InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Special delivery ❯ With the stroke of a knife ( Chapter 71 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: saphira404 
Once again so sorry for the crappy format :(
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.10.2011 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.1K | Visits: 309 | Status: Work In Progress
Once again so sorry for the crappy format :(
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.10.2011 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.1K | Visits: 309 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 71: With the stroke of a knife
A/N: Happy New Year to all of you dear readers. To celebrate 2011, here’s your
This chapter marks the acceleration of the plot. Soon we’ll have the climax, then *sniff sniff* the conclusion.
The format still sucks :( but MM.org still won't let me post a Word document. I apologize again.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
‘Thoughts’
"For my birthday I want to invite all my friends. I want balloons, and clowns, and mommy said we are going to bake a big cake. Will daddy help too?" Hearing the little girl call him 'daddy' pleased Sesshoumaru beyond words; he was after all still getting used to the new notion of fatherhood.
"If you want me to." He simply answered, repressing the urge to let a smile appear on his lips. He was sure that Kagura would not allow him to step foot in the kitchen when she and Kanna would be baking.
‘It would indeed be better for everyone. After all cooking is not one of this Sesshoumaru’s forte…’ He mused to himself. Before Kagura had moved in with him all these months ago, he had been living off take out and frozen food trays. ‘Luckily she has helped improve my eating habits.’ He thought fondly about his fiancée.
The child and the dog demon were in the car of the latter going to Kanna’s day care. Having him drop her off before going to work had become their morning routine. The day care the little girl attended was next to the headquarters of the Takahashi agency; therefore, making one more stop before going to the office did not jeopardize Sesshoumaru’s schedule.
‘Not that I would have minded.’ He thought to himself even as he carefully drove towards the business district. After all having Kagura wake up early in the morning to drop off their daughter was not something he wanted. The wind sorceress often times worked late at the restaurant, or attended night classes at the local college, and her fiancé wanted nothing more than for her to be able to sleep-in in the mornings. They had therefore worked a schedule: Sesshoumaru dropped off Kanna before work in the morning, and Kagura picked her up in the afternoon after her morning shifts at the young mother center.
The dog demon had in consequences become very apt at getting the child ready in the morning.
‘It is quite lucky that Kanna is very mature for her age.’ He reflected, remembering how some parenting books he had read related stories of difficult children who refused to eat breakfast or get cleaned up and dressed before school.
"Of course I want daddy to help with the party. Maybe Rin can help too." Kanna said, a bright smile on her lips. Her words slightly surprised Sesshoumaru, who was quite relieved to see how the young void demoness had gotten over both her animosity towards Rin, and her ordeal with the mirror.
‘I am sure that Kagura allowing our daughter to spend time with Sakura in order to develop her powers has helped Kanna a lot. She seems to be feeling much better.’
Even as the thought struck him, Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes could not help but stare up in the rearview mirror to look at the small rounded mirror placed on Kanna’s lap. Even if it had been the vehicle through which she had seen the image which had cause her to cry not so long ago, she was still inseparable from the object.
“We shall have as big a party as you want. You can also invite anyone you want.” Sesshoumaru said as he parked his black luxury car in the parking lot of the small day care.
“Can my grandma Sakura come too? I like her.” Kanna whispered even as Sesshoumaru unstrapped her from her car seat. Her question slightly surprised the dog demon. He and Kagura both appreciated Sakura’s help in dealing with their daughter’s powers, but really had no idea how much Kanna cared for Sakura. Ever since the older demoness had helped Kanna with her powers, the two of them had had a couple of small youki control help sessions at either the penthouse, or Sakura’s house, but always under the close supervision of Kagura.
“If that would make you happy…” Sesshoumaru trailed off as he picked up his smiling daughter, and walked towards the entrance of the day care center where the owner, an old woman whose name Sesshoumaru could never remember, was welcoming the children and their parents with a broad smile on her lips.
“Hum yes!” Kanna answered happily. Ever since the older demoness had showed her how to block visions from appearing in her mirror, Kanna had been feeling much better, and had not had any nightmares or visions.
As he got ready to bid the little girl goodbye, the inu youkai suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. His senses were on high alert, but he still could not see anything amiss. He could not help but feel unease though, as if someone was watching him and Kanna. Early on his father had taught him how to trust his inu youkai instincts, and he was sure that right now his instincts were telling him to put Kanna somewhere safe.
“Kanna. Go now before you are late.” The dog demon instructed his daughter as he placed her on the ground. His sharp golden eyes followed her until she disappeared inside the security of the building.
His sharp gaze then looked around the courtyard, looking for the malevolent presence he had felt earlier. He ignored the curious gaze people were giving him, and continued scanning his surroundings. When he really did not see anything other than parents looking at him suspiciously while they clutched their young children, he decided to give up.
‘It seems I am worrying for no reason.’ He thought to himself as he hurried over to his car.
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After Sesshoumaru had dropped Kanna at her day care, he hurried over to his office to work. He had an important meeting with a new client in a few hours, and needed to get ready and review the client’s file his new secretary, Kiriko, had put together. He had intended to do so the previous night, but Kagura had proved to be too much of a distraction.
‘Another reason why I left the witch sleep in today.’ He chuckled to himself as he walked out of the parking lot of his company, and headed for the main entrance. Since after she came back from class, the two of them had made love deep into the night, he knew she would need all the rest she could get.
Sesshoumaru had been so distracted by his lustful thoughts that he only noticed late the man standing in front of the building of the Takahashi agency.
“Sesshoumaru Takahashi. Just the man I wanted to see.” The newcomer said, a grin on his lips.
“Sousuke Yamashita?” Even as he spoke the other man’s name the dog demon could not help but show his distaste through a scowl. “Remove yourself from my presence unless you wish to suffer dire consequences.”
“How dare you speak to me this way?!” The older snake demon snarled, his yellow eyes shining in malevolence. “You ruined me! My wife left me, and she took all her fucking money with her. Because of you and your whore of a girlfriend, she found out about my relationship with Naraku’s brothel, and wasted no time running away.”
Sousuke’s anger manifested itself in a tremor. He knew that after dealing with Sesshoumaru and therefore Kagura at the same time, he would pay his wife a visit. He could still remember how humiliated he had felt when he had gone to the B-bags headquarters to try to explain to his wife how his name had ended up in the papers in the list of Naraku’s clients. To his dismay she had already left, and had not given her secretary any means to contact her, which led him to believe she had run away to her father, which was a problem since the old man had never liked Sousuke because he justly saw him as a money seeking jerk.
