Chapter 2: Moment of Misunderstanding
Four days later
Sitting quietly in the now empty board room, Kagome was startled out of her thoughts by Jun-Long who randomly dropped into a chair directly across from hers. Staring into the face of her boss, she was about to greet him cheerfully when she noted the grim expression on his face and hesitated to speak until he did. Nothing was said for a few moments, the dragon king looking her over fully while he gathered his thoughts it seemed. Uncomfortable, the demoness glanced around the empty board room and then to her watch, refusing to meet the dragon's eyes in this situation. Unable to handle this odd behavior anymore, she finally sighed and offered an opening for him to talk. "Um...yes?"
Boring his eyes into her tan skin, Jun snorted once before finally speaking for the first time. "you're seeing him again aren't you?"
Running ahead of his brother, Inuyasha admired the beauty that was the cultural West Lake of Hangzhou. Seeing the ducks that floated gracefully on top of the water, he motioned for Sesshomaru to join him. "Nubis! I wanna swim in the lake!"
Coming up to the bridge, he placed a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "Inuyasha, that lake is not for swimming in."
"But they get to swim!" little-clawed fingers pointed at the floating fowl in the water, the animals in questions squawking loudly when they noticed people along their feeding bank.
"Those are geese, they're allowed to swim, we aren't,"
"But Nubis!"
"Inuyasha, I brought you here to meet someone, you can worry about the birds later."
"Meet someone?" he repeated curious, "Who?"
"She's…." he was interrupted by a familiar scent crossing his nose, causing him to turn to greet the wonderful source.
Kagome slowly walked along the connecting bridge towards Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, a smile small on her face when she saw he noticed her. Stopping just in front of the rather tall man, the demoness waved and greeted him softly. "Hey, Anubis."
"Hn. You're right on time," feigning surprise, he resisted the urge to grin when Kagome rolled her eyes.
"It's the real world, I had to learn sometime."
"Hn."
"You still do that?"
"So?"
"Screw you!"
"Watch your language," Kagome was about to retort when Sesshomaru suddenly stepped to the side, revealing the five-year-old who had been hiding behind him the entire time. Her eyes widening, he watched his little brother who matched her expression perfectly, a mixture of surprise and apprehension. "Kagome I'd like you to meet Inuyasha."
"Inuyasha?" she repeated softly. Kneeling down to the half-breeds eye level, Kagome smiled and greeted the shy boy. "Hello."
Pouting, Inuyasha held onto his brother's pants leg for dear life, a snarl crossing his features when she reached out for him slightly.
"Hahaha," Kagome laughed openly, "You were skittish the last time I saw you too, but that was almost five years ago."
His ears twitching in curiosity, he spoke to the strange woman. "You knew me when I was a baby?"
"Not exactly knew, but I saw you a few times and you didn't trust anyone then either. That's actually a good trait to have."
"Huh?"
Shaking her head, she took back what she said. "Nevermind."
"Hn. Now that that's done, are you ready to go eat?"
"Ramen!"
"Inuyasha they don't have ramen in this restaurant."
"Ramen!" the halfbreed insisted, flapping the leather bound menu at the sweat dropping waitress who was waiting to take their orders.
Seeing Sesshomaru's frustration, Kagome tried to steer his younger brother towards another food choice. "Inuyasha, do you like shrimp?"
"No! I want ramen!"
"Forgive me but do you have some type of pasta dish that could pass for Japanese ramen?"
Hastily the woman apologized again and again in Chinese, unable to understand what the two brothers were yelling for in their own native tongue.
Exasperating, Kagome finally began speaking to the woman in Mandarin who appeared beholden at hearing a language she understood. Ordering a number of entrees to better pick from, the demoness informed Sesshomaru what she had done afterward, who only mutely agreed. "He's bound to like at least one of them," he surmised.
Waiting until the waitress walked off, she inspected the beautiful Hangzhou restaurant they were dining at and sighed when she realized this place was way too refined for a five-year-olds taste. Telling Sesshomaru her thoughts, he snorted in response. "We could have eaten street food if your brother was going to come with us."
"I wasn't planning on him accompanying us today. Forgive me but he ran away from his nursemaid to find me. Apparently not seeing me at least once every two days gives him severe anxiety."
Smirking Kagome coyly pointed out a pattern, "Oh so he gets antsy when he isn't around someone he really wants to be? Must be a family thing."
"Hn. I don't disappear for years at a time."
"Are we still on that?"
