Kagome stared up at the large building with an open mouth and raised eyebrows. It was huge. The sign over the door had script, gilded letters, reading Yamamoto Inc.
She hadn't started out the day with this knot in her stomach, no. Her day had started with a purpose.
Being her day off and with nothing to do, she was on a mission to return the forgotten article of clothing now in her possession. Of course she could always return it to him the next time she saw him. But as usual, she couldn't wait, not only to return the jacket out of boredom, but to see him again sooner than expected.
As she grabbed it and walked out the door, she realized that she didn't have the faintest idea where he lived. She wouldn't find out in her apartment, though, so she set off for the bar. Sango was working that day, so she ordered a Smirnoff while the bartender informed her of a very helpful restaurant procedure. As it turns out, to make a reservation, a person must leave some kind of contact information with the host.
She chatted amiably with her friend while she finished her drink before getting up, paying, and walking out the door to travel to the neighboring restaurant. Cosmo wasn't there, but a different hostess was. She was kind enough to produce a business card, which was more than Kagome could've hoped for from the untracable demon.
Following the address was a longer walk than she expected, but she was glad she had worn jeans and comfortable shoes. It made the walk much easier and much more enjoyable. Though it was still very cold outside and she had to wear a giant overcoat to keep warm.
She felt like a spy on a mission and couldn't stop herself from humming the pink panther theme.
Now, with Sesshoumaru's business jacket folded over her arm and a look of determination on her face, she was ready. Though, she did regret not dressing nicer as she watched classy people go in and out of the broad, glass doors. She was wearing her nicest jeans and a complimentary blouse, yet she felt like she was in a potatoe sack compared to the suits and dresses of this building.
Taking a deep breath that lifted her shoulders, she got over her initial awe at the size of the building and marched forth, game face on.
The glass door swung behind her as she entered the enormous foyer. She couldn't stop her mouth hanging open as she looked from the waterfall to the koi pond on opposite ends of the room.
There was a large desk at the far end of the room, with several secretaries working diligently on papers, answering phones, and typing on computers. Still looking around her as she walked, Kagome quickly reached the front desk and spoke with a secretary on the far end of the desk.
"Um.." she didn't know how to begin, "I'm here to see Sesshoumaru Taisho."
That statement seemed as good as any. If he was indeed an employee here, they would recognize the name.
The secretary gave her an odd look, taking in the young woman with the bright smile that wanted to see Mr. Taisho. She arched an eyebrow at her, which reminded Kagome a little of the demon she needed to see, before taking a manicured finger and placing it on an intercom button.
So he had his own intercom button, he must be pretty important, Kagome thought.
She smiled as his voice came through, "Hn." came the confirmation that he was there. The secretary's confusion grew at the smile spreading across the girl's face after hearing his voice.
"Mr. Taisho? There's a, um.." she paused and looked to Kagome expectantly.
"Kagome Higurashi." she gave her name.
Before the secretary could repeat the name into the loudspeaker, Sesshoumaru's voice came in, cutting her off, "Send her in." he said. Kagome fought a giggle at the shocked look on the secretary's face. The neighboring secretary had also heard and was just as surprised.
"Third door on your left." she directed Kagome, recovering from shock and pointing down an intimidatingly wide hall.
Kagome smiled and thanked the woman, still holding his jacket over her arm, which the secretaries didn't notice until she was walking away. This caused them to erupt in whispers amongst themselves until they saw a door in the hallway open and Mr. Taisho himself come out to greet the girl, who smiled brightly up at him.
Kagome herself had thought he would need the jacket, but she was looking at him now and he was wearing a brand new, tailored, tan suit. She should've known he had more than one jacket. He looked very nice, in fact.
"You left this with me." she said with a shy smile, holding it out for him, "Thanks again, by the way." He closed the door behind them and took the jacket from her, hanging it on the rack behind the door. He helped her out of her overcoat and hung it on the rack next to his jacket.
"Hn." he said as he travelled back to sit at his desk. Once he was seated, he placed a hand at his chin, regarding her thoughtfully. The girl under his scrutiny returned his stare and sat down in a large chair opposite his desk.
