I don't own these characters.
7: Into the fire
Sesshomaru was in trouble, real trouble for once in his life. Serious, he-might-get-killed-over-it trouble. What was the problem? Well, for starters a woman was kissing him and that woman was not Kikyo. To make matters worse, it was Princess Abi and she had his shirt in a death grip that he probably would have to rip the cloth to escape. And if he ripped the shirt, he was definitely going to have just a more unbelievable story to tell his beloved when he finally got home. He was so screwed!
"Now," Abi said as she pulled away from the dog demon. "Maybe you'd like to come in," she repeated her offer that he had already turned down.
"I've got matters to attend to," Sesshomaru replied in the most normal tone that he could muster, which took all of his self-control and yet he still sounded robotic as he spoke.
The silver-haired male turned and walked off before the bird demon could say anything further to him. He wiped his mouth like a small child would as he entered the stairwell; yes, he was not even going to wait for the elevator. He tried scrapping his tongue off his front teeth, even though she had not dared put her tongue in his mouth. Still, he could taste her in his mouth and he did not like it. He needed something to eat or drink as soon as possible.
He went and brought something to drink in the hotel lobby before going out to his car. He started it, but he did not move. What the hell was he supposed to tell Kikyo? Should he tell Kikyo? It was not like she would be able to sense that the foul bird had violated his space and stolen a kiss. But, what if she did find out? And then she would have the added fact that he had not said anything? Oh, god, he was so screwed!
--------------
Abi could not believe that she had just practically thrown herself at that filthy mutt and he had the nerve to cut and run on her. That arrogant, effeminate-looking bastard! She practically snarled; she hated him! How dare he deny her? He was such a mutt.
That was actually their history together. She would always want to do something, although nothing like what she wanted to do at the moment considering before they had only been children. But, the point was that he never wanted to do what she wanted to do. That was why she hated him. He never treated her like the princess that she was.
She would show him. She was not going to put up with him just treating her any way that he felt like. She went and grabbed her phone and just as she was about to call her mother to inform her that Sesshomaru was being a jerk as usual, but she stopped herself before she could press a button.
She realized that she was childish. She was being immature, just like Sesshomaru thought she was. She was planning on telling on him; it sounded like she was toddler. She could see why he declined on her invite in. She was acting like a spoiled brat.
Abi sighed and began dialing on her cell phone. She was not calling her mother. She was calling Sesshomaru. His voicemail picked up instead of him, so she decided on leaving a message, just telling him to call her back, so that they could talk about what happened.
--------------
Sesshomaru glanced down at his cell phone to see who was calling him. The moment that he saw it was Abi, that gave him the strength to at least drive away from her hotel. He did not bother to answer, not wanting to bother with her at the moment. No, right now, he truly detested the featherbrained bitch, as he now believed she was. He refused to be bothered by her anymore.
As he drove home, he still did not know what he was going to tell Kikyo, if he was going to tell her anything at all. He suddenly wished that he could call someone and ask their advice. He would not think to call Inuyasha for several reasons; the first being that he as the older brother was to only give out advice to the younger and never take advice from his little brother. The second, almost equally important reason was that he really thought that his brother was a moron, especially when it came to relationships considering how much his woman yelled at him.
Well, Inuyasha was crossed off the list. He knew better than to even consider calling his father. First of all, he was fairly certain that the older demon would swear that it was all his fault for whatever reason, as if Abi could do no wrong. His father would then more than likely start harping on him about ruining his relationship with Kikyo and they would never get around to what he should do in the situation that he was in.
His stepmother came to mind for only a second. She came to mind because she was human and she would be able to help him understand Kikyo's mindset toward his actions. But, then he remembered that Kikyo was a peculiar human at best and he doubted that anyone would able to help him understand how she might take the bit of news that he had.
He did not even consider his sister, even though he thought that Rin was a strange little human herself. He did not want her opinion because she was young and, well, she was his little sister. He did not want to know if she had an opinion on relationships beyond what she saw from their parents and her brothers.