“And Kanzaki… that damn bastard left the country as soon as things started getting hot. He left me to take all the blame.” As the same time as he spoke, the snake demon placed his left hand inside the pocket of his jacket, ready to retrieve the object through which his revenge would come.
Noticing how slurred some of his words came out, the dog demon knew the other man was intoxicated. This last bit made Sesshoumaru even more disgusted with him.
“What do you think you can do to this Sesshoumaru?”He snorted clear annoyance at being interrupted on his face. Not wanting to waste any more of his precious time with the offending snake demon, Sesshoumaru turned around, and kept walking towards his original destination.
“You dare show me your back?! Do not underestimate me!” As Yamashita yelled, he lounged towards Sesshoumaru’s back, taking him by surprise. The dog demon would later rationalize that he facing away from Yamashita was the only reason the other youkai was able to touch him.
Sesshoumaru first heard the snake youkai run towards him, and therefore quickly turned around to look back at his attacker. Even as he saw Yamashita descend upon him, Sesshoumaru took a step back, trying to get out of the snake demon’s grasp, but not quickly enough to prevent the other from making contact with his person.
It was when he lowered his golden gaze to where Yamashita had come in contact with him that Sesshoumaru noticed a tear in the jacket of his suit. A deep growl escaped his throat when he realized that the other demon had attacked him with a knife, a weapon he had just used on him. The dog demon knew it was only his superior speed that had allowed him to leave relatively unscathed from the attack. However he could feel his arm sting, and blood run down his skin, and therefore to his annoyance knew that despite his speed Sousuke had managed to injure him. His reddened golden eyes slid down to the ground where droplets of blood had fallen off his arm, and had gathered on the gray sidewalk in a small bright red puddle. The thought briefly crossed his mind that had he had more of his mother’s genes, his poisonous acidic blood would have completely eaten through the cement and rocks. However he being his father’s son, there was only a little steam being produced by the corrosive red liquid trying to attack the surface of the side walk, the same way he could feel it burning off his shirt and jacket. Luckily enough the poisonous agent in his blood would soon dissolve due to is coming in contact with air. Sesshoumaru was therefore not worried to see his entire sleeve be eaten off; besides, Yamashita offered a much more important concern.
‘That pathetic demon has dared lay a hand on me?!’ Sesshoumaru thought angrily, his eyes turning to a deeper red. He cracked his knuckles getting ready to strike the man standing across from him, but he never got the occasion to retaliate.
“Drop the fucking knife now before I put a bullet in your head.” A commanding voice suddenly said.
Sesshoumaru looked past Yamashita, and was shocked to see none other than Kouga standing with a gun pointed at the older demon, who was still clutching in his hand the bloody blade he had attacked Sesshoumaru with.
“What are you doing here?” Sesshoumaru asked his younger brother’s friend.
“Well I was going to come and grab breakfast with Dog shit and flirt with Kagome, but saving your almighty ass is just as interesting and… Oh come on your idiot, where do you think you’re going now?!” The wolf demon sighed as his sharp bright blue eyes followed Yamashita as he tried to flee by walking past Sesshoumaru.
“Can’t you see I have a damn gun pointed at you? Besides do you seriously think Sesshoumaru will let you go by him?” He added, but before he could get to the snake demon, Sousuke suddenly turned around, and lounged towards him with his knife. Unfortunately for him, Kouga and his long years at working for the police, after seeing the panicked look in Yamashita’s eyes had easily anticipated his move. With a quick kick of his powerful right leg, Kouga managed to rid his opponent of his weapon. Without missing a beat, the younger demon then used his left leg to tackle Yamashita to the ground, and placed his knee sharply between the snake youkai’s shoulder blades. His actions had been so fast that the snake demon had had no chance.
“Man you’re so fucked! First you foolishly decide to attack my friend there, who will press charges against you whether he wants to or not.” The wolf demon said as he ground his knee harder, ignoring Yamashita’s groans of pain, and Sesshoumaru’s snort. “Then you try to attack me… Bad idea. Do you know how many years you’ll rot in prison for attempted murder of an esteemed member of the police force like myself?”
“I didn’t know you were a cop…” Sousuke Yamashita whispered, the enormity of the situation finally catching up to him. “Wait I’ve got a lot of money… I could give you something… I am sure we can agree to put all this behind us.” He chuckled despite the pain in his back at being pressed so hardly against the ground. Even though his wife had been the one coming from a wealthy family, and that she leaving him had greatly depleted his finances, Sousuke was willing to do anything not to go to jail; even use some money from the secret stash he had put away for his soon to come escape.
He had never intended to use the secret money he had been stealing from his wife over the years. However since his partner had not come to his rescue as promised, he had to use any means necessary.
‘Where did that bastard go? He said he’d come help me if things turned sour!’ The desperate Sousuke thought angrily, hoping that even is his partner would not help, Kouga would at least take him on his offer.
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes as the scene unfolded in front of him. He was angered that Kouga has wrestled Sousuke before he had managed to pay the snake demon back for injuring him, and destroying one of his favorite suit jacket and shirt in the process. Another thing that really annoyed him was that people were now staring openly at the scene unfolding in front of his office building.
‘What a mess this has turned into…’ Sesshoumaru thought as he gently fingered the tear Yamashita had caused in his suit, frowning when his finger still came back smeared with blood; the wound should have started closing already. This last point only added to his annoyance.
‘I should have guessed that weakling of a man would have tried to get to me sooner or later. It is however fortunate that he has never approached Kagura.’
“That’s police officer for you, not cop. Plus do you really think that you can buy me off? Oh and seems like you just added one more charge against you. I mean the last time I checked, bribery of an official is still illegal.” Kouga chuckled as he stood up, taking Yamashita with him.
“Well there goes my meal with Dog shit. Now I have to drop this piece of scum at the precinct… You know you could have at least pretended to help me. You didn’t even bat an eye when he pointed that knife on me.” Kouga scowled at Sesshoumaru as he reached inside his back jean pocket before slipping the handcuffs he had retrieved around Sousuke’s now trembling wrists.
“Why would this Sesshoumaru bother when you seem to have the situation well in hand.”
“Unlike you, right…” The wolf sneered, his blue gaze trained on the bloody tear in the dog demon’s jacket. At hearing his words, Sesshoumaru barely repressed the urge to growl.
