Hello everyone!  Sorry this is all taking so long, but with writing two stories and everything else, I am about to go crazy.  I can't wait to hear your feedback on this short chapter, but the next one is the last chapter on this segment.  If I get enough feedback about this, then perhaps I will write another story or something with these same characters in it as the married couple (oops, did I give this away?)  And also, if the format is weird, then I am really sorry, but everything is acting weird now.  I honestly don't know what is going on, but I am trying to deal with it the best I can.  But I hope that my dear little ellipses can become apparent in this chapter and you all know how I love them so.  I think I use them far too often.  Oh well. 

Soo…have fun with this chapter and don't forget to review.  But thank you for all the reviews so far, I am absolutely ecstatic.  Thank you!

Read and enjoy…

-MC

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I was confused.  Now that I had her love, what the hell was I supposed to do with it?  I mean, I knew I was supposed to cherish her and support her and be with her, but could I actually accomplish these things.  Jesus Christ, I am scared.  Oh my goodness.  I am scared.

Note to self: Never, ever say that again.  In public.  Or anywhere for that matter.  Grown men aren't afraid of love. Or anything for that matter. 

What was I kidding myself for?  I knew that it was hopeless from the beginning.  And now I loved her consciously and irrationally and insanely and passionately and compassionately and fully and deeply and…

God damn it.  I loved her.  But what the fuck was I supposed to do about it now?  My heart ached in such a foreign way when she left.  And now I had to not only gain her trust, I probably had to gain back her love as well?  And now that I tasted from heaven's nectars I had to just sit idly while I was doing this and let her take her time getting to know me again?  How was I supposed to keep my hands off her after a night like last night?  God I could groan (and I did) at the thought of what went on between us.  It was as lovely and erotic as ever before and more.  Was it simply better than all the times before because it had never been that good…or was it just my sabbatical from sex?  But that woman, I would go to the ends of the earth to be with her, in the biblical sense, at least once more.  Well, perhaps a couple times more.  Okay!  Alright!  I totally plan to spend my life dedicated to this woman and am currently contemplating building her her own shrine.  And temple.  And grounds.  And I should just throw in a couple monks in there just in case.  Too bad this religion could only be fully worshiped by me. 

Okay, so now that I got all that figured out, all the important stuff, I need to figure out a way for her to love me again.  So, this is my stock of the situation.  Number one: she thinks you were lying to her when you said you loved her.  Number two: she thinks you have been married this whole time (or at least separated).  Number three:  she saw evidence of this when your ex wife decided to drop by.  Number four: you DID lie about not knowing where the ex wife was located but DIDN'T lie about loving her.  Number four: your ex wife thinks you are certifiably insane.  Number five: you might actually BE certifiably insane.  Number six: you don't know where your fiancé is.  Number seven: you think she might not love you anymore.  Number eight: your daughter was sent to bed without dinner for any apparent reason and now SHE is most likely mad at you too.  Number eight: you are actually starting to think that the whole "getting her father's company" thing is second to the fact that you get Kagome at all.  Number nine:  you haven't gotten her anything for her birthday yet.  Number ten: you already engraved the ring. 

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"You're fucked."

"I know.  That is why I made the list.  To see how fucked I was."

"Yeah, well, you're pretty fucked."

"I know.  That is why I made the list.  To see how fucked I was."

"Is it just me or was that a repeat?"

"Captain Obvious strikes again!  Can't get anything past you, can we?"

"Oh, shut up, frostbite."

"FROSTBITE?"

"Yes.  I think it's a perfect nickname."

"Yeah, well you know what I think is a perfect nickname for you is?  It is—"

"…"   "…"

"FINE! It's my nickname."

"I win."

"By the way, how did you DO that?"

"No comment."

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Ah, so now that we have it out in the open how much of a looser I am, I think the stock of the situation is fully…took…I guess is the best wording at the moment when I think that I might be certifiably insane.  Which I am not, honestly.  But I guess the first step of recovery is admitting that you have a problem.  Which I don't.  Honestly.

YES I HAVE A PROBLEM!  MY FIANCE HATES ME AND SHE MIGHT MARRY SOMEONE ELSE JUST TO SPITE ME AND GET RID OF THE COMPANY!

