Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
words: 1,847; prompt: Wreathed in Smiles, Christmas Challenge Dokuga_contest; rating: K+
A Note: As of March 2014, this story has been lightly edited for continuity and stupid mistakes. Also, it has finally been finished! :) For the new readers, this is supposed to be set in December 2011, so the days of the week mentioned in the story correspond with the dates of that year. This is technically a drabble-fic, but some of the "drabbles" got away from me, and entries vary from 100 words in length to more than 5,000. Enjoy!
A mountain of presents, a handful of thank-yous, and a lifetime of happiness to my beta, iheartinuyasha. May you find your own Christmas miracle this year.
December 1—A Christmas Miracle
(Days until Christmas: 24)
Kagome dragged a hand over her face, trying hopelessly to prevent her frustration from seeping through. She really wasn't sure how her new intern was working out. While perfectly skilled in many areas, he'd been with them for more than a month and still couldn't manage to make a decent pot of coffee. Granted, the man had probably never made coffee a day in his life before joining them, but it wasn't as if she was asking him to mix her up a double-tall, non-fat, extra-foam, no-whip, light-on-the-milk latte. It was a regular old no-frills cup of coffee. What she got was something resembling rocket fuel.
She pushed the concoction away, some of it spilling over the edge and burning her fingers. Kagome hissed and sucked on the offending digits. A silver head poked into her office, gold eyes blinking in concern.
"Are you alright, Miss Higurashi?" he asked, moving to stand next to her desk. She smiled at him around her fingers and nodded, wrinkling her nose a bit at the flavor of the strong brew.
"Is the coffee to your liking?" he questioned, his brow furling and scrunching up the crescent moon proudly displayed there. He looked so hopeful that she couldn't quite bring herself to let him know that he'd made it just a little too strong, yet again.
She smiled more widely, pulling her fingers from her mouth. He followed them with his eyes until they disappeared into her lap.
"I'm fine and it's fine, thanks, Sesshoumaru. It's just a bit too hot," she assured. He breathed a sigh of relief and his resulting grin made Kagome think it was worth it to have to make her own cup later.
They lingered in awkward silence for a few moments, Kagome waiting for Sesshoumaru to take the hint and leave so she could get back to work, when Miroku knocked on the open door frame and stuck his head in.
"Hey, Kagome, I still need approval for this new holiday ad I want to run. I really think it'll pull in a lot of business," he wheedled in a sing-song voice. He'd been trying to get Kagome to approve a new radio ad for weeks, and each time he asked, her answer was the same—until Sango cleared the funds for the endeavor, there would be no ad.
As if on cue, Sango shouted from the other room, "And I told you, Miroku, there is no room in the budget for the kind of ad you want! Honestly," she complained, joining them at the door, "you want an a capella quartet and voice actors for this thing? It's just not happening!"
"But, Sango," Miroku whined, reaching surreptitiously for the buxom brunette's backside and being unceremoniously slapped away, "I'm telling you it will double, no, triple, our business this season! Everyone wants to throw a Christmas party!"
"And I'm telling you, until we get one of these famous, no-holds-barred parties you always talk about, we absolutely cannot afford—"
She was cut off by the loud trilling of Kagome's desk phone. Sesshoumaru reached a hand over Kagome's desk, making sure to carefully brush her arm as he did so.
"Four Souls Party Planning, where you're always the life of the party," he answered. Miroku and Sango grimaced.
"You know, I really think you can come up with a better slogan," Sango scolded.
"I thought it was catchy!" he whispered back, trying not to disturb the conversation.
Sesshoumaru nodded and grunted at something said over the line, then held the phone to Kagome.
"Miss Higurashi, it's for you. Someone wanting to plan a large office Christmas party on very short notice. Apparently cost is no object."
Kagome, Miroku, and Sango all looked at each other, glee and disbelief spreading over their features before Kagome tamped her face into a nonchalant expression and took the call. As she questioned the particulars of the event, biting her lip thoughtfully and pacing as far as the cord would let her, Sesshoumaru watched her with a longing that he couldn't quite hide from Miroku and Sango.
Miroku smirked naughtily at Sango, jerking his head in the direction of the moonstruck taiyoukai before sauntering over and throwing his arm around the much taller man's shoulder. He grinned mischievously and Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, glaring at the arm and rolling his shoulders in an effort to throw it off.
Miroku ignored the attempt and nodded toward Kagome before pulling Sesshoumaru down to whisper not-so-quietly in his ear, "She is pretty, isn't she?"
Sango giggled and Sesshoumaru turned his glower on her before forcefully removing Miroku from his person, growling so low in his throat that Miroku could feel rather than hear the vibrations.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, holding up his hands and backing away in what Sesshoumaru assumed was supposed to be a placating manner, but which really only succeeded in annoying him further. Before he could verbally express his displeasure (or better yet, physically), Kagome hung up the phone and let out a happy squeal.