“Tell Dog shit that we’ll have to postpone our meal… and then stop by the station later today or tomorrow, so I can take your deposition, and throw that idiot in jail for good.” The wolf youkai addressed his brother’s older brother before turning back to the crowd around them, and yelling: “Get the hell away from here, the show’s over.” With these last words, and dragging Sousuke along, Kouga walked back towards his car
With the wolf and snake demons gone, Sesshoumaru saw no reason to linger any longer in the street. Walking past the crowd of people, who had not been scared away by Kouga’s outburst, the dog demon hurried inside his office building. He after all still had an important meeting he needed to get ready for.
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Across the street a dark figure had watched with interest the events that had just unfolded in front of the entrance of the Takahashi agency. He was grateful for the crowd the actions of the wolf had attracted. It allowed him to blend in, and be able to observe things from up close without having dog demon smell him and detect his presence. Unfortunately for the dark man, things did not go on as planned.
‘That damned pathetic fool! How could he miss such a golden opportunity?!’ The man took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger swirling inside him.
He quickly walked away, lest Sesshoumaru and his wolf friend managed to notice him; he was not ready to make his presence be known.
‘Because of that idiot who was unable to do the simple task I gave him, it seems I will have to handle the situation myself.’ Anger and hatred making his red eyes brighter, the dark man got into his car, and quickly drove off. Soon he would put his plan into place and would bring both Kagura and Sesshoumaru, who had dared to defy him, down on their knees.
‘I better get to work now, or I will be too late.’ He grinned as he started driving towards his new workplace, which luckily happened to be nearby.
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“I’m sorry boss, but I couldn’t find anything else for you to wear… maybe you could borrow something from your brother...” Kiriko told her employer on as even a tone as she could; she had finally managed to regain her usual composure.
‘Who could blame me for being flustered? After all it’s not every day your boss walks into the office with a knife tear in his sleeve, and blood dripping down his arm…’ She thought to herself, a pout still present on her lips. No matter how much she had wanted to clean up Sesshoumaru’s wound, he had refused adamantly.
“I would rather attend my meeting with a blood stained shirt than borrow one of the idiot’s red shirts.” Only thinking about it almost brought a scowl on the dog demon’s face.
“Hum I don’t think anyone else had your size… I guess your only alternative is to go home and change…”
“Not enough time.” He interrupted her.
The young female secretary suddenly perked up when a thought occurred to her. “Why don’t you ask your delectable Kagura to bring you something clean to wear for your meeting?... I am not saying that just because I want to see her, but really I think she is your only choice. Unless you want to give Kozue the wrong impression, and lose his much needed business…”
As much as the idea did not please him, after a quick calculation, he figured that Kagura would indeed have enough time to make it to his office before his meeting. Even if the wind sorceress had still not accepted his offer to buy her a car, he knew that she could make it to his office by bus faster than if he drove to the penthouse, and back to his office.
“Leave me.” A smile on her face, the secretary complied with his command. She was barely out of the door that Sesshoumaru picked up his phone.
‘Something tells me this conversation is not going to be an easy one.’ He thought to himself even as he started dialing his home phone number.
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“You were what?!” Kagura gasped into the phone, letting go of the spatula she was using to scramble her eggs fall inside the frying pan. She cursed as she retrieved the now burning hot utensil from her pan, and turned the fire off. Her breakfast would probably be ruined, but she had a more important matter now on her mind.
“Attacked I said. By Sousuke Yamashita.” Sesshoumaru repeated calmly. If he had had any other option when it came to getting fresh clean clothes he would have used it, but as things stood Kagura was his only alternative.
‘I now regret having given Jaken a vacation.’ He thought to himself. He had forced the imp demon to take some time off when he had been unable to deal properly with his mother at his father’s memorial. ‘As annoying as he is, at least I can tune out his fussing…He would have done his duty and not ask questions, the same cannot be said of the witch.’
“You have no need to worry witch. All I need you to do is bring me new clothes, so that I can change before my meeting… I apologize for waking you up. I would have relied on Jaken, but he is… away.”
“I don’t care if you wake me up! I was already fucking up anyways… and don’t you dare tell me not to worry. I have a right to worry if my fiancé gets attacked in broad daylight! What did he do to you?” She asked worry gnawing at her.
“It is comforting to see that you have so much faith in me.” He scoffed, slightly hurt that she immediately assumed the snake demon had managed to hurt him.
‘It may be, but I would still appreciate it if the witch had more faith in me.’ He thought, annoyed.
“You said he attacked you, and I know him enough to know that Yamashita is a sneaky bastard. I am sure he did something underhanded to hurt you… so tell me what did he do to you?”
“I would appreciate it if you could bring the gray suit I recently bought. Pair it with one of my light blue shirts.” The dog demon ignored her question.
She could tell that his trying to redirect the conversation could only mean that she was right, and that he had indeed been hurt by Yamashita.
“How bad is it? And this time I want the truth Sesshoumaru. The way you keep avoiding telling me is driving me nuts!” The anguish clear in her voice forced him to relent.
He sighed and took the time to find a fine way of wording the situation. “It is merely a graze, this Sesshoumaru will be fine….” He reluctantly admitted.
“A graze? Did he shoot at you?! When you said attacked… I thought you meant a punch of something.” The frantic wind sorceress suddenly felt as if her heart had stopped.
“You have no need to be this upset. He merely used a knife.”
“A knife!” She said in a strangled scream. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?!... Forget it. I’m on my way, and I swear that if I find your injury is more than a ‘graze,’ I’ll kill you myself than drag you to Suikotsu’s clinic.” She spat angrily before rushing out of the kitchen, where she had taken the call, the breakfast she had been cooking well forgotten.
“Do not forget my clothes.” He said, but his words were only met with the even tone of the phone. Letting out a curse, the dog demon quickly pressed the intercom button on his desk, calling his secretary.
“Yes, sir?” His surprised secretary quickly answered.
“Kiriko. Bring the first aid kit.” He would be damned if he let Kagura worry unnecessarily. He would have to make sure that his arm was cleaned and bandaged before she came storming in, no matter how annoyed the idea of having his employee see to his injury annoyed him.
‘What would I not do for that witch?’ He thought to himself. A frown formed on his face when Kiriko walked in, a bright smile on her face, which did not sit well with her employer.
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“This is all my fault.”
The wind sorceress could not tear her gaze from the white bandage wrapped around her beloved arm. Usually the sight of him getting changed would have been enough to have her want to tackle him to the nearest bed, or in their present situation couch, but right now sex was the thing furthest from her mind.
