Myoga leaned against the back wall in his apron, cleaning a glass like always, and watching the door. It had been a while since either of his most recent patrons had shown their faces at the bar, and he couldn't help himself from getting a little anxious.

He was really starting to miss his Kagome. He would hear her every time she sang on the other side of the wall in the restaurant, and he would wait a while after she had ended, for her to walk through the entrance of the bar. Even though she was singing like always, she hadn't come to visit him in a while. Just as he sighed and put away the now clean glass, the entrance was opened and the girl herself walked in.

She stopped in the doorway, and the bartender watched as her eyes passed over the establishment from the left wall to the right, looking for something. Or someone, he thought silently.

Her brow momentarily furrowed when she didn't find what (or who) she was looking for. Myoga attributed it to the absence of a favored drinking buddy at the bar. But her troubled expression cleared up almost as soon as it appeared.

She never liked to show her true emotions on her face, but as she stood there, the elderly bartender could tell that she was trying to decide whether or not to stay, even though what she was looking for wasn't there. He could see her asking herself if it would look too weird if she just walked back out the way she came in.

The battle ended when she decided she didn't want to seem like an idiot, so she walked to the bar and sat down on a stool in front of Myoga.

"You look disappointed." he said, an amused tint to his voice.

She made a grunting noise and kept her eyes down. She didn't even order a drink as she sat there. After about five minutes, Kagome decided she could leave after all and got up off of her stool.

"Well, I gotta go. Bye Myoga, see you later!" she called as she walked quickly out the door.

Myoga raised his eyebrows after her. He'd never seen her do that before.

Not thinking much on it, because he had been happy to see her, he returned to his stack of glasses and continued to make them spotless for display. He did this for another twenty minutes before the bell on the door chimed again and a looming presence filled the room.

He looked up at the demon standing in the doorway, where, not half an hour ago, Kagome had been.

Sesshoumaru's usual angry expression was in place as his gaze coasted across the room. He was looking for something (or someone). When he didn't find it, he simply turned around and stormed out the way he came.

Myoga stared after him with wide eyes before it hit him.

They just missed each other, he thought with a chuckle, and returned to cleaning the dirty glass in his hand.

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Valentine's day had arrived at the bar, so Myoga decorated the entrance with a small paper cupid. He had always been quite the romantic. So had Kagome. And Valentine's day usually meant a very sullen Kagome. Not one that was normally in love, she never really received any gifts like chocolate or flowers.

Valentine's day was the day that she again realized that there must be something wrong with her. All the other girls had boyfriends, didn't they? And even if they didn't, they all still got random gifts from their many admirers.

So what was wrong with her? I mean, sure she got the occasional card from familiy members, and then there were the presents from Miroku and Sango, but those don't count! We're talking romantically, here. Her ex-boyfriend had always just sent a cheerful card. She now realized that, though she appreciated the thought, flowers really would have been more appropriate, and more wanted for that matter.

She'd never gotten a single rose.

Well, that's not true. Myoga, forever her hero, had given her a rose on Valentine's day every year since she met him. She hated to cross him off the list, but he wasn't romantically interested in her, so he didn't count either. But she still always looked forward to that single rose, more than anything else on Valentine's day. It made her realize that people did love her. People did give her flowers. She really had no reason to complain.

But she felt so much like whining! On Valentine's day, every year, all she wanted to do was grab a bottle of Crown Royal, curl up in her favorite recliner, and watch The Wedding Date.

Romantic comedies were the enigmas that made her feel better and spiral further into depression at the same time.

But not this year, no! This year, she had someone to give a valentine to, romantically. Someone whose reaction would actually make her nervous, with butterflies in her stomach and everything. Someone she could daydream about all day long!

Oh yes, Sesshoumaru was getting a valentine. He'd never know what hit him.

She was actually so excited about giving him this perfect valentine that it didn't matter to her whether he gave her one in return or not. Okay, that's not true either. The truth was, that she really, really wanted one from him, but there was a huge doubt in her mind that she would even get one.

He didn't even look like the valentine type.

So, as she prepared his valentine, she chose to believe that it would be a one-sided Valentine's day. Her logic told her that it was better to aim low and be pleasantly surprised than to have your high hopes crushed. Therefore, she would be aiming low to avoid disappointment.

