Chapter 10: Confrontations
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Kagome took a sip of her green tea latte, typing the required information into her laptop as she did so, humming cheerily to the tune stuck in her head. Work had been pretty calm lately, since they were in-between projects, and she was planning on enjoying the little bit of relaxation that she was given.
Feeling a familiar aura brush up against hers, she stiffened a little, remembering her recent encounter with the Inu.
When Sesshomaru stepped into the expansive room her eyes immediately went to him in an attempt to discern his mood. Seeing his customary smirk in her direction, she relaxed once more. He sauntered closer, his hands in his pockets, his now golden gaze taking in her attire. Ever since learning of her preference for his natural traits he took to dropping his appearance-masks when he entered their floor, his long silver hair swaying behind him. Of course, he only did this when he knew there were no ningen nearby.
"I believe it has been quite a long time since I saw you wear a skirt so short…around five hundred years to be exact," his naturally sultry voice intoned.
She glowered at him.
"You would notice."
He snorted most unbecomingly.
"It is hard not to notice such levels of indecency."
"Hey! You never complained back then!" She leaned forward on the desk as she growled impressively at him, inadvertently creating cleavage that his eyes darted to before returning to her face as if it had never happened.
"Indeed." He turned from her, his eyes lingering, making his customary trip to his mother's desk.
Blushing fiercely, she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest in a failed attempt to cover it.
"Pervert," she mumbled to herself. Despite her irritation, she was glad that he was back to normal. It would have been really troublesome if he'd remained petulant.
It was so strange…She had found that after all of this time, he had become immature. Or perhaps that wasn't the right word. No. He had become flirty. And unreserved. And relaxed. She still wasn't quite sure how to act towards him now, but she found she was much more relaxed around this new Sesshomaru.
While he was still as intimidating as ever it wasn't in the same ways. Before he was deadly silent, ice cold, and vicious. Now he was intimidating because he was devilishly handsome, frighteningly relaxed like a predator waiting to pounce, and he knew just the right way to look at a girl to make her weak at the knees.
She would know.
As she was thinking to herself the elevator opened once more and Garou sauntered in, svelte as ever.
"Kags, my dear, how are you this fine day?" He came over to lounge in the chair across from her and she smiled in greeting as she caught her stray thoughts and filed them away for later.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Oh pretty well, pretty well. But I've got some news for you, mademoiselle, and I think you'll like this." He was silent for a moment. "My great grandfather is coming for a visit."
Feeling a burst of happiness at seeing her old friend, she leaned forward once more.
"When? When's he coming? Is Ayame coming too-"
He held up a hand to ward off her barrage of questions.
"Yes, of course. I thought they would be pleased to see you so I took the liberty of inviting them here next week. I hope I am not being intrusive?" He leaned close, a mere inch from her face as he seemed forever inclined to be.
"Of course not," she breathed, her excitement blocking out the rest of her senses and perhaps her judgment of his actions.
He began to lean closer and then her breath caught as she suddenly felt suffocated. Garou jumped backwards, knocking the chair to the floor in a clatter and both looked quickly up to the Taiyoukai who was pressing his aura down on them imperiously.
His anger was palpable in the air and she could feel it coming off of him in waves. And once again he was glaring at them with all that he was worth.
When she realized that his focus was more on Garou than her, she blanched. Was he really…? Feeling her own ire rise, she sent out a wave of her own aura to counter his.
"Sesshomaru," she growled. "Do not dare to start the whole male-dominance thing. Don't even!"
He turned to her, his aura flaring dangerously at her defiant words.
"Do you welcome such advances? Have you really fallen so far in five centuries?" He smirked maliciously at her. "Or are you simply desperate?"
Her righteous anger burning and her hair flying about in torrents, she subconsciously shoved her desk to the side with a burst of energy and stepped closer to him. Their mutual auras battled for dominance, wreaking havoc in the room.
"What did you say?"
Her voice was dangerously quiet as she stopped directly before him, leaning in as far as she could, their auras buffeting against each other forcefully.
His expression was the stoic mask she remembered, but his eyes burned as they began to turn a pinkish hue. This did not stop her, despite the fact that it should have.
"Listen to this, Sesshomaru-sama. I do not need anyone. Not him, not you, not anyone. But if I choose to become close to someone it is not your decision or anyone else's. It is mine!" She shoved against him with her reiki once more before letting it recede into her again, slowly, ever so slowly.
She stepped back, watching as his eyes returned to their original golden hue and his own angry aura receded. But his expression never changed. He glowered at her, no doubt indignant with her defiance.
"While you may think it is indeed your choice, surely you must realize that you are pack." He spoke slowly, annunciating each syllable. "And of this pack I stand as alpha male. As such I do have a say in who courts you, whether you like it or not."
"This is not the Sengoku Jidai, Sesshomaru!" She cried, her hands fisting at her sides.
"Hn. But some things never change." He glared once more at Garou before leaving the floor, entering the elevator and ignoring them all as the doors closed.