“This Sesshoumaru fails to see how. As he told me before his cowardly attack, Yamashita was mad at me, and wanted to harm me.” The dog demon responded as he quickly slipped on a new shirt, throwing away the ruined one in the closest waste basket. It having a large tear on the sleeve, and being bloody assured him that it could not be salvaged.
While he finished buttoning his shirt, a faint beeping sound came from Kagura’s purse.
The dog demon knew all too well the sound was an alarm she had programmed on her cell phone, and was very aware of what it stood for, having heard it so many times. He simply turned towards his refreshment table, and handed to Kagura a glass of water.
“We’re in the middle of an argument. I can take it later.” She dismissed his questioning gaze. To emphasize her point she reached for her cell phone in her purse, and shut down the alarm.
“I did not know you had changed your mind about having a baby.” He said casually. Silently grateful that her having to take her daily birth control pill had given him the perfect opportunity to close a conversation he really did not want to have.
“Oh fine.” She gave in, knowing full well that he was merely trying to find a way out of their argument. ‘Does he think I’ll let him try to sidetrack me this easily?’ She thought as she quickly took out one of her birth control tablets from her purse before popping out a pill, and downing it with the water Sesshoumaru had handed her.
“Happy? Now can we go back to our conversation?” She did her best not to glare at him.
“I do not see what more we have to talk about.” He commented lightly before taking the empty glass from her, and putting it away for Kiriko to clean up later on.
“Oh don’t play dumb. Had it not been for me, you never would have even met that asshole of Yamashita. We both know that he came after you to hurt me, and get back at me.”
“Yamashita said himself that his goal was to hurt me, your name did not even come up.” He effortlessly lied. Masking the truth was not really a problem for him as protecting the woman he loved was his utmost priority.
“I have a hard time believing that…” She scoffed. “I know Sousuke enough to tell that…”
Sesshoumaru raised his hand to interrupt her, then walked towards his fiancée, and wrapped her in his arms.
“I am glad he came after me rather than you.” He simply said.
“But…” She tried to say, but Sesshoumaru interrupted her by pressing two fingers to her lips.
“We have no need to talk about Sousuke Yamashita anymore. He is now in custody, and from what my lawyer Myouga has told me, he will be thrown in jail for a very long time. Now if he had dared hurt you or Kanna, I can assure you he would be dead… by my hands.” The assurance with which Sesshoumaru spoke made a shiver run down Kagura’s spine; she could easily tell he was not jesting. Seeing her unease, he took her again in his arms, and gave her a light squeeze, ignoring the pain it caused in his arm.
“I guess I just have to be glad you’re okay, and that that damn bastard was arrested.” She smiled up at the man who held her securely in his arms, and also held her heart. The words had barely left her mouth that the dog demon leaned down to give her a kiss.
‘You damn bastard. I guess that is the most effective way you found to shut me up.’ She thought even as she let his tongue gently caress hers. As usual she was unable to resist him, and buried her hands in his long silver hair, even as she craned her neck to make it easier for him to reach her lips.
“Feh! To think that we thought you were at death’s door.” Inuyasha said as he barged inside his brother’s office without knocking. His intrusion caused the demon couple to quickly break their lip lock.
“Ah I see now why Kiriko didn’t want us to walk in here.” Miroku added. The way he spat the name of the dog demoness secretary betrayed how much he still did not like her.
“Inuyasha. Miroku. What do you want?” The dog demon growled, not even bothering to mask his annoyance.
“Well Kouga called to tell us all about how you got your ass kicked by some snake demon. What old man, are you losing your touch in combat?” The younger of the Takahashi brothers snickered.
“I believe that is Inuyasha’s way of expressing relief at seeing you are alright.” Miroku, ever the peacemaker said.
“The two of you leave, now.” Sesshoumaru simply answered, ignoring his two close friends.
“Ha ah yes we will take our leave now.” The young human chuckled even as he took a hold of his friend’s red clad elbow, and started tugging.
“Just wait a sec’ pervert. That mangy wolf, Kouga wanted me to remind you that you have to give a deposition. I also wanted to let you two know that my mom is taking over my apartment tomorrow to cook dinner. So you better come.” The scowling hanyou told his half brother and future sister in-law.
“You’re just telling us just now?” Kagura asked. She was sure that Izayoi was not the kind of woman to give out an invitation for a dinner the day before.
“Hum it may have slipped my mind.” Inuyasha chuckled as he scratched the back of one of his ears.
“Back to work.”
Inuyasha and Miroku wasted no time doing as told by Sesshoumaru. After all they had now confirmed Kouga’s claim that Sesshoumaru had not been badly hurt.
“It seems we are going to your brother’s place for dinner tomorrow.” The wind sorceress waited until the two young men were gone before speaking.
“We do not have to go.” Sesshoumaru simply pointed out. Since they would have Rin that night, the dog demon would rather they do something just the four of them.
“And miss a family gathering? I don’t think so. Besides I like Izayoi, and would love getting to know her better. Now I have to run to work, so please be safe, and don’t let crazy bastards stab you anymore.”
“Very amusing.” Sesshoumaru said dryly even though he was glad that she was making light of the situation, which told him she was not very upset anymore. He never wanted to see the look of worry that had been in her eyes when she had first walked inside his office.
Just then the intercom on Sesshoumaru’s office buzzed. He quickly pressed a button on it, awaiting to hear what his secretary wanted now from him.
“Sir, Kozue is here for your meeting.” Kiriko’s voice said.
“Place him in the conference room, I will be right down.” Sesshoumaru responded. He knew that the encounter would not go as nice as he wanted as he had not had time to overview the file on his potential client.
‘Let’s just hope the old man decides to give us his business.’ He thought to himself.
“Guess it’s time for work. I’ll see you at home later.” The wind sorceress said as she walked towards the inu youkai then she raised herself on the tip of her toes to press a light peck to her fiancé’s lips. Within a few moments she was gone from his office, leaving only her pleasant perfume for him to enjoy.
Grabbing the stack of preliminary sketches his newly formed design team had made to show Kozue, and ignoring the pain of the wound in his arm, Sesshoumaru headed for the door of his office. He knew that in a matter of hours the injury Sousuke Yamashita had caused him would heal completely, but the wound the snake demon had left on his pride would sting for a long time.
‘That bastard is lucky enough that Kouga intervened. He better stay clear from my family or else he could only call getting arrested being lucky.…’ Sesshoumaru thought as he marched out of his office.
