Chapter One:
Interviews and Pathetic Brothers
Words: 2,768
Sesshomaru inwardly groaned at the thought of getting a new secretary. His old one—a woman—had gotten a little too flirtatious to his liking, and lets just say that he sort of scared her away... He hated getting new staff members. They were almost always the same people. Most of them were women who thought they could get into his pants and get all his money. There were some men, but even he knew that some were even gay, hoping he himself was. 'Pathetic...are they're any humans who can do their job without other thoughts distracting them?' He was interviewing a woman about the age of twenty-one. She was talking, but he could sense her eyes on him, and he could sense her want. It was degrading. Did all women in this era act like this? This woman wore a low v-neck, and a short, mid-thigh skirt with 5" heels. It was positively disgusting, showing so much skin around in public.
The woman finished and looked at him, her eyes traveling downwards flirtingly. He looked at her coldly until she got the hint and left. Sighing out loud this time, he massaged the bridge of his nose where he could feel a headache coming on. He heard the door creak open- 'I have got to get those hinges oiled...' he thought- and some shuffling before a voice came to his ears, "Oh! Er...are you alright? Do you have a headache? I have some aspirin here..." called a sweet voice. The scent of jasmine, and some other scent he could not place filled the air, calling out to him, calming him. He looked up, and the woman gasped slightly. Gold eyes met deep pools of blue. Recognition flickered in both their minds though they dare not say anything, fearing they should break the spell they were in. She wore a long, ankle black skirt, a deep red blouse and small maybe about 2" heels with tan panty hose. At least she didn't show as much skin as most women these days...
He watched her softly bit her lip, then she spoke, "I-I was coming here for a job interview..." He mentally shook his head, pushing unwanted thoughts out of his head. He'd always thought the Miko was too attractive for her own good...
"Yes. Please sit down," he said. The Miko sat down in the chair across from him. "Tell me, how many years have you had experience in this area of expertise?" She relaxed slightly, seeing he would not question her of their past. 'Not yet my dear Miko...' he thought.
"I took business classes all through my years in high school, and took classes for five years." The Miko answered.
"And how old are you?"
"I graduated three years earlier in high school than the rest so I just turned twenty." 'Smart...' he thought. And here he was, twenty-five, single, and with no family—not that he wanted a family...
Sesshomaru kept asking her questions and she answered them professionally until the hour was over. He wrote a few notes down, then got up and shook her hand.
"It was...nice meeting you." The Miko said.
"Pleasure. If I may ask, what is your name?" Sesshomaru asked. He never heard it when they were in the Feudal Era, so he wanted to learn it now.
"Kagome. Higurashi Kagome," she replied, smiling. 'He must've not learned it back then...' she thought, amused. He knew she was silently laughing at him, he could see it in her eyes. "And so, Mr. Taisho; I bid you adieu." She inclined her head and walked out. Only about five minutes after she left, he remembered who he was, and who she was. 'I shall not fall for a Miko, however beautiful she may seem...' he thought, mentally berating himself for acting like that in front of one of his former enemies. :: Ah, but is she still your enemy? She did not attack you, did she? And if I am correct, she was slightly attracted to you:: [u]I do not need advice from you.[/u] Great, now her presence had caused him to be talking to his inner demon... :: Well, it seems you have no experience in romancing a woman, and one of us will have to teach the other some time:: [u]Damnit, I know how to romance a woman without your help![/u] :: Oh, and that's why you have failed in all the past relationships, going against my advice... :: [u]Just shut-up...[/u] The good thing was, his inner demon did shut-up. Until next time, at least... Then, he inwardly groaned again as another person walked into his office. He'd only see a few more people, and then he was going to go home...
After work, Sesshomaru drove home. All he wanted to do was sit down, drink a cup of wine, and then go to bed. Guess Kami had things go differently for him... First, it was pouring its ass off. Second, he had splashed someone when his car went into a pool of water. Someone screeched and cussed him out. Deciding to go and apologize, he turned around and stopped at the now drenched person...woman. Uh-oh... he thought.
As soon as he rolled down the window, a string of curses came, "You bastard! You should watch where in the fucking hell you are driving, then you wouldn't splash innocent people on the side of the road, trying to hurry home and get out of the mother fucking god damned rain! I out to—Oh, shit..." the woman's hands flew to her mouth, and a visible blush appeared.
"...Kagome...?" Sesshomaru asked. He hadn't known she had it in her.
"Oh, Gods...I-I'm sooo sorry!!" Kagome said. Then, he did something that surprised them both. He chuckled. Her eyes slightly widened, and he was surprised but did not show it.
"...I apologize for...splashing you with water..." Sesshomaru said.
"Oh, er...it's alright..." Kagome replied.
"If you would like, I could take you to your home," he said.
"Really? That would be so nice of you!" He could tell that she was a little shocked that he, Sesshomaru, would do something so nice. He nodded and she walked over and opened the passenger door. "If you don't mind me getting your seat wet..."
"Not at all," he replied. She smiled, her eyes lighting up as she did so, and slid into the passenger seat. She closed the door and buckled her seatbelt. When she was finished, he drove off. "Where do you live?"
"Oh! I live at 133 Shikon Ave." Kagome said, looking at him briefly when she spoke to him. He nodded and turned down a road. "Sesshomaru...how...how did you survive the wars?" she asked tentatively. He knew she would've asked one way or the other sometime...
"Easy. Us youkais hid. We hid our appearance, aura, and any traces of us. If you want to know, InuYasha is still alive, Kouga is, Ayame is, Kilala, Shippou, and many other demons."
"Shippou! How is he doing? Is he alright? Has he been good these past five-hundred years?"
"Asking too many questions at one time, as usual...Shippou is doing fine. Yes, he has been good. If you really want to know, when he became of age, and when Rin became of age, he took her as his mate. She now shares his lifespan and is still living." Sesshomaru answered.
