Counseling
"Okay, so here we go. Your first task is to help out at a women's support center for the day." Kagome was briefing Sesshomaru on her challenges.
The demoness looked at her. "A women's support center? Don't they have certain volunteers for that?"
Kagome smiled at her. "Yep, and you're now one of them. I signed you up." Sesshomaru rolled her eyes and started grumbling until Kagome swung the bag full of the magic powder in front of her face. "You don't have to, unless you want to stay like that forever, you know." Sesshomaru couldn't have gotten ready faster.
As the center's newest hired hand walked through the front doors, she couldn't help but notice that the place kind of resembled a cross between a hotel and a hospital. The floors were carpeted and there were lounge chairs in the front lobby, but there were people walking around in white uniforms. What kind of support do these women need? I hope it's not medical. Then again, this will give me the chance to use the fourteen M.D's and twelve Ph.D's I have. Being 900 years old has its advantages!
She walked up to the front counter. A young woman typing at the computer glanced up at her, then turned and handed Sesshomaru a clipboard. "You're the new volunteer? Here, there's your schedule."
She gave her a huge smile. "I really hope you can help them. They've been through some pretty traumatic stuff." Her smile vanished and she suddenly turned violent. "Fucking worthless men! Who the hell needs them! I say cut off everything below the waist, even the legs!" Just as quickly as it had vanished, the woman's smile returned, as if nothing had happened. "You do have a Ph.D in psychology, right? You'll be in room 207. Oh, and God bless you!"
Sesshomaru turned away from the counter, stunned. "O-kay, then," she said to herself. Stopping in the large front hallway, she noticed a map on the wall. A red star was at the bottom and the little sign that was above it said "You are here." Next to it, another sign said, "You are trying to get here." A red arrow led from the first star to another star marked "Room 207." Sesshomaru shook her head and the arrow disappeared, though strangely, the location was still right. "I knew I shouldn't have taken those brownies that Shippou offered me. Doesn't ever want to speak to me, but suddenly out of nowhere, he offers me a batch of brownies. 'For luck,' he said. Ha! Though I do gotta admit, they were pretty delicious."
Taking the elevator to the second floor, Sesshomaru headed for room 207. The plaque outside it said, "Abusive Counseling Sessions." So this is what that woman was talking about. Great, just what I need. A bunch of women talking about killing menkind. She straightened her face back to the old impassive look, then pushed open the doors.
Save for a quiet murmuring around the room, the place was silent. Okay, be on your guard. They're just waiting for the discussions to get started. Then they'll be all hyped and ready with their pitch forks to let the slaughter begin. The women had formed a semi-circle around a single chair at the front, evidently meant for her. Sesshomaru sat down in it. "Um...hello..." A few of the women murmured a hello. Many more remained silent.
Sesshomaru continued. "To be honest, um, well, I've never done anything like this before. So, how about we start out small and work our way up, hm? Let's start with, um, names! Yeah, how about all of you tell me your names and how you came to be here." Good, a few minutes to assess my choices and figure out what the hell I'm going to do. The first woman stood up. Sesshomaru about died from shock.
Her face was covered with bruises. In fact, now that she actually looked around, Sesshomaru saw that most of the women were covered in bruises. The ones who weren't looked scared beyond belief. "Hi, my name is Natalie and I am the survivor of an abusive marriage." The other women clapped and Natalie sat back down. The next woman stood up. "Hi, I'm Melanie and I was raped by my father." Again, a round of applause went off. And so it went, until all twenty women in the room had briefly described their horrendous battles with whomever.
It all had taken only ten minutes, but to Sesshomaru, it seemed like a lifetime. A few of them were now crying. Despite the M.D's and the Ph.D's she had, she knew nothing of how to heal these women's pain. Most of them were human. A few were demon. Sesshomaru had always solved her/his problems with a sword, but they knew nothing of swordsmanship. Either that, or the person they tried to use it on was evidently stronger than them.
Maybe that was it! Maybe she could offer defense lessons! "Okay, listen up!" The crying quieted and Sesshomaru stood up. "All these men have hurt you in terrible ways. What needs to be done is that they need a good ass-whupping! Hit em' where it hurts! Chop off his-" Sesshomaru stopped. Wait, she was still really a man! How could she say something like that! Oh, well. No turning back now.
"All of you stand." As the women rose, Sesshomaru got in one of his fighting stances. "I call this move, crouching tiger, kick your ass!" She jumped up, then did a spin kick in the air. As she landed, she gave a satisfied smile. "Any man will respect you with that move!" But instead of hearing applause, she heard complaining.
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" One woman said.
"Do we look like Chuck Norris to you?"
"Yeah!" The others chorused.
Sesshomaru thought for a moment until she came up with another good idea. "Tae Bo! Billy Blanks would be proud to know that you're using his moves! And they're easy enough that everyone can learn them!"
Getting into another fighting position, Sesshomaru prepared to show them another fighting combo. "Alright, now follow my lead! On three! One, two, three!" She did two punches followed by a low side kick. "He ain't shit! Go in time with your moves. Okay, again!" They practiced the attack several times, the only sound coming from the room being the chant of "He ain't shit! He ain't shit!"
After the two hours were over, the women congregated around Sesshomaru to thank her. "Yes, yes, I know. Now make sure that you practice those moves. And you can add your own if you want! Remember, he ain't shit!"
It was about seven-thirty p.m. when Sesshomaru returned back to Kagome's house. "So, did you learn anything?" She asked her.
Sesshomaru didn't answer, just simply smiled and headed up the stairs.
Wanna know something funny? Initially when writing this chapter, I had written "Who do you think we are, Chuck Taylor?" I facepalm now to think about it :)