To be continued…
A/N: I hope you liked this very long chapter. There hasn’t been much bloodshed… yet, but I can assure you that things are going to accelerate soon. I don’t have the title for the next chapter yet, but you can be sure it will involve a big Takahashi family reunion.
Converting /tmp/phpm8Ecxj to /dev/stdout
A/N: Happy New Year to all of you dear readers. To celebrate 2011, here’s your
This chapter marks the acceleration of the plot. Soon we’ll have the climax, then *sniff sniff* the conclusion.
The format still sucks :( but MM.org still won't let me post a Word document. I apologize again.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
‘Thoughts’
"For my birthday I want to invite all my friends. I want balloons, and clowns, and mommy said we are going to bake a big cake. Will daddy help too?" Hearing the little girl call him 'daddy' pleased Sesshoumaru beyond words; he was after all still getting used to the new notion of fatherhood.
"If you want me to." He simply answered, repressing the urge to let a smile appear on his lips. He was sure that Kagura would not allow him to step foot in the kitchen when she and Kanna would be baking.
‘It would indeed be better for everyone. After all cooking is not one of this Sesshoumaru’s forte…’ He mused to himself. Before Kagura had moved in with him all these months ago, he had been living off take out and frozen food trays. ‘Luckily she has helped improve my eating habits.’ He thought fondly about his fiancée.
The child and the dog demon were in the car of the latter going to Kanna’s day care. Having him drop her off before going to work had become their morning routine. The day care the little girl attended was next to the headquarters of the Takahashi agency; therefore, making one more stop before going to the office did not jeopardize Sesshoumaru’s schedule.
‘Not that I would have minded.’ He thought to himself even as he carefully drove towards the business district. After all having Kagura wake up early in the morning to drop off their daughter was not something he wanted. The wind sorceress often times worked late at the restaurant, or attended night classes at the local college, and her fiancé wanted nothing more than for her to be able to sleep-in in the mornings. They had therefore worked a schedule: Sesshoumaru dropped off Kanna before work in the morning, and Kagura picked her up in the afternoon after her morning shifts at the young mother center.
The dog demon had in consequences become very apt at getting the child ready in the morning.
‘It is quite lucky that Kanna is very mature for her age.’ He reflected, remembering how some parenting books he had read related stories of difficult children who refused to eat breakfast or get cleaned up and dressed before school.
"Of course I want daddy to help with the party. Maybe Rin can help too." Kanna said, a bright smile on her lips. Her words slightly surprised Sesshoumaru, who was quite relieved to see how the young void demoness had gotten over both her animosity towards Rin, and her ordeal with the mirror.
‘I am sure that Kagura allowing our daughter to spend time with Sakura in order to develop her powers has helped Kanna a lot. She seems to be feeling much better.’
Even as the thought struck him, Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes could not help but stare up in the rearview mirror to look at the small rounded mirror placed on Kanna’s lap. Even if it had been the vehicle through which she had seen the image which had cause her to cry not so long ago, she was still inseparable from the object.
“We shall have as big a party as you want. You can also invite anyone you want.” Sesshoumaru said as he parked his black luxury car in the parking lot of the small day care.
“Can my grandma Sakura come too? I like her.” Kanna whispered even as Sesshoumaru unstrapped her from her car seat. Her question slightly surprised the dog demon. He and Kagura both appreciated Sakura’s help in dealing with their daughter’s powers, but really had no idea how much Kanna cared for Sakura. Ever since the older demoness had helped Kanna with her powers, the two of them had had a couple of small youki control help sessions at either the penthouse, or Sakura’s house, but always under the close supervision of Kagura.
“If that would make you happy…” Sesshoumaru trailed off as he picked up his smiling daughter, and walked towards the entrance of the day care center where the owner, an old woman whose name Sesshoumaru could never remember, was welcoming the children and their parents with a broad smile on her lips.
“Hum yes!” Kanna answered happily. Ever since the older demoness had showed her how to block visions from appearing in her mirror, Kanna had been feeling much better, and had not had any nightmares or visions.
As he got ready to bid the little girl goodbye, the inu youkai suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. His senses were on high alert, but he still could not see anything amiss. He could not help but feel unease though, as if someone was watching him and Kanna. Early on his father had taught him how to trust his inu youkai instincts, and he was sure that right now his instincts were telling him to put Kanna somewhere safe.
“Kanna. Go now before you are late.” The dog demon instructed his daughter as he placed her on the ground. His sharp golden eyes followed her until she disappeared inside the security of the building.
His sharp gaze then looked around the courtyard, looking for the malevolent presence he had felt earlier. He ignored the curious gaze people were giving him, and continued scanning his surroundings. When he really did not see anything other than parents looking at him suspiciously while they clutched their young children, he decided to give up.
‘It seems I am worrying for no reason.’ He thought to himself as he hurried over to his car.
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After Sesshoumaru had dropped Kanna at her day care, he hurried over to his office to work. He had an important meeting with a new client in a few hours, and needed to get ready and review the client’s file his new secretary, Kiriko, had put together. He had intended to do so the previous night, but Kagura had proved to be too much of a distraction.
‘Another reason why I left the witch sleep in today.’ He chuckled to himself as he walked out of the parking lot of his company, and headed for the main entrance. Since after she came back from class, the two of them had made love deep into the night, he knew she would need all the rest she could get.
Sesshoumaru had been so distracted by his lustful thoughts that he only noticed late the man standing in front of the building of the Takahashi agency.
“Sesshoumaru Takahashi. Just the man I wanted to see.” The newcomer said, a grin on his lips.
“Sousuke Yamashita?” Even as he spoke the other man’s name the dog demon could not help but show his distaste through a scowl. “Remove yourself from my presence unless you wish to suffer dire consequences.”
“How dare you speak to me this way?!” The older snake demon snarled, his yellow eyes shining in malevolence. “You ruined me! My wife left me, and she took all her fucking money with her. Because of you and your whore of a girlfriend, she found out about my relationship with Naraku’s brothel, and wasted no time running away.”
Sousuke’s anger manifested itself in a tremor. He knew that after dealing with Sesshoumaru and therefore Kagura at the same time, he would pay his wife a visit. He could still remember how humiliated he had felt when he had gone to the B-bags headquarters to try to explain to his wife how his name had ended up in the papers in the list of Naraku’s clients. To his dismay she had already left, and had not given her secretary any means to contact her, which led him to believe she had run away to her father, which was a problem since the old man had never liked Sousuke because he justly saw him as a money seeking jerk.