"You must be pretty important." she said, looking around and admiring the spacious room, "This is a big office."
"Hn." he let a smirk play on his lips behind the hand on his chin. He looked like he was enjoying a joke, Kagome thought. Sesshoumaru did not look like the type who enjoyed jokes. They looked at each other in silence before directing her attention and admiration to the interior decorations of the office. It was modern, clean cut, and sensible. It suited him very well.
"Hmm." she hummed, now wringing her hands together in the inescapable habit of fidgeting. Quiet reigned as she continued to look around. Sesshoumaru, seeing she was occupied for the moment, decided to look back to his paper work.
Her presence was oddly comforting in the sterile surroundings of the office. Instead of a cold, modern room, she made it warm and rich. He found himself doing his paperwork rather cheerfully, which was a big thing, for him.
And she didn't feel the need to talk. They were comfortable with no words at all, making Sesshoumaru very pleased. She simply watched him as he stacked a few papers here, signed a few papers there, and actually put on a pair of reading glasses to read some mysterious fine print on a particular document.
She looked at him intently, feeling a deep respect for the great demon sitting in front of her. He was obviously very high in status and yet he didn't flaunt it like some people half his rank. And he actually paid attention to her. She wasn't oblivious, she loved the attention she got from him. He didn't exactly look like the type who bended their working hours, so she did something to prove his attention was real. As her stomach growled, she thought of the perfect thing.
"You wanna go get something to eat?" she piped up from the chair, as if just realizing she was hungry, and Sesshoumaru looked up at her. They both looked at her stomach as it vocalized its agreement. She looked up with wide, smilingly embarrassed eyes.
Sesshoumaru smirked from behind his desk and set his papers down. He stood up, grabbing an overcoat from the rack and shrugged it on. He offered his hand to assist her out of her seat and helped her into her own jacket. He opened the door for her and they exited his office to get some lunch. It didn't matter that his lunch break wasn't for another two hours, he could use a good lunch, and maybe a stiff drink. The wide smile he received from Kagome told him he had given the right answer.
She grabbed the sleeve of his coat and started pulling him down the hallway. He was amused by her actions and leaned back, giving her a hard time in getting to the door. She turned around and huffed before grabbing his hand, surprising him and successfully removing him from the office building.
The secretaries at the front desk couldn't help but stare as their boss was being led by the hand and out the door by this bubbly young woman. What surprised them the most was that he didn't seem to mind it in the least.
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Sango looked up from the current margarita she was fixing as the door to the bar opened, letting a man and a woman in from the cold. After the man removed his heavy overcoat, Sango watched him help the woman out of her own coat. After both were hung up on the rack, Sesshoumaru walked to the sofa against the wall that had been placed there to give the bar a 'lounge' feel. It was faded and plaid, but it was comfortable. Myoga had gotten it a garage sale a few years back to personalize the empty wall of the bar.
Kagome walked straight to the bar as Sesshoumaru sat down on the sofa. He crossed his legs and leaned back against the furniture. They had planned to eat lunch, but since they walked from his office, their aimless wanderings had taken them here.
Kagome reached the barstool just as Sango gave a margarita to the woman who had ordered one.
Walking over to her friend, Sango raised a questioning brow, "So you two are coming together, now?" she asked.
Kagome narrowed her eyes skeptically, though she was still grinning, "No. I had to return something to him and we got hungry so we came here." she said, before correcting herself, "Well no, we actually just ended up here and we're probably going to get something to eat next door afterwards." she nodded in conclusion.
"Ah." Sango smiled and walked away. She came back momentarily with a glass of Bourbon in one hand, and a bottle of Smirnoff Ice in the other. Kagome smiled and took the drinks from her friends hands before walking back to the sofa.
She plopped down onto the soft cushions, making the entire sofa bounce and a layer of dust poof up. She handed the Bourbon to Sesshoumaru, who took it from her hand, and then she allowed herself to sink into it even more, all of her bones popping into place.