Wreathed in smiles as she was, Sesshoumaru felt his own mouth tugging into a reluctant grin. He simply couldn't stay mad with this woman around. He schooled his face back into its usual expression of indifference before anyone noticed.
"You guys won't believe this!" Kagome shouted, throwing her hands into the air and in the process clumsily pushing a whole stack of papers onto the floor. They all watched the papers float to the ground and Kagome's mouth briefly turned briefly into an "O" of surprise.
"Oh," she said, watching the last bit of paper fall into the trash can. Then she shook her head and waved it off, all smiles once more.
"Never mind, get this!" she said again. "That was a representative from Takahashi Corporation, you know, that big media conglomerate owned by Naraku Takahashi. They want to do some huge, company-wide party and someone recommended us! I have no idea how anyone so big could possibly have heard of us, but this will be a huge job; we can't turn it down! We'll have to hire extra help for the day of, of course, but can you believe it?" she shrieked, and then spun in a happy little circle.
Sesshoumaru wondered if it would be completely untoward for him to grab her waist and spin her in a circle himself. Then he realized the name she had dropped, and the company, and his small smile froze into an expression of horror.
"I guess you can have your ad, Miroku," Sango said ruefully.
"It's a Christmas miracle!" Miroku responded joyfully, throwing his hands wildly into the air.
Sesshoumaru forced himself to squash down the feeling of doom that was creeping upon him; it certainly didn't feel like a Christmas miracle. He had a shrewd idea of who might have recommended their small company for this job, and said individual would be getting the beating of his life come the weekend. He pushed aside his anger; he would have time to examine what this particular assignment meant for him and his tenure at Four Souls Party Planning at home. Now he had to act like the perfect assistant.
"Miss Higurashi," he interrupted the group's excited murmurings, "they mentioned that this would be done on very short notice. How short exactly is very short notice?"
"Oh, right, that," Kagome said, her smile faltering somewhat. Sesshoumaru could have slapped himself for ruining the moment for her.
"It's scheduled for Friday, December 16. Apparently there's no room to move the date; it was set before they selected a planner. Either that or that had something lined up and it fell through; anyway, it's non-negotiable. But I already told them we could do it. Do you think that's bad?" Worry settled over her face, but Miroku was quick to reassure her.
"Kagome, you're the best in the business. You need this to grow. With you and Shippou as a team, nothing can stop us! And with extra help, it'll be a cinch. Don't worry about pulling off the party. The question now is whether you want me to put the ad out next week. I think we can get it made in time, but can we handle more business?"
Kagome pursed her lips in thought. "I'd rather not stop everything for this. We have some regulars that will want to throw small parties, and anything after the 16th will be fine. Plus, I have Sesshoumaru to help me now!" she brightened at this, though Sesshoumaru noted with chagrin the twin looks of doubt etched on Sango and Miroku's faces. He moved closer to Kagome and clasped her hand in his own, rather larger one.
"I promise to do everything in my power to help you, Miss Higurashi," he told her seriously. She giggled and Sango and Miroku rolled their eyes.
"You want me to put out the ad, then?" Miroku asked again.
"Yes," Kagome said decisively. "Shippou and I can have a meeting tomorrow and line up any help we need this weekend. After we have catering and everything lined up, we can focus on theme and creativity. Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly stand it," she squealed, clapping her hands gleefully.
"You deserve it, Kagome," Sango grinned. She and Miroku went back to their desks to work on accounting and marketing, respectively. Sesshoumaru lagged behind, wanting to make sure Kagome wasn't going to get too stressed about this.
"Is there anything else you need, Miss Higurashi? Perhaps a fresh cup of coffee?"
Kagome waved her hands hurriedly in a "no thanks" gesture, shaking her head and biting her lip. "What I have is fine," she assured him.
"Are you sure?" he pressed. "You haven't touched the first cup, and I know how you like your afternoon caffeine fix."
She was never going to get rid of him at this rate, and the last thing she needed was more of the noxious coffee-like drink. Thinking it might deter him, she grabbed the now-lukewarm mug and took a huge gulp. She immediately felt her eyes water and fought back the urge to cough. She swallowed hurriedly and shook her head more frantically.
"Nope! What I have is fine," she repeated, still reeling from the intensity of the flavor. If Sesshoumaru noticed the tears running down her face, he didn't say anything.
"Alright then," he said uncertainly, backing out of her office. Kagome nodded, not trusting herself to speak again just yet.
"I'll just… get back to work on filling out those expense reports for Sango," he sighed, ducking out of the room and returning to his desk outside her door. Kagome heaved a sigh of relief and indulged in a grimace, sticking her tongue out and smacking her lips, wishing she could rid herself of the offending taste.
She looked down at the mug still sitting innocently on her desk and shrugged, a rueful grin spreading over her lips.
"If he doesn't kill me with that stuff by the end of the year, that'll be the real Christmas miracle."