She had been working diligently all morning, brainstorming on what would be the perfect gift to a suit-wearing businessman who had a thing for neckties. That was when it had hit her. The perfect idea now in her head, she had set off for the store to retrieve the perfect ingredients. She stormed through aisles three and four, a tornado with a shopping cart.

She checked out with a bottle of the best Bourbon she could find, and a neck-tie that had been her favorite every time she passed it at this store.

She was hesitant about giving him Bourbon. After all, it would eliminate his reason to go to the bar if he already had the drink where he worked. She couldn't think of anything else, though, and she didn't want to just give him a tie.

The bourbon had come with her choice of a shotglass. She had picked a very simple, clear shotglass. It was classic, just like him.

Now, on the floor in her living room, leaning against her recliner, she was excitedly employed in arranging the gift. After many failed attempts of making an attractive presentation, she found the perfect set up.

The shotglass was simply placed on the neck of the bottle, the neck being inside the upside-down glass. The necktie was tied and gently placed around the bottle's neck, making it look very professional. Kagome adjusted it and sat back to smile at her handiwork. She hoped he would like it. Would he wear the neck-tie? Probably not. Would he use the shot glass? Probably not. Would he drink the Bourbon? Yep.

Her excitement drowned out her anxiety so she was cheery all day, the cheeriest she had ever been on Valentine's day. She couldn't wait to give it to him.

She had decided to go in mid-afternoon, a time where she had no clue where he would be. If he was there, she would give it to him with a smile and watch his reaction excitedly. If he wasn't there, she would leave it on his desk as a surprise. Her plan was fool-proof.

The excitement made most of the day pass by in a woosh of butterflies and little hearts. She finally set out for his office, brown paper bag containing the gift, in tow. She was walking over an hour earlier than she wanted to. The waiting proved to be too much for her. As the sidewalk passed beneath her feet, there was a spring in her step and a barely concealed smile on her face.

She clutched the bag to her chest, hugging her brilliant idea. She kept her optimism in check, however, when she came to the entrance of Yamamoto Inc. and opened the door. She had to admit, the sound of the waterfall in the foyer was a brilliant touch to the otherwise emotionless room. It definitely drowned out the clacking sound of keyboards, that's for sure.

The keyboards were the sounds that geeted her as she finally made it to the front desk. The same secretary looked at her, expecting an odd spectacle like her last visit, though she couldn't wait to see her reaction to the information she was about to reveal.

"Mr. Taisho isn't here." the secretary said with an air of expectancy, looking up at Kagome.

"Great!" Kagome exclaimed, surprising the woman and the other women around her, "Can I just leave this on his desk?" she held up her brown paper bag by the handles excitedly.

The woman looked from the bag to the girl with raised eyebrows before giving her a tentative smile, "Sure, go ahead."

Kagome smiled and thanked her before starting to walk down the hall to the third door on her left. The secretary stopped her, however, leaning over the desk to ask a question, "What are you leaving for him?" she asked curiously. The young woman stopped and turned around to answer.

"His Valentine's Day present." Kagome said, smiling brightly before putting a finger to her lips for secrecy, "Shhhhhhhh!"

The secretary nodded and smiled back at the woman who turned around to leave a present on her boss's desk. She was glad he was getting something for Valentine's day. As cold as he was, her boss was a good boss. He was a little uptight, (alot uptight), but he was a good employer and she was lucky to be able to work for him, even if he did terrify her.

Which is why she was pleasantly surprised to find that someone had finally broken through his icy exterior. She thought very highly of the young woman leaving a present in his office.

Said young woman was currently hovering over the large office desk, arranging the gift in the most perfect way possible. Shot glass upside-down on bottleneck? Check. Neck-tie tied around the bottleneck? Check. Card so he knew who the gift was from.. not check.

Kagome had forgotten to get a card. Apparently, her plan was not as fool-proof as she previously thought. She looked around his desk for a nice piece of paper she could fold up and tape to the shotglass. She found nothing she could fold, all she did find was paperwork. She would have thought her conquest an utter disappointment if she hadn't come across the yellow post-it notes in the lower drawer of his desk.

Clapping in joy at her last minute innovation, she quickly discovered a sharpie marker and uncapped it, writing a short message on the sticky-note. Her message written, she tore it from the stack and stuck it triumphantly onto the face of the shotglass.