Woah.  Where did THAT come from?  I never thought that would come out from the depths of my inner self.  Guess I am not in touch with my inner self, eh…eh?  Okay, I tried, ya know, I tried.  But my nerves are fried and I am ready to just, I don't know, scream or something if I don't have Kagome in my arms right about now.  Or now.  Or perhaps now.  Or maybe—

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. I am calm.  I am perfectly rational.  I am perfectly calm.  Take a couple of deep breaths, just let the air in and then let it out and then just—

"Will SOMEONE in this blasted house get the bloody door?"  It had rung about seven times already.  Where the hell is Jaken when you need him?  Well, well, well, never thought I would say that, now did you?  Yeah, neither did I.  Jaken came bustling into the room a second later looking a little out of breath and worse for wear.  He had a black eye and a couple bruises about his arms.  But that didn't matter for me.  Anything that goes on in his life should come second to mine.  Even his kinky sex games.  The weirdo.  God, he needed to get some other hobby, it was absolutely revolting.  And he was so obvious about it too.  Why else would he come to me looking so disheveled?

"You rang?"

"Jaken, stop being a smart ass butler and answer the damn door.  It has been aggravating me for the past ten minutes."

"Sir, excuse me, but that was me ringing the doorbell.  You see, well, honestly sir, it wasn't my fault at all and I mean, well—"

"Spit it out, damn it."

"Well, she caught me sir."  Jaken looked utterly crestfallen and totally absurd.  What in all that is sane (which obviously isn't much in this house) is he talking about?

"Whom are you speaking of?"

"Kagome."

"What??????????????"

"Kagome caught me just now."

"You know where she is?  Tell me where she is right now!"  Well, that was incredibly easy.  Thank you, Jaken!  Oh god.

Note to self:  never thank Jaken in your mind again.  I mean, you can't very well say it out loud so why the hell are you saying it in your mind?  It is just ironic, if you get down to it.

"Well, I don't know anymore."

"What?  Jaken if you're kidding me—"

"No, sir, I would never do such a thing."

"Then what in god's name is going on in this house, or outside it, or inside that puny brain of yours?"  Ahh, that sounded better and much more like myself.  It is best to be as specific as possible when dealing with imbeciles. 

"Sir, well, sir, this is the story, sir.  As usual, I replaced her underwear with the Gucci lingerie that you choose specifically from the catalogue, which let me tell you is a very good choice if I do say so myself.  But anyways—"

"Yes, anyways…"

"Well, so I went after her in the limo and she went back to her parent's house to stay.  A servant whom I knew very well, you know, I knew her that well—"

"Jaken, get on with it man.  I seriously don't care about your love life."  Dear god, the thought is extremely revolting.  Jaken?  In love?  Jaken?  Having sex?  Oh no, oh no, I have mental images!  Disgusting!  Stop the horror, please, just stop the horror!

"Well, a servant let me in and showed me Lady Kagome's rooms and I was in the process of picking over her old lingerie when she came out of the bathroom in her private lodgings."  The thought that Jaken was handling Kagome's lingerie made me slightly disgusted.  In fact, it made me slightly jealous.  Yes, I did ask Jaken to do this little favor for me and everything, but still.  He gets to see her underwear drawer!  Not fair not fair not fair! 

"And when she found me there she got extremely incensed.  I mean, I was just doing my job but she had to accuse me of being a hentai and then she blamed me for her lack of, I believe her term was "comfortable" undergarments.  So I simply told her I was under orders to do so and could not disobey my orders."  Oh dear.  What a complete idiot.

"Jaken, what did I tell you when I first gave you this order?"

"You said to not reveal that it was you giving the order if I was caught."

"Yes, I did. And when you told her you were under orders to do this certain…request of mine, did you perhaps remember that you HAVE NO OTHER MASTER TO GIVE YOU ORDERS?"  Jaken visibly paled.  I enjoyed this return to normalcy for the short duration it continued.  Ahh, I was finally back in my own element, yelling at my servants and being a complete ass.  This, quite frankly, wasn't me anymore.  I wasn't like that.  Kagome had changed me.  She sauntered into my perfect ass-kicking life and made me a nice guy. 

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"You?  Nice?  Hardly."

"I am sooooooooo nice."

"Yeah right."

"Yeah, right."

"Okay, you're nice sometimes.  When you want something."

