gaze.
Sesshoumaru could tell she had been crying, and it killed him. The hatred he had felt for Naraku in the past had just been multiplied. Without even having Kagura tell him what had gone down, he was sure that the other man had somehow hurt his daughter again.
“Why don’t we go inside?” He affectionately wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and gently led her towards inside. After stripping her of her coat and putting her purse away, he led her to her favorite spot on the couch before seating next to her. The two of them sat in silence while he let her burrow herself against his side and rest her head on his shoulder. He knew Kagura well enough to know better than prod her for information about what she had just gone through.
“God I’m such an idiot!” Kagura finally exclaimed. “I went in there looking forward to hearing him beg me to come back, and finally admitting how much he needs me, but…” She paused, and forced herself to push down tears. “Instead I finally saw my dear old dad for what he really is, a freaking sociopath… the things he said…”
Sesshoumaru frowned. It pained him to only imagine the kind of words spoken by Naraku that could drive Kagura to such a state.
“He pretty much told me that by dying my mom got what she deserves, and then he said that I was as manipulative and uncaring as he is…”
Before Kagura had even the chance to finish retelling her father’s words, Sesshoumaru grabbed her by the shoulders, and turned her towards him, making her stare right at him. “You are nothing like him.”
She stared up into the golden eyes of her beloved, and smiled. His constant support meant more to her that she could ever put in words. “That’s exactly what I told that piece of shit.” She looped her arms around his neck, and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before letting him go, and jumping to her feet. “I’m just mad that I gave up so much time and effort trying to impress him.”
Kagura stretched up her spine, and proudly stood straight.
‘I need to stop thinking about that bastard of Naraku. If I keep wallowing in self-pity, and allow him to reside in my head, I am letting him win. Sesshoumaru managed to cut off his dad and step-mom and I can do the same. I need to stop letting Naraku have such an influence on me, and instead focus on the good things I have in my life. Like I told Kouga, it’s time for me to move forward.’ She thought to herself then turned towards her lover.
“Then again Shikon wasn’t such a loss of time. There is one major benefit I got from working there for so long.”
Sesshoumaru silently wondered if she would mention the impressive professional experience she had gained at the magazine.
“If I hadn’t worked at Shikon, I wouldn’t have met you, and that would have really sucked.”
Sesshoumaru was surprised, yet very pleased by her words and was humbled by the love she had for him. It was one thing for him to love admit to himself that he loved her, but quite another to see and hear his feelings being reciprocated. He had never experienced either before, and had to admit that the happiness and pleasure these emotions brought him were beyond what he could have ever expected.
“Geez enough mopping around.” Kagura’s exclamation thrust him out of his thoughts. “Seems like all I’ve been doing these past few days is act like an over-emotional wreck. Time to get back to my good old self. I need to cheer up! I’ll take a warm bath and grab some lunch before heading over to go see Kanna and the baby… wanna join me?”
“Sure, I can drive over to the hospital.” As much as he did not doubt Kagura’s driving skill, he could tell her confrontation with her father had been draining, and he was not comfortable with her driving for such a long distance when she could easily be distracted by all the horrible things Naraku had just thrown at her. The fact that he wanted to see how the newborn boy was getting on was of course also a big draw for him.
Kagura smirked mischievously. “While the offer is appreciated, I wasn’t talking about the hospital…” She threw away her jacket and slowly unbuttoned her dress shirt, revealing her dark red lacy bra to his appreciative gaze.
It was in times like these that he was grateful they had decided to live in her condo, the small bathtub in his former apartment would simply not be accommodating enough for half of the activities racing through his mind. In a few strides, he was by her side, and scooped her over in his arms, carrying her bridal style, before heading down the corridor towards the bathroom, Kagura’s amused laugh ringing in his ears.
To be continued…
A/N: That's it for part 1 of the big finale. Well Kagura got more than she bargained for in this one. Is a happier ending coming? We'll see...Part 2 will be posted very very soon! I have some of it written already. Until the next update loyal readers!