He had one last thought and that was talking with his mother. He could just imagine that conversation in his head and it was not pleasant. His mother would tease him relentlessly about being like his father for being with a human; he knew that as a fact because that was what she did when he called her and first told her about Kikyo. She also did it whenever he did bother with calling her and the few times he had gone to see her since being with Kikyo. Sometimes, he was not sure which parent irked him more with the way they behaved. Some people might say that they irked him because he was just like both of them.
Sesshomaru decided that he was definitely going to handle things on his own. It would be best that way and if something went wrong, he would have no one to blame but himself and that was the way he liked things. So, now he had to figure out how he was going to handle things.
Should he tell? If he did tell, should he have a gift in hand as if apologizing, or just in case? He did not see why he should seem like he was apologizing when he had not done anything, aside for let that irksome bird have her way with him anyway. Well, that was a rather serious offense. He needed to think of something.
--------------
Kikyo was sitting on the sofa, sleeping. She had been sketching in her art book, but she nodded off. She had had a bit of a busy day. There was also a level of annoyance in that for the fact that Suikotsu's friends would not leave her alone. The short one even had the nerve to come into her office in the afternoon asking her about the picture on her desk while she was in a rush to get to a patient. It was the self-portrait that Sesshomaru did that he wanted to know so much about and she was unaware that Bankotsu had been told that it was her boyfriend from Suikotsu.
Bankotsu used that to come to conclusion that Kikyo would not go out with Suikotsu because she was dating someone, but he could not figure out why she would turn down Suikotsu to date a demon. It did not make any sense to him, especially when Suikotsu started telling him that Sesshomaru was probably cheating on Kikyo with some demon woman. It was all confusing, but Bankotsu figured out the best way to solve the problem, which was to find Sesshomaru and beat him up until he agreed to release Kikyo over to Suikotsu. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, they did not know where to begin searching. The idea did not stop the group from harassing Kikyo when she left the medical center that evening either.
Sesshomaru found Kikyo asleep on the sofa when he came in. He smiled ever so slightly at the sight of her head tilted to the left resting on the back cushion of the couch while her right hand made sure to keep the book propped up in her lap and her left hand made sure not to drop the pencil. He wondered if such feats counted as practicing.
He carefully removed her pencil from her hand and placed it on the coffee table. He then took the book from her with just as much caution, closing it and then placing it next to the pencil. He leaned down once more and then collected Kikyo into his arms. She immediately snuggled up into his chest, but then suddenly she went rigid. The movement worried him and then she woke up, which worried him more.
Kikyo woke up because something just felt…odd. There was something strange about Sesshomaru. He seemed tense to her and that had disturbed her sleep. As she turned to look at him, the expression in his golden eyes only seemed to enhance the weird air surrounding him. Something was going on, she believed.
"Sessho, you can put me down," she informed him.
"Are you sure?" he inquired.
"Yes, I'm awake now," she pointed out.
Sesshomaru did not argue the obvious. He put Kikyo down, placing her back on the sofa. He was about to walk away, not sure what he was going to do, but he did not want to be around her for the moment since it seemed like she could just tell something was wrong. But, as he was about to walk off, she grabbed his hand, which halted him immediately. He did not turn to look at her.
"Sessho," she said because he was acting rather peculiar.
"I'll order us some dinner," he replied, still not bothering to look at her.
"Sit down," she requested.
"But—" he attempted to protest, but she was not trying to hear that.
"Sit down," she repeated, her tone still the same as always, but for some reason that was beyond him, he sat down on that second command.
"What is it, beloved?" he inquired.
"I was going to ask you the same. Something seems to be weighing on you. If you wish to talk about it, you know I'm here for you, dearest. Did something happen at work?" she asked curiously. Usually when he seemed tense, it was because someone did something stupid as his job. She always noted that he seemed to believe that everyone at that firm was an utter imbecile.