Sighing happily and standing back to look at her handiwork, she was just about to leave the office when she turned around and came face to face with his chair. Now, chairs were Kagome's weakness. Provide her with a recliner and she was content for life. If she had a comfortable chair, she was in love. And this chair in front of her was the chair of her dreams.

It was big, it was leather, and it looked comfy. She gulped, silently weighing the risk to benefit ratio in her head. If she sat in it, he would be able to smell that she had violated his space and sat in his chair. On the other hand, she might not get another chance to enjoy this simple pleasure unobserved.

The next thing she knew, she was plopped in his chair, curling up as comfortably as a cat and sinking into the soft leather. She felt like a child in her grandfather's rocking chair, too small for the piece of furniture. The back of it rose about a foot over her slouched shoulders and her feet just barely touched the ground. Placing her hands on the arms of the chair she let herself relax and be soothed by his smell. It was everywhere in this room and she liked it alot.

Looking at the clock on the desk, she realized she would have to leave if she wanted to get out of there before he showed up. Reluctantly, she peeled herself away from the comfortable leather and got up, throwing away her brown paper bag in his trash can.

She opened the door and took one last minute to admire her work before she left. She closed the door softly behind her before smiling at the secretary, thanking her again, and practically skipping out the door. She didn't know that the moment she was out of sight, all three secretaries had gotten out of their chairs and bolted to the office she had just left, to see what Mr. Taisho's present was.

She would have giggled had she known.

She giggled anyway, proud of her stealthy and successful delivery of the valentine. She was hungry by this time, and looking forward to some left-overs she had in the fridge, so she went in the direction of home.

As she walked up the stairs, she made a mental note that if she could ever afford to move, she would move to a place with less stairs. Or at least an elevator. But, always one to count her blessings, Kagome celebrated the fact that she did not tumble backwards down to the ground floor again. That was never a pleasant experience.

All she could think about as she opened her apartment door was his reaction to the gift. Would he be expecting it? Would he even be back at the office that day to get it? There was not a doubt in her mind that the secretaries would scope out his every move and break it down for her later, so she had no worries there.

As she walked through the living room and rounded the corner into the kitchen, something in the window caught her eye. The curtains were closed and so was the window, but there was something outside.

Opening the curtains curiously, she gasped in surprised.

There, on the sill, was a bouquet of roses and daffodils, her favorite flowers. She smiled broadly as she noticed the makeshift Smirnoff bottle vase they were in. The neck was tied with a ribbon and on the sill beside the flowers was a small box. On top of that box, was a simple, white card tied with another ribbon.

Smiling wider than she had ever smiled on Valentine's day, she opened the window and leaned onto the large sill. Her hand reached out and grabbed the card, untying the ribbon carefully and opening it.

A beautiful, calligraphic handwriting met her eyes and she read the note that was written there.

For you.

~Sesshoumaru

It was short, like everything he said, but it told her all she needed to hear. She gently closed the card and placed it next to her on the windowsill before reaching and bringing the vase of flowers inside. After setting them on the coffee table beside her chair, she stepped back and reached for the jewelry box. Opening it made her so excited, she had to fight herself from flinging the top off and squealing in happiness.

She squealed anyway when she lifted the lid and laid eyes on a pair of small, beautiful pearl earrings. With a slightly pinkish hue, they were an attractive oval shape. She put them in quickly and walked over to the mirror against her living room wall to admire her gift. They were a classic beautiful. She smiled, turning her head this way and that to admire them from different angles. Then she walked back to her recliner, hunger forgotten for the moment, and sat down, pulling the flowers into her lap. She happily buried her nose in the red and yellow flowers and inhaled deeply.

Her smile unconsciously softened as a pair of broken earrings made their way to the surface of her memory.

This happy feeling wasn't totally foreign to her. But, this feeling was different somehow. It was the feeling of knowing there wasn't something wrong with her, that she could get flowers on Valentine's day. It was knowing that the reason he hadn't been at his office when she was there, was because he was here at her apartment, leaving a present for her.

Smiling again, she knew that he had probably returned to his office by now, and was discovering her present at that very moment.

Happy Valentine's Day, Sesshou, she thought happily.

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Happy Valentine's Day everybody! May you all recieve flowers and candy and corny cards galore!