"He's got a wonderful sense of humour, my brother, making me spend the night with this animal. It'll really make his day when he hears what I've been through. Just watch him—I'll bet you anything you like he'll look pleased."
-James Herriot
All Creatures Great and Small
Sesshomaru was vaguely aware of anything while training, even the fact that he had enjoyed touching Kagome. She was his brother's and he, however delectable, did not touch any leftovers from InuYasha. Sesshomaru wasn't used to such desires and a carnal libido. He trained, he fought, he protected. His life was simple.
Until he came to work for Kagome's father.
Even he didn't know why he came there. Some tip or other promised him an interesting job full of surprises. St first he had been apprehensive-babysitting a teenage girl was not something he wanted or learned how to do in his extensive training. But curiosity got the better of him and he had stayed there ever since-against his better judgment. Indeed he delighted in annoying the girl—it was far too easy for her won good—but he also felt an affinity towards her. She almost seemed to understand how he worked, that under his cool, laconic exterior there was another Sesshomaru unknown to even himself sometimes.
And the job wasn't dull. Kagome got herself into her own share of scrapes, but in truth nothing had even been close to his expertise.
Nothing.
Nothing until his brother.
InuYasha had benefited from the same extensive training as he, but with one so talented there are only a few job options; soldier, bodyguard and Inu's preference: spy. But to put it in lames terms, thanks to the ever-eloquent John Cusack, InuYasha was a "professional killer." Sesshomaru allowed himself a small smirk at this. InuYasha, in his opinion, was anything but professional. He had been arrested several times in numerous countries, murdered sloppily, and in turn was wanted all over the world. In Sesshomaru's honest and scrupulous opinion, InuYasha was, in essence, entirely devoid of all sense. The simple reason he still received such notoriety was due to his impulsive nature, which unfortunately for Sesshomaru, was usually correct.
So it was quite a shock to see InuYasha moving in on Kagome six months prior to his expiration. He immediately dismissed it as an actual courting ritual and focused on the real reason why InuYasha would be there. Sesshomaru's first though it could be to take care of him, but why would he need Kagome? Of course, to Inu, she would be a nice notch in his bedpost-a bedpost; Sess had heard somewhere, rapidly needing more adequate space for future notches. But the most likely theory had to do with the Senator himself. The real mystery in turn was why Mr. …?
And so he deemed himself inside the parameters of his job to do a little research on his dear younger brother.
Kagome was his second worry. It had always provided him a little smugness in the thought that she fancied him. But that daydream was lost when her attentions went to the first person that offered her a little romance. And it provided him no comfort that InuYasha's physique so mirrored his own. But InuYasha was opposite him in every other way. Where Inu was impulsive, Sess was calculated. Where Inu was flamboyant, Sess was reserved. Where Inu choose to play the field, Sess chose to be concerned about one thing: himself. He wasn't narcissistic—altogether it was more of a trait of InuYasha's—he was more…dedicated. Sess never had the luxury of receiving support from anyone. So he came to only depend on himself.
But Kagome, he almost trusted Kagome.
When she dated Inu it was almost a betrayal even if he laid no prior claim. He knew she still hurt. He could see it in her eyes.
It was the same look she had that Friday night when she had softly asked him to go down to the store and buy her some much needed glue for a project. He honored the request even though he knew there was a drawer full of gluing and project supplies just for the purpose. He sprinted to the store and stole back stealthily into the house. He heard the break in, a brief conversation and reached the room just in time to see Kagome shoot-once in the heart. She had surprising good aim with her hands shaking so much. He slightly registered the gun to be his own 16 caliber with a silencer. Not shocked by death as she he allowed himself a smirk…
She had good taste in guns.
But the smirk quickly faded when he saw her collapse with the bloodied InuYasha in her arms. After she promptly lost consciousness Sess disentangled her and with loving care bathed her, dressed her in her pajamas and laid her to bed. She needed to rest.
And then he set to work. He called a contact on the force, explained the situation, took pictures of the body and expertly cleaned the sticky substance from the wood floor. Sesshomaru was not a stranger to intensive labor. After everything was taken care of he deposited the body in the police morgue and went home.
By the time he had finished his train of thought, Sesshomaru had ended his work out as well.
It was time he talked to Kagome.
