Victory is Mine—Not Yours!

Kagome would NOT let Sesshoumaru get the best of her in this. WOULD NOT!

They had arrived at her family's shrine earlier that day and then she had been shocked into silence as her stoic daiyoukai became a demon of charm, actually managing to get Jiji to apologize for trying to plaster a sutra across his forehead. He had then proceeded to sweep her mother off her feet—not that that was something hard to do—before "innocently" inquiring after certain rules related to a childhood game she and her brother had played. Both her mother and Jiji had fallen into his timely and well thought-out plan, each choosing a different side on the matter. Kagome was more than taken back when her grandfather, who had always given Inuyasha a hard time because he was HALF youkai, sided with Sesshoumaru on the matter.

Betrayed… Yes, that's how she felt.

Dinner that evening was…entertaining…to put it lightly as she watched a master at work. When the meal was over, Kagome's mother informed her that Souta would be there tomorrow, coming home to see the sister he hadn't seen since he'd gone to university. "We'll let Souta be the deciding factor," she added in, giving her father a playful glare.

Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru, seeing the confidence of victory there, and just wanted to wipe his face clean.

So, after she'd helped her mother clean up from dinner, she tracked Sesshoumaru and her grandfather down. Jiji was showing him the relics the shrine watched over and excitedly telling the daiyoukai the histories involved with each of them. Kagome could not tell whether Sesshoumaru actually cared or if he were merely humoring her grandfather for her sake. "Sorry, jiji, but I have to steal your playmate for a bit," she said as she entered.

"But, Kagome! We were just getting to—"

"Another time, perhaps?" she interrupted with a patient smile, wrapping her arms around Sesshoumaru's. "We're going to be here for the weekend, Jiji."

They had escaped shortly thereafter, Sesshoumaru not offering any comment on whether he was grateful or not to be rescued from listening to her grandfather.

Kagome drove them to a nearby bar she had frequented once quite often after coming of age and realizing she was stuck in her own time. It was only a little hole in the wall, but she liked the atmosphere…and their pool tables.

When Sesshoumaru saw where she was taking him, he smiled confidently, scaring some of the other regulars in the bar who hastily moved away with their drinks. "Quit smiling, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said over her shoulder as she scouted out a pool cue for herself. "You're scaring the locals."

"If you are thinking to seek revenge for my obvious coop, miko, you have chosen poorly."

"Oh? You think so?"

"This one knows so."

"Then get a cue, moon doggie," she shot back while getting the balls and racking them.

"I am a master at strategy, miko," Sesshoumaru continued. "And this game is nothing but a form of such with a great deal of mathematics used for execution. I am also aware that mathematics is not a strong subject for you. "

Kagome wished she'd never admitted that him. He'd never let her forget the torture that subject was for her when she was in school. "Since you are so confident, Sesshoumaru, you would not be above making a wager then."

He chuckled, the sound coming off as vaguely evil. It had been a while since Kagome had seen him in such form. "And what are you interested in losing, miko?" he inquired while finally choosing his stick.

"If I win…and please feel free to demean me before the slaughter, Sesshoumaru-sama…you will stop what you are doing and just admit the defeat in the game of cow counting. The victory will be mine entirely and you will stop manipulating my mother and grandfather so that I may have an enjoyable weekend with my family and the man I want to share them with."

"And if I win, miko?"

Kagome was more than confident in her plan—even in the face of such devilishness. "I'll give you whatever you want, Sesshoumaru."

"Bold words, miko," the daiyoukai announced as he stepped up to the pool table to break. "Your wager is accepted. Do try to not regret your actions later."

Kagome stepped away, smirking to herself as he broke.

He sank a solid, leaving her stripes, and then Kagome proceeded to put her plan into motion. Once upon a time, long, long ago, she'd been a bit of a pool shark and, while she hadn't played in years, she still remembered the basics and was better than your average player still. But, even though this was true, she did not dare to think she would be better than Sesshoumaru. After all, as the daiyoukai had more than confidently pointed out, he was a master strategist. However, Kagome was willing to bet there were situations he'd never encountered before in his warfare…and that is what she was counting on.

Of course, it did help that he was patronizing her, trying to draw out the length of her defeat—as she knew he would. The first part of being a good pool shark was sizing up one's opponents, after all. And while she'd never actually seen Sesshoumaru play pool before, she had a fairly good idea of how he would do and how he would play the game.

By the end, they were both vying for the eight ball and it was Sesshoumaru's turn. The black ball of death was perched just on the edge of the corner pocket, lending a danger that he might scratch if he used too much force sinking it. This, of course, would mean her victory. "Don't scratch," Kagome warned as she moved over to where the eight ball was pocketed.

"Hn," Sesshoumaru answered as he leaned over to aim. "This one would never do so. Be prepared to give me what I desire, miko. Eight ball, corner pocket."

Kagome smiled to herself, biding her time. Truly it was a pity she would never learn what Sesshoumaru wanted to demand of her. For, just as he was about to strike the cue ball with the tip of his stick, she leaned over. Resting her elbows conveniently on either side of the pocket, she dipped forward and exposed a generous amount of her cleavage to his vantage point. It was just short of a flash, to be honest, and the daiyoukai's eyes widened notably. She'd shifted at just the right moment, though, and he couldn't stop the forward motion of his hand in time. The white cue ball darted forward, struck too hard to stop in time, and sank both the eight ball and itself.

Kagome righted her stance, smiling. "I warned you."

The daiyoukai looked pissed—which only made her smile more. "Miko," he said after a moment as a light of appreciation came to his eyes. "That was underhanded."

Finish.

a/n: Girls, this trick DOES work. :) And they can't argue that it was unfair as his attention should have been on what he was doing, not what he was seeing. It's all about will power! lol