"Still on that!" Inuyasha repeated happily, causing the two grown Inu Youkai to glare at him in mock annoyance.
"So, Inuyasha you like to repeat what other say?"
"No. I just like certain things."
"Certain things like what?"
"Ramen, and cats, and red!" he elaborated proudly.
"Oh! You like cats?" Kagome repeated just as cheerfully, "I have a cat you know. His name is Socrates."
Inuyasha tried and failed miserably to say his name."Sockratess?"
"Socrates," she corrected gently. Looking to Sesshomaru she winked at seeing his amused expression.
"That feline is still alive?"
"Of course, he is, he's just living in Turkey right now since I couldn't take him with me to Seychelles."
"Turkey? Who do you know…" he began only to stop when a familiar name hit him like a ton of bricks, "Asil….has your cat?"
"Yea...I asked him to keep Socrates after I found out the climate in Seychelles could make him sick."
"Since when do you communicate with your father?"
"Since…" she watched her words carefully. Kagome still hadn't told him about her life before going to Seychelles. He still had no idea Asil had been the one to sneak her out of the country all those years ago. Remembering her no longer estranged father made her think of her earlier conversation with Jun-Long and the decision he had placed on her to make by the end of the gathering.
"You're seeing him again aren't you?" Jun-Long continued to hold Kagome's gaze, his purple eyes flashing with an unknown emotion.
"Seeing….who?"
"The person you've spent five years trying to heal from?"
"Jun…." panicking Kagome attempted to lie, "I don't know what your…"
"Kagome," he stopped her in her tracks, "You've been sleeping in your room on and off for the past three nights, the maids have been gossiping about your sheets having a certain smell to them, you look like you've been up all night, and when you took off your blazer this morning you had marks on your body that looked like they came from sex."
"I…," she was speechless. Jun-Long had been paying that much close attention to her. "Jun, I can explain,"
Shaking his head, Jun continued with his thoughts, "Kagome, you know what you're doing isn't right."
"No, there's nothing wrong with what we're doing, I didn't want you to find out like this, Jun,"
"Nothing wrong?" Jun looked incredulous, "You are meant to serve as my companion for this time of peace and you're setting yourself up for the fight of the century. Kagome you should know better than to sleep with a man who's already committed!"
She tried to defend herself. "He isn't committed anymore, that's over and done with,"
"Kagome! Are you crazy? He's mated to two women, and he has two son's, why would you ever believe he would choose you over them!"
"Wait...What?"
"Inu no Taisho of all people?" he shook his head in disgust, "It's no wonder you were so damaged, he is not worth your heartache."
"Inu...no Taisho?"
"How could you get mixed up with a man like that? I am a similar position and I know the temptations associated with the rule, Inu no Taisho is not a man you should give yourself to so willingly."
"Inu no Taisho!" Kagome repeated, unable to say anything else.
"Yes, the lover that caused you so much pain all those years ago."
"You think I'm screwing Inu no Taisho…." her eyes bulged out of her head in shock. Holding her stomach Kagome felt it twisting in knots with unrepressed nausea.
"There is no reason to deny it any longer," reaching across the table, Jun placed his rather large hand over her much smaller one. "It is okay in the sense I understand why you couldn't talk about it, but Kagome I cannot let this happen again. You are my companion for the remainder of this event and I intend to hold you to it. If you want to be with him then I will have no choice but to stop this for your own good. This isn't about me and you, it's about you and you alone."
"Jun…."
"I have another meeting to get to right now, but I needed to get this off my chest. You are a talented linguist and one of my best employees. I want nothing but the best for you, even if it's not me, it will not be him you understand?" Standing to leave, Jun turned back towards her just as his fingers touched the doorknob. "Either you end this for good by the end of the gathering, or I expose your affair to the world to stop you from losing your mind. He cannot offer you anything good." Exiting the room, he missed the way Kagome paled when the door shut behind him or the fact that she rushed to the garbage can near the door and promptly threw up her distaste for Inu no Taisho after he was gone. Just the thought of sleeping with that man was enough to turn her stomach forever.
Jun-Long had given her until the end of the gathering to end her assumed affair with the man she despised more than life itself. Just thinking about it turned her skin green with revulsion. Seeing her expression Sesshomaru tried to ask her what was wrong only to get no response from her. Holding her stomach that was aching once more, Kagome excused herself and fled to the nearest bathroom to retch all over again. Inu no Taisho was a bulimic's dream.
A/N: Jun thinks she's doing the Western Lord. The irony is a bitch. Please review! -Theores