“And Kanzaki… that damn bastard left the country as soon as things started getting hot. He left me to take all the blame.” As the same time as he spoke, the snake demon placed his left hand inside the pocket of his jacket, ready to retrieve the object through which his revenge would come.
Noticing how slurred some of his words came out, the dog demon knew the other man was intoxicated. This last bit made Sesshoumaru even more disgusted with him.
“What do you think you can do to this Sesshoumaru?”He snorted clear annoyance at being interrupted on his face. Not wanting to waste any more of his precious time with the offending snake demon, Sesshoumaru turned around, and kept walking towards his original destination.
“You dare show me your back?! Do not underestimate me!” As Yamashita yelled, he lounged towards Sesshoumaru’s back, taking him by surprise. The dog demon would later rationalize that he facing away from Yamashita was the only reason the other youkai was able to touch him.
Sesshoumaru first heard the snake youkai run towards him, and therefore quickly turned around to look back at his attacker. Even as he saw Yamashita descend upon him, Sesshoumaru took a step back, trying to get out of the snake demon’s grasp, but not quickly enough to prevent the other from making contact with his person.
It was when he lowered his golden gaze to where Yamashita had come in contact with him that Sesshoumaru noticed a tear in the jacket of his suit. A deep growl escaped his throat when he realized that the other demon had attacked him with a knife, a weapon he had just used on him. The dog demon knew it was only his superior speed that had allowed him to leave relatively unscathed from the attack. However he could feel his arm sting, and blood run down his skin, and therefore to his annoyance knew that despite his speed Sousuke had managed to injure him. His reddened golden eyes slid down to the ground where droplets of blood had fallen off his arm, and had gathered on the gray sidewalk in a small bright red puddle. The thought briefly crossed his mind that had he had more of his mother’s genes, his poisonous acidic blood would have completely eaten through the cement and rocks. However he being his father’s son, there was only a little steam being produced by the corrosive red liquid trying to attack the surface of the side walk, the same way he could feel it burning off his shirt and jacket. Luckily enough the poisonous agent in his blood would soon dissolve due to is coming in contact with air. Sesshoumaru was therefore not worried to see his entire sleeve be eaten off; besides, Yamashita offered a much more important concern.
‘That pathetic demon has dared lay a hand on me?!’ Sesshoumaru thought angrily, his eyes turning to a deeper red. He cracked his knuckles getting ready to strike the man standing across from him, but he never got the occasion to retaliate.
“Drop the fucking knife now before I put a bullet in your head.” A commanding voice suddenly said.
Sesshoumaru looked past Yamashita, and was shocked to see none other than Kouga standing with a gun pointed at the older demon, who was still clutching in his hand the bloody blade he had attacked Sesshoumaru with.
“What are you doing here?” Sesshoumaru asked his younger brother’s friend.
“Well I was going to come and grab breakfast with Dog shit and flirt with Kagome, but saving your almighty ass is just as interesting and… Oh come on your idiot, where do you think you’re going now?!” The wolf demon sighed as his sharp bright blue eyes followed Yamashita as he tried to flee by walking past Sesshoumaru.
“Can’t you see I have a damn gun pointed at you? Besides do you seriously think Sesshoumaru will let you go by him?” He added, but before he could get to the snake demon, Sousuke suddenly turned around, and lounged towards him with his knife. Unfortunately for him, Kouga and his long years at working for the police, after seeing the panicked look in Yamashita’s eyes had easily anticipated his move. With a quick kick of his powerful right leg, Kouga managed to rid his opponent of his weapon. Without missing a beat, the younger demon then used his left leg to tackle Yamashita to the ground, and placed his knee sharply between the snake youkai’s shoulder blades. His actions had been so fast that the snake demon had had no chance.
“Man you’re so fucked! First you foolishly decide to attack my friend there, who will press charges against you whether he wants to or not.” The wolf demon said as he ground his knee harder, ignoring Yamashita’s groans of pain, and Sesshoumaru’s snort. “Then you try to attack me… Bad idea. Do you know how many years you’ll rot in prison for attempted murder of an esteemed member of the police force like myself?”
“I didn’t know you were a cop…” Sousuke Yamashita whispered, the enormity of the situation finally catching up to him. “Wait I’ve got a lot of money… I could give you something… I am sure we can agree to put all this behind us.” He chuckled despite the pain in his back at being pressed so hardly against the ground. Even though his wife had been the one coming from a wealthy family, and that she leaving him had greatly depleted his finances, Sousuke was willing to do anything not to go to jail; even use some money from the secret stash he had put away for his soon to come escape.
He had never intended to use the secret money he had been stealing from his wife over the years. However since his partner had not come to his rescue as promised, he had to use any means necessary.
‘Where did that bastard go? He said he’d come help me if things turned sour!’ The desperate Sousuke thought angrily, hoping that even is his partner would not help, Kouga would at least take him on his offer.
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes as the scene unfolded in front of him. He was angered that Kouga has wrestled Sousuke before he had managed to pay the snake demon back for injuring him, and destroying one of his favorite suit jacket and shirt in the process. Another thing that really annoyed him was that people were now staring openly at the scene unfolding in front of his office building.
‘What a mess this has turned into…’ Sesshoumaru thought as he gently fingered the tear Yamashita had caused in his suit, frowning when his finger still came back smeared with blood; the wound should have started closing already. This last point only added to his annoyance.
‘I should have guessed that weakling of a man would have tried to get to me sooner or later. It is however fortunate that he has never approached Kagura.’
“That’s police officer for you, not cop. Plus do you really think that you can buy me off? Oh and seems like you just added one more charge against you. I mean the last time I checked, bribery of an official is still illegal.” Kouga chuckled as he stood up, taking Yamashita with him.
“Well there goes my meal with Dog shit. Now I have to drop this piece of scum at the precinct… You know you could have at least pretended to help me. You didn’t even bat an eye when he pointed that knife on me.” Kouga scowled at Sesshoumaru as he reached inside his back jean pocket before slipping the handcuffs he had retrieved around Sousuke’s now trembling wrists.
“Why would this Sesshoumaru bother when you seem to have the situation well in hand.”
“Unlike you, right…” The wolf sneered, his blue gaze trained on the bloody tear in the dog demon’s jacket. At hearing his words, Sesshoumaru barely repressed the urge to growl.