"I hate it that you know me so well."

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"So therefore, Kagome knows it was me that was infiltrating the Gucci underwear into her drawer for the past two weeks, thanks to you."  Add that to the "I'm fucked" list.  Number eleven: she knows about the underwear escapade.  Never a good thing.  But something was off.  "What did you mean when you said you didn't know where she was now?"  Jaken was hiding something as he became incredibly shifty, balancing on the balls of his feet.  If the man whispered I would honestly have to kill him.  Can you be more obvious?

"Well, you see, she just left after she finished pummeling me.  She didn't really mention where she was going but she did say that she was going to give the person responsible a piece of her mind.  Yes, that is what she said."  Can I groan and stop myself from killing Jaken another time in this bloody day?  Honestly, where had his mind gone to?  I would think he lost it recently but I know better.  This is why I never entrusted anything important to him.  I just forgot when a certain raven haired vixen entered my life and affected my carnal libido.  Damn her and her sexy ways. 

But she was coming here!  This would make me finding her easier!  Well, perhaps not easier, because I wouldn't really be looking for her at all, so I guess that it would be like she just walked into my life again but—I digress again.  It is happening more and more lately.  Just then there was a loud knock on the door.  I knew that knock.  It was death, coming to my door to bless me the choice of dying peacefully right now or being killed gruesomely by the one I loved.  Hmm, decisions, decisions.  There was another sharp knock and then a key turned in the lock.  I don't remember giving any keys to death recently…

"Sesshomaru!  Where the hell are you?"  He he he, I suddenly felt like some pimply teenage admirer that had stolen my love's panties.  Which was closer to the truth then I liked to admit, but seriously, I was never pimply. 

"Over here, my love.  I am in the sitting room."  I tried to plaster a smile on my face but come on, who is going to face gruesome death with a smile on their face?  Certainly not I, let me tell you.  And she was better that I remembered her.  Yeah, I just saw her this morning, but it was late at night and I was all a twitter with love and excitement.  Maybe she was going to come back to me?

Note to self:  never, ever, use "all a twitter" again.  Or you'll have to kill yourself.  Which isn't something nice to put in a note to self, but what must be done must be done.

"I want to return all your lingerie and inform you that we are not engaged anymore and the deal is off."  Well, I guess I spoke too soon for the whole "wanting me back" hope.

"Kagome, please, just let me explain." 

"What is there to say?  I have seen and heard everything I want to.  There is nothing that you can do or say that will change my decision."

"Are you absolutely set against me?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Please keep the lingerie.  But let it be known that I love you.  And I always will.  And if I have to give up the company to prove it to you, then I will."  She looked a little thoughtful at my comment, but I wanted to give her the time she needed to think it over.  If she was uncertain of my feelings now, then she must be insane.  Well, everyone was insane these days so that didn't matter.  Oh god, I love her.

"I…I…I think that you can keep the lingerie.  I wouldn't want it to be wasted on me.  I certainly won't need it where I am going."

"Where are you, exactly, going?"

"I'm going to Australia.  I have always wanted to go there and so I am going to take a vacation there."  Is this because she is trying to forget me?

"I see.  Well, I wouldn't want to keep you from your trip."  I got up and led her back to the door and then outside to her car.  She turned around abruptly, I guess remembering that she came there to give me a piece of her mind and I stopped it with a kiss.  It was a gentle, loving and compassionate kiss, that spoke volumes between us and I didn't want it to end.  She allowed me to deepen the kiss with my tongue entering her mouth, but soon she parted from me.  Her eyes spoke of love and of hurt and betrayal.

"Kagome, don't leave."  I couldn't help but ask it, even though I knew it wasn't going to be answered in the affirmative that I so desperately needed and wanted to hear.

"I can't.  You hurt me.  Let me go."  Never!

"But remember what I said to you.  I'll be waiting."  And without a second glance she left my house.  I know what you are going to say.  "Why did I let her go?" or "why did she go?" or "what just happened here?" or "tell me on all that is holy that everything turns out well."  But I honestly don't know right now.  She was flying on a jet plane away from my arms and my love and I needed to let her go.  At least right now I needed to let her go.  Don't you worry yet, my friends.  There is still a bit to come.  And Kagome won't be alone for long.  Not if there is anything that I can do about it.