"No, everything is going somewhat fine at work, as well as can be expected anyway," he answered.
"Then did something happen between you and Princess Abi?" she inquired because acting as the bird demon's escort seemed like a second job for him and also seemed just as annoying as his actual job.
Sesshomaru tried his best to not react to that question, but he subtly glanced away. She noticed, so she knew that she was now on the right track. She wondered what happened that he was so reluctant to speak on.
"Sessho, what happened? You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Kikyo inquired.
"No, I did nothing to her," he insisted with a bit more force than he meant to voice, which of course, only roused his beloved's suspicions all the more.
"Sessho, what happened?" she repeated, now in a more stern tone because she hated what was coming to mind and he better clear things up quickly or they were going to have a little problem. Well, no, they were going to have a major problem if he did not explain things.
Sesshomaru took a breath while wondering where he should start. Should he just tell the facts of the matter? He never realized how bothersome it was to love a woman until now. Now, he had to think of the best way to broach a subject instead of speaking plainly as he usually would. He had to put what occurred in a manner that prevented a fight and that left his dearest one knowing that he did not mean for it to happen. How troublesome.
He stared at Kikyo and then found his mouth speaking with about his brain's consent. "Abi kissed me," he admitted. When he heard the words, his mind demanded to know what the fuck his mouth thought it was doing! Was it trying to get him killed?! If so, it was doing a damn fine job, he bet.
"She kissed you?" Kikyo asked to be sure she heard right.
"Yes, she kissed me."
"And where were you when it was happening?" she inquired.
Sesshomaru was confused by the question, mostly because he was still reeling from the way his mouth just started moving without his permission. "What do you mean where was I? I was there, of course," he answered. Where else would he be?
"And you mean to tell me that you couldn't stop her from doing such since you were right there?" she asked, rather calmly, he noticed. He knew that was not particularly good sign, but then again, he doubted anything in his current situation would be a good sign from his beloved.
"I didn't see it coming," he replied.
"You mean, you, the mighty Sesshomaru, the man that knows everything, cannot tell when a woman is about to kiss you?" she asked, her voice bordering on incredulous now.
"It happened rather fast," he defended himself, like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, he silently noted.
"So fast that you could not back away? How tall is this woman?"
The question threw him, seeming to come out of nowhere. "Your height," he answered.
"I see, so you would have had to bend down to kiss her then," Kikyo pointed out.
"I didn't kiss her. She kissed me."
"You would have had to be bent down for it to happen, giving your consent more or less if that is the case."
"Beloved—" he started to say.
"No," she cut him off and she was about to get up from the sofa because she did not want to be in the same room with him any more. Maybe her sister was right, she considered; maybe it was a mistake to just let him wander around with the city with that demon princess. He had been lying to her, she believed. He had been lying about everything, as far as she was concerned.
"Kikyo," he said and he grabbed her before she could get away. He yanked her down to him, catching her in his arms before she collided harshly with his chest and then he held her gently to him. She struggled against him, but he held her tightly.
"Let me go, liar," she hissed in fury. There was no pain in her voice, but it was there in her chocolate eyes. She looked absolutely hurt by what she had been told.
"Kikyo."
"Liar."
"Beloved, listen to me," he practically growled.
"So that you can lie to me again?" she countered.
"I have not lied. I love you and you know that, so listen to me. She caught me off guard by grabbing hold of my shirt and holding onto it. She pulled me down to her and if I had pulled away, I would have torn my clothing and I doubted that you'd believe me. I didn't kiss her back and I left as soon as I could—"
"What, after satisfying yourself with her?" Kikyo inquired with venom in her voice.
"I would never, ever sate myself with someone other than you," he vowed. "You're the only woman for me, you know that. I hate that damned bird and I swear to you that I'll stop even being around her. I will call my father right now and tell him that I can't do this job anymore. I will never do something like this ever again. I never meant to hurt you," he swore.