“Tell Dog shit that we’ll have to postpone our meal… and then stop by the station later today or tomorrow, so I can take your deposition, and throw that idiot in jail for good.” The wolf youkai addressed his brother’s older brother before turning back to the crowd around them, and yelling: “Get the hell away from here, the show’s over.” With these last words, and dragging Sousuke along, Kouga walked back towards his car
With the wolf and snake demons gone, Sesshoumaru saw no reason to linger any longer in the street. Walking past the crowd of people, who had not been scared away by Kouga’s outburst, the dog demon hurried inside his office building. He after all still had an important meeting he needed to get ready for.
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Across the street a dark figure had watched with interest the events that had just unfolded in front of the entrance of the Takahashi agency. He was grateful for the crowd the actions of the wolf had attracted. It allowed him to blend in, and be able to observe things from up close without having dog demon smell him and detect his presence. Unfortunately for the dark man, things did not go on as planned.
‘That damned pathetic fool! How could he miss such a golden opportunity?!’ The man took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger swirling inside him.
He quickly walked away, lest Sesshoumaru and his wolf friend managed to notice him; he was not ready to make his presence be known.
‘Because of that idiot who was unable to do the simple task I gave him, it seems I will have to handle the situation myself.’ Anger and hatred making his red eyes brighter, the dark man got into his car, and quickly drove off. Soon he would put his plan into place and would bring both Kagura and Sesshoumaru, who had dared to defy him, down on their knees.
‘I better get to work now, or I will be too late.’ He grinned as he started driving towards his new workplace, which luckily happened to be nearby.
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“I’m sorry boss, but I couldn’t find anything else for you to wear… maybe you could borrow something from your brother...” Kiriko told her employer on as even a tone as she could; she had finally managed to regain her usual composure.
‘Who could blame me for being flustered? After all it’s not every day your boss walks into the office with a knife tear in his sleeve, and blood dripping down his arm…’ She thought to herself, a pout still present on her lips. No matter how much she had wanted to clean up Sesshoumaru’s wound, he had refused adamantly.
“I would rather attend my meeting with a blood stained shirt than borrow one of the idiot’s red shirts.” Only thinking about it almost brought a scowl on the dog demon’s face.
“Hum I don’t think anyone else had your size… I guess your only alternative is to go home and change…”
“Not enough time.” He interrupted her.
The young female secretary suddenly perked up when a thought occurred to her. “Why don’t you ask your delectable Kagura to bring you something clean to wear for your meeting?... I am not saying that just because I want to see her, but really I think she is your only choice. Unless you want to give Kozue the wrong impression, and lose his much needed business…”
As much as the idea did not please him, after a quick calculation, he figured that Kagura would indeed have enough time to make it to his office before his meeting. Even if the wind sorceress had still not accepted his offer to buy her a car, he knew that she could make it to his office by bus faster than if he drove to the penthouse, and back to his office.
“Leave me.” A smile on her face, the secretary complied with his command. She was barely out of the door that Sesshoumaru picked up his phone.
‘Something tells me this conversation is not going to be an easy one.’ He thought to himself even as he started dialing his home phone number.
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“You were what?!” Kagura gasped into the phone, letting go of the spatula she was using to scramble her eggs fall inside the frying pan. She cursed as she retrieved the now burning hot utensil from her pan, and turned the fire off. Her breakfast would probably be ruined, but she had a more important matter now on her mind.
“Attacked I said. By Sousuke Yamashita.” Sesshoumaru repeated calmly. If he had had any other option when it came to getting fresh clean clothes he would have used it, but as things stood Kagura was his only alternative.
‘I now regret having given Jaken a vacation.’ He thought to himself. He had forced the imp demon to take some time off when he had been unable to deal properly with his mother at his father’s memorial. ‘As annoying as he is, at least I can tune out his fussing…He would have done his duty and not ask questions, the same cannot be said of the witch.’
“You have no need to worry witch. All I need you to do is bring me new clothes, so that I can change before my meeting… I apologize for waking you up. I would have relied on Jaken, but he is… away.”
“I don’t care if you wake me up! I was already fucking up anyways… and don’t you dare tell me not to worry. I have a right to worry if my fiancé gets attacked in broad daylight! What did he do to you?” She asked worry gnawing at her.
“It is comforting to see that you have so much faith in me.” He scoffed, slightly hurt that she immediately assumed the snake demon had managed to hurt him.
‘It may be, but I would still appreciate it if the witch had more faith in me.’ He thought, annoyed.
“You said he attacked you, and I know him enough to know that Yamashita is a sneaky bastard. I am sure he did something underhanded to hurt you… so tell me what did he do to you?”
“I would appreciate it if you could bring the gray suit I recently bought. Pair it with one of my light blue shirts.” The dog demon ignored her question.
She could tell that his trying to redirect the conversation could only mean that she was right, and that he had indeed been hurt by Yamashita.
“How bad is it? And this time I want the truth Sesshoumaru. The way you keep avoiding telling me is driving me nuts!” The anguish clear in her voice forced him to relent.
He sighed and took the time to find a fine way of wording the situation. “It is merely a graze, this Sesshoumaru will be fine….” He reluctantly admitted.
“A graze? Did he shoot at you?! When you said attacked… I thought you meant a punch of something.” The frantic wind sorceress suddenly felt as if her heart had stopped.
“You have no need to be this upset. He merely used a knife.”
“A knife!” She said in a strangled scream. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?!... Forget it. I’m on my way, and I swear that if I find your injury is more than a ‘graze,’ I’ll kill you myself than drag you to Suikotsu’s clinic.” She spat angrily before rushing out of the kitchen, where she had taken the call, the breakfast she had been cooking well forgotten.
“Do not forget my clothes.” He said, but his words were only met with the even tone of the phone. Letting out a curse, the dog demon quickly pressed the intercom button on his desk, calling his secretary.
“Yes, sir?” His surprised secretary quickly answered.
“Kiriko. Bring the first aid kit.” He would be damned if he let Kagura worry unnecessarily. He would have to make sure that his arm was cleaned and bandaged before she came storming in, no matter how annoyed the idea of having his employee see to his injury annoyed him.
‘What would I not do for that witch?’ He thought to himself. A frown formed on his face when Kiriko walked in, a bright smile on her face, which did not sit well with her employer.
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“This is all my fault.”
The wind sorceress could not tear her gaze from the white bandage wrapped around her beloved arm. Usually the sight of him getting changed would have been enough to have her want to tackle him to the nearest bed, or in their present situation couch, but right now sex was the thing furthest from her mind.
“This Sesshoumaru fails to see how. As he told me before his cowardly attack, Yamashita was mad at me, and wanted to harm me.” The dog demon responded as he quickly slipped on a new shirt, throwing away the ruined one in the closest waste basket. It having a large tear on the sleeve, and being bloody assured him that it could not be salvaged.