She let out a breathy sigh of contentment as she threw good posture out the window and slouched. Sesshoumaru's nostrils were flaring and he remained rigid, his back even straightened out a little more.
Kagome looked at him curiously from behind her drink and noticed he wasn't breathing and had a very strained look on his face. He was trying his hardest not to breathe through his nose especially, for whenever he needed a breath, his lips parted slightly to suck in the air. She looked at his white-knuckled hand that had his glass in a deathgrip and his brow that was furrowed deeply. He looked angry and yet not.
She leaned forward and placed her drink on the coffee table before turning toward Sesshoumaru and setting her hand on top of his in a worried gesture.
"What's the matter, Sesshou?" she asked.
He ground his teeth before forcing out, "The couch, ...the smell." he managed to say.
Confused Kagome sniffed the air, barely detecting a faint odor. Looking back at the demon who was battling with his sense of smell, she then turned and buried her nose into the cushion she was leaning on. The smell that hit her took her down. It was like a ton of bricks hit her head through her nose and she understood how his demons super-senses were rebelling.
Pulling back she covered her nose and started wiping any traces of the smell off of her face. From the smell alone she was able to conclude that throughout the years, many different animals had thrown up on this couch.
She turned back toward Sesshoumaru, her hand still on her wrinkled nose and made a disgusted face, showing him she could smell it now. His rigid posture seemed comical, now that she knew the reason for it.
Smiling, despite her screaming nose, she stood up with her drink and motioned for him to follow her. They walked over to a table that sat in between the actual bar and the row of booths against the wall. As they sat down, Kagome started giggling at his relieved stance.
It must have been when she practically jumped on the sofa, the smell must have come up with a 'poof' and clung to him like a cloud.
He arched an eyebrow at her, causing the giggles to escalate into laughter.
"That was horrible." she laughed. He looked at her iritably until the laughing was reduced to a bubbling giggle. "You poor thing." she finished, giving him a patronizing look. He didn't like that patronizing look one bit, so he tried to glare it off of her face.
"Well, don't look at me like that!" she protested, the look on her face now an ornery one as she took a sip of her drink, "It was funny."
"It certainly was not." he rumbled. He would have that smell in his nose for a week now, "Where did that thing come from?" he asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's from a garage sale." she answered, hiding the fit of giggled that threatened to escape her.
"I will see to it that it is replaced." he turned around in his chair to glare at it, letting the piece of furniture know that revenge was coming. He would personally see to it that it was flattened and burned.
"Don't do that," she protested with a smile, "Just don't sit on it again."
"I can smell it even now." he said darkly, looking at her with hooded eyes. He didn't have to sit on it to smell it. Now that it was in the air, he could smell it from across the room.
"You're such a drama-queen." she giggled, completely throwing his dark mood off course. He looked at her like she had personally offended him.
She responded, "Oh, drink your Bourbon." before taking a long sip of her Smirnoff Ice. Sesshoumaru allowed himself a smirkish smile before grabbing his glass and taking her advice.
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Walking back to his office would have been pleasant, had he not been alone. Without the usual company, it was too cold outside and the walk took too long. He had enjoyed his lunchbreak very much, in fact to the point where he left the Italian restaurant two hours later than he had planned.
They had finished their drinks quickly, him insisting on leaving as soon as possible because the horrid smell was now in the air.
The smell of food was a welcome replacement to the couch from hell, and they had enjoyed their lunch before sharing a desert of baba and limoncello, which he was forever warming up to. They had, again learned alot about each other. They mostly talked about their childhoods, sparked by Kagome commenting on enjoying the same desert as a kid.
She had told him that she would have walked with him back to his office, but she had to go to the shrine for work. Since her grandfather died, she had to work there as a more full-time employee, instead of the flexible hours she used to have. He made a mental note to someday visit that shrine, and if he was lucky, he would get a glimpse of her in traditional miko garb.
As he opened the doors of his building, he wondered if she knew that it was his building. She probably thought that he was an employee here. He almost chuckled at the thought.