Irritated beyond belief, Kagome screeched shrilly, her eyes screwing shut.
"DAMN DOGS!"
While she honestly had no intention of letting Garou court her, she still was angry that Sesshomaru strove to control any aspect of her life. It was like Inuyasha all over again.
She took in a deep breath, willing herself to calm, spreading her hands open as she counted to ten.
"Breath in, breath out," she muttered.
When she finally opened her eyes and took in her surroundings she realized that she had a lot to clean up and no doubt an angry employer waiting to speak with her.
Hearing a sharp breath, she glanced to the side and gasped.
"Oh! Garou!" She'd completely forgotten about him.
He was shoved against the far corner, as far away from where both she and Sesshomaru were duking it out as he could get.
He stood away from the wall shakily, his hand steadying him as he watched her bemusedly.
"Holy Kami," he murmured. "I knew the ancient ones were powerful but I've never experienced anything quite like that!"
Smiling bashfully at being referred to as an ancient one, she didn't bother mentioning that they had both barely accessed their true potentials.
"Yeah, well, we made a bit of a mess," she grumbled, moving to where her desk was shoved into the wall. Knowing that there was no way she'd be able to budge it alone now that her anger had receded, she turned to the wolf. "Think you could help me out a little?"
He nodded before approaching her slowly.
After a bit of resorting and picking-up everything was back to normal with the exception of a few broken vases and what not. She swept up the shards with a broom and then went to where she knew the Inu female was waiting, nodding as Garou left.
What she found surprised her.
"My lady?"
The Inu was leaning back in her chair, a hand covering her mouth as she chuckled silently to herself, her eyes glowing in delight.
It took a moment for her to settle enough to speak, her smile never leaving her face.
"It has been too long since I have last felt such a display." She cocked her head coyly at Kagome. "And somehow I feel it will not be the last. Not so long as you are in my employment and in my pack."
"I-I'm sorry about the mess, madam." Kagome wasn't sure what to say. She was so sure that she would be furious with her for making such a mess.
"Oh posh," she waved away her apology. "You cannot comprehend how boring these past few centuries have been. In all honesty I think both I and my son were waiting for something to liven things up again."
"Yeah, well, he's pretty pissed off at me now."
Seeing another smile drift to the Inu's face as she waved her away, Kagome turned unsurely back to her desk.
What in the world was going on?
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A/N: Well that's it for this chapter, hope you guys liked it! Just kind of wanted to bring about a little necessary jealousy for our beloved Inu…Think maybe now he'll realize what he has?
Seeing how forlorn her boss seemed to be, Kagome's mind whirled about like a merry-go-round. She knew that at her age she had few things to amuse her and that no doubt on some days her life felt as meaningless as Kagome's frequently did. She knew how hard it was to have lived in the then and then shifted into the now, and she did not recommend such torment on anyone.
Coming to a decision, she set about planning as she worked, knowing exactly what she wanted to do.
She ended up staying in late, to put her plans into motion, and the next day she came in early in the morning with supplies. It was difficult, but she was satisfied with how everything had turned out. Now she just had to wait for her guests to arrive.
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When Sesshomaru got the request from Kagome to come to his mother's work so early in the morning he was a little irritated. He was, after all, a busy man and he had much to do. But she had expressed that it was important, so he decided to comply.
"Sesshomaru," came his mother's voice from the entrance. He turned to see her coming in behind him, her expression pleasantly surprised if not a little guarded. "Is there something that you required? Or have you come to visit your mother at last?"
He nodded to her in greeting, slowing his steps until she matched his stride to the elevator.
"I was called here, at Kagome's request. I assumed that you would know the reasoning."
She smiled wickedly.
"I do not."
He pressed the button on the elevator, masking his curiosity well.
"Hn."
They entered and ascended wordlessly, both curiosities peaked.
When the doors opened he was indeed surprised.
The scents that beckoned to him were so familiar to him that he could place them immediately, having known them since he was a young child. They were scents that were not often used in these times, and he picked out the agarwood instantly.
Glancing to his mother he took note of her twitching nose as well and they both stepped forward only to be greeted by the Miko.
His steps halted in surprise.
"Ohayo Gozaimasu," she greeted, bowing neatly at the waist, her hands placed in front of her primly. She was dressed in a traditional style yukata and her hair was drawn up with kanzashi decorating her midnight tresses. She smiled warmly, beckoning for them to come past the partition in the room.
They both went in hesitantly, glancing about.
In such a short time, their miko had brought in many decorative, old-style things to decorate the space with. It gave an old-world feeling and he had to admit that he appreciated what she had tried to do.
There was traditional Japanese food spread about the table, and he marveled at it. How long had she spent preparing this?
She gestured once more, this time to the table, and waited till they sat before she sat herself.
He watched her as she set to serve them their food, noting that she had left some of the meat quite rare out of consideration to their species.
"I hope you like what I've prepared," she murmured.