While he finished buttoning his shirt, a faint beeping sound came from Kagura’s purse.
The dog demon knew all too well the sound was an alarm she had programmed on her cell phone, and was very aware of what it stood for, having heard it so many times. He simply turned towards his refreshment table, and handed to Kagura a glass of water.
“We’re in the middle of an argument. I can take it later.” She dismissed his questioning gaze. To emphasize her point she reached for her cell phone in her purse, and shut down the alarm.
“I did not know you had changed your mind about having a baby.” He said casually. Silently grateful that her having to take her daily birth control pill had given him the perfect opportunity to close a conversation he really did not want to have.
“Oh fine.” She gave in, knowing full well that he was merely trying to find a way out of their argument. ‘Does he think I’ll let him try to sidetrack me this easily?’ She thought as she quickly took out one of her birth control tablets from her purse before popping out a pill, and downing it with the water Sesshoumaru had handed her.
“Happy? Now can we go back to our conversation?” She did her best not to glare at him.
“I do not see what more we have to talk about.” He commented lightly before taking the empty glass from her, and putting it away for Kiriko to clean up later on.
“Oh don’t play dumb. Had it not been for me, you never would have even met that asshole of Yamashita. We both know that he came after you to hurt me, and get back at me.”
“Yamashita said himself that his goal was to hurt me, your name did not even come up.” He effortlessly lied. Masking the truth was not really a problem for him as protecting the woman he loved was his utmost priority.
“I have a hard time believing that…” She scoffed. “I know Sousuke enough to tell that…”
Sesshoumaru raised his hand to interrupt her, then walked towards his fiancée, and wrapped her in his arms.
“I am glad he came after me rather than you.” He simply said.
“But…” She tried to say, but Sesshoumaru interrupted her by pressing two fingers to her lips.
“We have no need to talk about Sousuke Yamashita anymore. He is now in custody, and from what my lawyer Myouga has told me, he will be thrown in jail for a very long time. Now if he had dared hurt you or Kanna, I can assure you he would be dead… by my hands.” The assurance with which Sesshoumaru spoke made a shiver run down Kagura’s spine; she could easily tell he was not jesting. Seeing her unease, he took her again in his arms, and gave her a light squeeze, ignoring the pain it caused in his arm.
“I guess I just have to be glad you’re okay, and that that damn bastard was arrested.” She smiled up at the man who held her securely in his arms, and also held her heart. The words had barely left her mouth that the dog demon leaned down to give her a kiss.
‘You damn bastard. I guess that is the most effective way you found to shut me up.’ She thought even as she let his tongue gently caress hers. As usual she was unable to resist him, and buried her hands in his long silver hair, even as she craned her neck to make it easier for him to reach her lips.
“Feh! To think that we thought you were at death’s door.” Inuyasha said as he barged inside his brother’s office without knocking. His intrusion caused the demon couple to quickly break their lip lock.
“Ah I see now why Kiriko didn’t want us to walk in here.” Miroku added. The way he spat the name of the dog demoness secretary betrayed how much he still did not like her.
“Inuyasha. Miroku. What do you want?” The dog demon growled, not even bothering to mask his annoyance.
“Well Kouga called to tell us all about how you got your ass kicked by some snake demon. What old man, are you losing your touch in combat?” The younger of the Takahashi brothers snickered.
“I believe that is Inuyasha’s way of expressing relief at seeing you are alright.” Miroku, ever the peacemaker said.
“The two of you leave, now.” Sesshoumaru simply answered, ignoring his two close friends.
“Ha ah yes we will take our leave now.” The young human chuckled even as he took a hold of his friend’s red clad elbow, and started tugging.
“Just wait a sec’ pervert. That mangy wolf, Kouga wanted me to remind you that you have to give a deposition. I also wanted to let you two know that my mom is taking over my apartment tomorrow to cook dinner. So you better come.” The scowling hanyou told his half brother and future sister in-law.
“You’re just telling us just now?” Kagura asked. She was sure that Izayoi was not the kind of woman to give out an invitation for a dinner the day before.
“Hum it may have slipped my mind.” Inuyasha chuckled as he scratched the back of one of his ears.
“Back to work.”
Inuyasha and Miroku wasted no time doing as told by Sesshoumaru. After all they had now confirmed Kouga’s claim that Sesshoumaru had not been badly hurt.
“It seems we are going to your brother’s place for dinner tomorrow.” The wind sorceress waited until the two young men were gone before speaking.
“We do not have to go.” Sesshoumaru simply pointed out. Since they would have Rin that night, the dog demon would rather they do something just the four of them.
“And miss a family gathering? I don’t think so. Besides I like Izayoi, and would love getting to know her better. Now I have to run to work, so please be safe, and don’t let crazy bastards stab you anymore.”
“Very amusing.” Sesshoumaru said dryly even though he was glad that she was making light of the situation, which told him she was not very upset anymore. He never wanted to see the look of worry that had been in her eyes when she had first walked inside his office.
Just then the intercom on Sesshoumaru’s office buzzed. He quickly pressed a button on it, awaiting to hear what his secretary wanted now from him.
“Sir, Kozue is here for your meeting.” Kiriko’s voice said.
“Place him in the conference room, I will be right down.” Sesshoumaru responded. He knew that the encounter would not go as nice as he wanted as he had not had time to overview the file on his potential client.
‘Let’s just hope the old man decides to give us his business.’ He thought to himself.
“Guess it’s time for work. I’ll see you at home later.” The wind sorceress said as she walked towards the inu youkai then she raised herself on the tip of her toes to press a light peck to her fiancé’s lips. Within a few moments she was gone from his office, leaving only her pleasant perfume for him to enjoy.
Grabbing the stack of preliminary sketches his newly formed design team had made to show Kozue, and ignoring the pain of the wound in his arm, Sesshoumaru headed for the door of his office. He knew that in a matter of hours the injury Sousuke Yamashita had caused him would heal completely, but the wound the snake demon had left on his pride would sting for a long time.
‘That bastard is lucky enough that Kouga intervened. He better stay clear from my family or else he could only call getting arrested being lucky.…’ Sesshoumaru thought as he marched out of his office.
To be continued…
A/N: I hope you liked this very long chapter. There hasn’t been much bloodshed… yet, but I can assure you that things are going to accelerate soon. I don’t have the title for the next chapter yet, but you can be sure it will involve a big Takahashi family reunion.
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