"...I knew he liked her..." Kagome mumbled softly. When he looked at her quizzically, she giggled and replied, "Shippou had a childhood crush on Rin. He said so to me once. So...how are things going with you?"
"Fine," he said.
"Oh, I knew it would never last...back to one-word man, I see..." he looked at her, brows knit together but he scoffed when he saw her eyes were laughing at him.
"What about you, Miko?" he asked.
"Stop with the Miko business, please...We're two people who used to be childhood friends until one of us moved away and now we've found our best friend again," she said. He realized she was making up a cover story and chuckled. "Everything's fine. Still single, and loving it."
"Why are you proud of being single? Most women these days are desperate for a man." Kagome laughed.
"Just shows I don't need a man in my life. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." ::Ohh, feisty...:: '[u]Shut-up...'[/u] Sesshomaru nodded and she laughed. "You must think I'm some feminist or some man-hater by now..."
"Not at all. I respect what you have chosen in."
"But really...I'm not just ready for relationships right now."
"Neither I." He chuckled while she smiled. "You seem...more withdrawn than you were years ago."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," she said, sarcasm dripping her voice. Again, he seemed surprised. How could this woman have changed from the sweet, trusting seventeen-year-old he once knew, to a woman who had a sharp mind and calculating eyes? She sighed. "Time changes people...bad experiences change people..."
Hesitantly, he asked, "What experiences?"
"I had a stepfather...Inuyasha didn't know about him because every time he came over, my stepfather was at work...he'd come home drunk and then he'd beat my mother and then come in and try to hurt my brother, but I'd make him angry at me and he'd beat me instead. I was only protecting my brother, but I soon learned that I was too trusting because before I knew it...I was almost raped. If I hadn't used the self-defense skills I had learned in the Feudal Era I would have been...raped." She sighed again.
"You know...sighing chases happiness away..." he said. He took one hand off of the steering wheel and wiped away tears that had fallen from her azure eyes. She gave him a small smile as he stopped at the curb in front of her house.
"Thank you...I needed to tell someone about that. You won't tell anyone, will you?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Kagome, I believe we got off on the wrong step those years ago. I would like to make it up to you by taking you out for dinner tomorrow night, say...at eight?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Is this a date?" she asked, half amused, half shocked. He only asked her because he wanted to make up for her the times he tried to kill her, but the word 'date' seemed to appeal to him. 'Now why do I want to go on a date with this Miko?' he asked himself.
"I guess you could say that," he found himself replying. 'Wait, I didn't mean to say that!' "Alright, I guess." She smiled at him. "Eight, right?" He nodded. "Okay, see you." 'Might as well go along with it since it already flew out of my traitorous mouth...' he thought.
"Until we meet again." Flashing him a grin, she opened the door and got out.
"Bye!" The car door closed and he watched her walk up the steps, unlock the door, and go inside. A small smile settled on his lips as he drove home. ::Now that wasn't too bad, now was it?:: His inner demon asked. '[u]I believe you were right, but if you are wrong...there will be dire consequences.'[/u] ::Nya::
When he walked into his house (a really big house, I might mention) he was assaulted by the smell of his brother, which always seemed to smell extremely of ramen, and candy.
"Yo, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha called, smiling. "Long day at work?"
"I would've never come home if I knew you would still be here, little brother." Sesshomaru said, smirking. As he drew closer, Inuyasha inhaled his scent, a look of confusion etched onto his features.
"Something's different...Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "You met Kagome today, didn't you?"
"Yes, little brother, I believe I also have dinner with her tomorrow night at eight." Inuyasha's mouth opened, and his eyes went wide. "I would suggest closing your mouth, Inuyasha; I believe I see flies going in there."
"How—when—Who in the hell are you and what have you done to my aniki?!" Inuyasha asked. Sesshomaru growled low, warning his brother to shut his mouth.
"I am your brother, Inuyasha. You just seem to think that I am like as I was five hundred years ago. People change." Sesshomaru said, finding himself saying the last sentence of how Kagome said it. He blinked, confused on how he would use the same sentence of a mere Miko.
"Humph! Could've fooled me..." Inuyasha grumbled, crossing his arms in front of him. "And why are you going on a date with a mere onna?"
"I just asked her for dinner because I wanted to make up for all those times I tried to kill her in the past." Sesshomaru replied. Again, Inuyasha was shocked. What in the hell had happened to his aniki? "I told you, close your mouth." He said, growling. Inuyasha obeyed, not wanting to start a fight with his aniki this late in the day. He was tired anyway.
"Hey, aniki?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru answered.
"Could I...Could I please stay over for tonight? Mai and I had a row and she sorta kicked me out of the house..." Sesshomaru nodded.
"Just don't start anything with me. Leave me alone, and you shall be fine. You know where the guest quarters are," he replied. Inuyasha said something he thought to never say to his aniki, "Thank you, Sesshomaru." Sesshomaru, in turn, was surprised, but did not show it, and nodded. Then, he briskly walked to his room where he fell onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep, the day's stress gone from his thoughts at least for a little while.
Inuyasha smiled. At least his aniki was improving. And even though he still felt something for Kagome, he knew that if Sesshomaru took her for his mate that she would be happier than she would ever have been with him. Sesshomaru took care of people better than he did, and once he let someone close, he didn't let go for that person was dear to him. What little company he kept, he always formed deep bonds with them... Sighing, he walked to the guest bedroom, thinking of ways to apologize to his mate.
Okay, this is my first story on dokuga, and I think I have done a pretty good job. Tell me if I missed any bolding/italics/underlining so that I may fix it, please!! Constructive critisism is greatly appreciated.
Ja ne,
Makinotsuki