Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor gain any monetary value from this FanFiction.

Title: The Cure-All

Word Count: 1,158

Sesshomaru was stressed.

No, he was beyond stressed. He was at the point of wanting to rip out his beautiful silver hair while laughing hysterically and dancing like a crazy tribesman banishing evil spirits. Now, Sesshomaru's normally not the man to stoop to such levels, but he was seriously thinking about it. Just this once, maybe in the privacy of his own bedroom, but surely not in the presence of his esteemed, legendary, great, powerful, magnificent, dead, father's company. Tashio Corp was his father's pride and joy and it was Sesshomaru's job to maintain the image his late father worked so hard to create.

But he was still seriously thinking about it.

He really needed coffee: thick, dark, strong coffee, and felt he deserved it after the horrible turn of events that had rolled his way, gathering more and more crap as it went.

It all started this morning. Sesshomaru had woken up at his regular time and was in the process of starting his normal routine when, as he slid his hands through his silky, beautiful (but manly) hair, his clawed fingers snagged on something most unusual. Pulling his hand in front of his face so he could confront this offender, you can understand how surprised Sesshomaru was when he found a nice, big glob of pink goo all tangled up in his hair.

Gum? One might ask, 'how could the great and mighty Sesshomaru get gum stuck in his hair? Didn't his mother teach him not to sleep with such sweets in his mouth?'

Well, the simple answer is no. His mother is dead. But that's really beside the point. Sometime, in the middle of the night, a little girl with the most mischievous grin on her face managed to sneak into the sleeping daiyoukai's bedroom and just happened to misplace this said piece of gum. And then tried to play it off like nothing happened!

After that, every possible horrible thing just fell into place. He ran out of toothpaste, lost his car keys (which he also suspected was the work of one ridiculously adorable little girl), got stuck in traffic, and was late for work. Even one of employees managed to lose a valuable sheet of paper that would sign over one of the biggest companies Tashio Corp would ever have the chance of owning. To top it all off, he had a headache; a pounding, screaming migraine. And now he just wanted coffee. He wanted to leave his stuffy office, go out into the bustling city, and grab a nice cup of caffeine and that's exactly what he was going to damn well do!

Lifting himself from his overly comfy chair, Sesshomaru ignored all of the important papers scattered about his desk and made his way out of his huge mahogany doors.

"Sir, you have a meeting in twenty minutes wi-" Sesshomaru sent his assistant the iciest, most dangerous glare he believed he'd ever sent someone. "I will move it to four o'clock, sir," she somehow managed to stutter out.

"Very well," he ignored her flustered expression and walked calmly to his personal elevator, pushing the lobby button, and patiently waited for the doors to reopen.

The city smelled horrid. The smog and grime clouded Sesshomaru's senses as he made his way to a tiny, out of the way café on the corner of the business district. It seemed more like the place that served those frilly, frothy, sophisticated types of drinks everybody so loved, especially considering the huge line that formed behind the cash register. Unfortunately, it was the only coffee shop within a four block radius and Sesshomaru's pounding headache convinced him that the ridiculously long line and overpowering sweet smells were a necessary evil.

Reducing himself to a long wait, Sesshomaru took his place at the end of the line. Fifteen minutes and an annoying amount of shoulder bumps later (really, did everyone find it necessary to order twice as many drinks than they needed and then proceed to hit him on the way out?), Sesshomaru was still only third from the register. This is significant because it was at this time he finally heard her voice and it was also at this time that some imbecile decided to spill their iced, chocolate, frappé, laté, something-or-other all over his pristine Armani suit.

It was also the moment when Sesshomaru's immaculate self-control cracked. It was just a fracture but it was just enough for him to grab the idiotic human around his throat and sink his claws into the man's trachea, leaving a satisfied curl to Sesshomaru's lip as he watched the life leak from the man.

Well, that's what would have happened had small, soft hands not started to pat up the excess coffee that had yet to soak into his suit jacket. Peeling his eyes away from the man who was spewing apologies, Sesshomaru looked down at the head of raven hair that barely came to his chin and watched as she tried, fruitlessly, to clean up his botched suit.

Giving up, the woman sighed and raised her face to look up at him. Deep blue eyes outlined in sooty lashes had Sesshomaru unclenching his fists and softening his own glare. All his anger melted away and he even let a slight droop come to his tired shoulders. His gaze wandered to her pink lips that were glistening where she had swiped her tongue across them. That's when he finally realized she was speaking to him.

"Sir?" She looked up at him expectedly, waiting for his answer.

Shaking his head slightly, he tried to focus on what she had asked. "I apologize, what did you say?"

Her sweet smile made his heart jerk. "I said I was terribly sorry about what happened to your jacket and that I would like to offer you a complementary cup of coffee. Would that be alright?"

Giving a slight frown, he nodded his consent. "Black, no sugar."

Smiling happily at being able to help, the young woman hurried behind the counter to fix him his cup. Sesshomaru took this time to stare at the barista. She was petite, but curvy and her dark tresses were caught up in an elegant bun, exposing a slender, flawless neck - his one weakness.

The woman smiled brightly at him before handing him his coffee. "I hope your day gets better."

Sesshomaru smirked at the beautiful woman. "I believe it already has," he dropped his eyes to her nametag, "Kagome."

The blush that crept across the bridge of her delicate nose insured Sesshomaru's self-satisfied smirk stayed on his face for the rest of the day and well into the night.

It wasn't until he was halfway back to his office that he realized his headache was gone and that maybe today wasn't so bad. Taking a sip of the best cup of coffee he's probably ever tasted, Sesshomaru may have just found his new favorite coffee shop.

bbgirl15