His heels clicked against the hard floor of the foyer and he welcomed the sound of his small waterfall on the farside of the room. His hands in his pockets, like usual, he solemnly stepped down the hall and into his office. Once the door clicked shut, the secretaries burst into excited whispers again.
Oblivious to it all, Sesshoumaru removed his heavy outer coat and hung it on the rack in his office. Taking it off, he looked at the chair opposite his desk and could practically see her there, making the room a warm place. As he hung his coat up, his eyes fell on the jacket that had been returned to him and he looked at it for a while. Hesitantly, he reached for it and removed it from its hook. Grabbing it with his other hand as well, he brought it gingerly to his nose and inhaled deeply.
He shrugged out of his new business coat and hung it up where his other had been.
As he stepped slowly to the chair behind his desk, he put his arms through the sleeves and rolled his shoulders to get it into place. Once he was seated, he closed his eyes and let his head sink into the collar of the jacket she had worn.
He desperately needed something to chase away the foul smell from the sofa, and this would do. This would do quite nicely.
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Two weeks slid by like a lazy river. It had its up's and down's and stand out points, but for the most part, was filled with monotony. The only times it wasn't, to Kagome at least, was when she was with her demon friend. He somehow always proved to be a change of pace for her. Now late January, everybody was in the changing process.
There was more monotony than Sesshoumaru in her life, and she needed a change of pace in more ways than one. Kagome sipped her drink and enjoyed the different flavor.
Not wanting to tire it out, she was giving the ol' Smirnoff Ice a break and was switching to the Manhattan. It was a nice flavor and the red color did wonders for her other senses. Plus, Myoga loved it when he got to pick out something new for her to try. He always picked something she liked.
That particular night was the dance-club night held weekly at the bar, that despite his age, Myoga decided to work for. There were multicolored lights flashing all around Kagome, reflecting off of her hair and necklace and the music was turned up so high, she could feel the bass pounding in her chest.
Tonight was definitely a night out on the town. She had those only every so often. On these choice nights, she would put on an attractive dress, fix her hair, and play with dramatic make-up that made her eyes pop. Feeling daring, tonight she wore red lipstick that matched the drink in her hand.
She glanced over at the wall where a new, huge, leather sofa sat. A few couples were occupying it and drinking happily in the swirling music and lights. Heaving a mock sigh and hiding a smile that Sesshoumaru was actually true to his word about replacing that thing, she turned back to her drink.
Myoga, cleaning a glass and enjoying the music, noticed where her gaze had turned and winked at her, "Gives us a touch of class, don't you think?"
Kagome smiled widely at him, feeling very classy indeed. It was her night to be beautiful, she didn't have to dance to get pumped up. And it was much more classy to sit gracefully on a barstool with a feminine drink in her hand.
She usually just skipped out on these nights, her sensitive ears not being able to take long doses of the loud music. Tonight though, she wanted to be somewhere where people were. Or, more specifically, somewhere where she might see him.
Sesshoumaru also needed relief from his monotonous, routinely life. It had been his day off, so he was still in his casual clothes: a button down black shirt with black slacks. No business suit today.
And Kagome didn't know any of this until she saw him sit in the barstool next to her, the squeaky one. She heard his deep voice order a glass of Bourbon and smiled, some routines were hard to shake. She brought her Manhattan to her lips and enjoyed another sip before daring to look at him.
She turned her head and met his eyes. He had been looking at her. She didn't know why he was looking at her. She didn't that his mind was reeling at how stunning she looked. And she didn't know that they were still staring at each other when Myoga brought back the glass of amber alcohol.
Her mouth slowly spread into a dazzling smile, telling Sesshoumaru that she was happy to see him. That familiar look of surprise crossed her face when he returned with a smaller smile of his own, quickly hidden behind his glass of Bourbon.
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Okay...here you go!
What do you think?
I've got severe bronchitis with a touch of the flu, so tell me if I did alright for being sick as a dog.
I'm already working on the next chapter, yay!
Until then,
I'm just a hunka hunka burnin' lungs