Kikyo could only shake her head and she continued to try to get away from him. He had kissed another woman. After everything that they had been through, he had to go and ruin it…again. She was not going to give him another chance; it would only give him a chance to emotionally wound her again.
"Please stay with me," he suddenly begged, knowing that she was still thoroughly upset with him. He was whispering to her. "Please don't leave me. I'll do anything to make this up to you. I didn't mean for it to happen, but I swear I'll do anything to keep you by my side. Stay with me, please. Please."
"You've already done this before," she reminded him. He had not exactly begged as he was doing at the moment.
"Please," he said desperately. If he lost his beloved because of that damned bird, he was going to kill Abi and her whole clan. It would be the only way for him to even remotely begin feeling compensated for his loss.
"Let me go," she ordered.
"Please," he repeated and he started saying it as if it was a chant. He held her tighter, as if saying that he would never let her go with his embrace.
"Release me," she commanded, a little less forcefully that time around. The way that he was holding her was foreign to her. It was almost as if he was afraid that if he let her go, she would vanish altogether.
"I cannot," he informed her.
"Sessho, you're behaving immaturely," she stated.
"I cannot let you go. I love you and I want you to believe me. I would never intentionally hurt you or do anything to jeopardize what we have. This is precious to me, you're precious to me. You know that, so believe me when I say I love you now like you believed it when I said it last night," he replied.
Kikyo had believed him last night; it was before she knew that he was kissing another woman. She hated that his actions now were getting to her, though. He seemed so sincere, but then again, he seemed that way always and yet he had kissed another woman. How could a kiss be a mistake as he was trying to make it seem? It was a kiss.
He should have been able to avoid Abi if he did not want to be kissed, Kikyo believed. He should have pulled away, shirt be damned. He should have done something! Anything to not allow that woman to touch him, she thought as tears gathered in her eyes. She realized with a start that she was going to cry in front of him, which she had been trying her best not to do.
He smelled her tears and he doubted that he had ever felt so crushed in all of his life. He had caused her tears and that made him feel like the lowest of the low. He buried his head in her hair and she noted a shift in the way that he was holding her. She was not too sure what it was, but he was holding her differently now.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, but I'm so sorry, beloved. I'm truly sorry," he whispered to her in a tender tone.
She hated that she believed him. She wrapped her arms around him and started to cry into his chest. She detested how she was behaving too, but that did not stop her. She was in so much emotional agony that she had to let it out. He continued to apologize to her in a low tone while embracing her and nuzzling his face in her hair. And they stayed like for an undetermined amount of time.
"What do you want me to do, beloved? Call my father and tell him that I can't show Abi around anymore?" he asked after a long moment of silence.
"Would he accept that?" she countered.
"I don't know. We can call him and see," he replied.
Kikyo nodded to agree to that. He went into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He saw that Abi had left him a message. He sighed at that and contemplated deleting it, but he decided against that. He called his father's house and found that the older demon was not home. He then called his father's cell phone and found that the older demon was also not picking up.
"Damn him," Sesshomaru huffed.
"He didn't answer?" Kikyo guessed.
"No. I'll try him again later. I'm very sorry about this, beloved."
"You don't have to keep apologizing," she replied quietly.
"I do. Why is it that my perfection is always marred when it comes to you?" he wondered aloud. "I never want to hurt you and yet I have done it twice in our relationship. It is a bit disheartening," he confessed in a tone matching his statement.
"At least you didn't mean it this time," she commented.
"Doesn't very much excuse my mistake."
"No, it doesn't," she concurred.
Sesshomaru sighed and began caressing Kikyo's back. He was not sure what he was going to do. He supposed that it was good that Kikyo was not ordering him to let her go anymore.
"I'll make this up to you, love. I promise," he whispered, even though neither of them knew how he was going to do that.
Through out the night, Sesshomaru did attempt to get in touch with his father to step away from his job, but his father was not picking up a phone and he was not at home if someone did answer the house phone. His luck had to be damned, the dog demon considered. At least, when it came to Kikyo, his luck had to be damned. Well, maybe not totally damned since she had not left him yet.
The couple was quiet for most of the night. They ordered out for dinner and had a silent meal together. The silence was tense, but they were trying to bear through it. The quiet was disturbed by Sesshomaru's cell phone going off. He went to answer it and frowned when he saw who was calling him.
"Aren't you going to answer it?" Kikyo inquired.
"It's her," he grumbled.
Kikyo seemed rather interested now and he decided to take the call. He put it on speaker, just to show that he was not trying to hide anything from her. He then greeted Abi with a deadpan, almost hostile, "what?"
"Damn you, you arrogant dog! Why didn't you call me back like I asked?" Abi demanded to know. Hours of being ignored had made her slightly upset obviously.
"And why would I do that?" he inquired.
"Because I wanted to talk to you!"
"About what?" he asked in a very bored tone. He kept his attention focused on Kikyo, noting her reactions to what was going on. She did not have any reactions yet, though, just looking interested in the conversation, but nothing further.
"I was going to apologize, but maybe I've changed my mind because you're acting like a fucking mutt!" she huffed. Kikyo arched an eyebrow to the bird demon's language and anger directed at her Sessho.
"You were going to apologize?" he asked incredulously. "Has Hell frozen over already?" he remarked.
"Oh, yeah, make fun of me, you mangy mutt. Maybe I don't even want to apologize to you anymore."
"Yes, because I wouldn't be able to live without your apology," he fired back.
"You know what, screw you! I don't even see why I bothered with kissing you. You're an asshole. I've got to be out of my mind thinking that you're good looking," she declared, as if those words were supposed to hurt him.
"Indeed," he concurred. She had to be out of her mind to think that he would do anything with her, he added mentally.
"Fine, I'm not even going to apologize to you."
"Good. I'm not even going to listen to you," he informed her and then he disconnected the call, hanging up on the princess. Kikyo was surprised by his behavior; she had never seen him act so immature and blatantly rude.
"Sessho," Kikyo started to say, but he cut her off, thinking that he knew what she was going to say.
"I'm sorry that you had to hear that," he replied.
"No, it's all right. I'm guessing that it all was just a misunderstanding. I'm getting the feeling that it's fairly easy for you two to have a miscommunication. But, I was going to suggest perhaps accepting her apology," Kikyo said.
"What the hell?" Sesshomaru could not believe what he was hearing. "This is the woman whose actions had you crying not too long ago. Do you really think I could accept her apology after all of the trouble that she caused?" he inquired.
"I'm going to venture a guess out here, even though I don't know the whole story, that she did not know exactly how much trouble she was going to cause. Did you tell her that you're in a relationship?"
Sesshomaru looked away. "No."
"Perhaps she wouldn't have done such a thing if she knew. Did you say anything afterwards?"
"I merely left when she was done. I didn't want to discuss my life with her. I don't even like talking to her," he pointed out.
"Perhaps you can talk everything out with her."
"You want me to stay hanging around her?" he asked incredulously.
"I just think that you should talk things out with her. Perhaps the both of you can act like adults when you do and things might turn out better," she answered.
Sesshomaru exhaled loudly, showing his frustration with that suggestion. He honest and truly did not want to deal with Abi anymore after the stunt that she pulled, but he supposed that he might as well go through with it since he could not get in touch with his father and he figured that it might somehow correct things between him and Kikyo. He sighed.
"I'll talk to her tomorrow. With luck, she'll be calm by then," Sesshomaru decided. Things had better work out or he was just going to take it out on Abi.
--------------
Next time: after talking things out with Abi, Sesshomaru is annoyed to find out that she actually wants to meet Kikyo. How well is that going to go?