The Club

Christielea54

Chapter Twelve

Shippo had been allowed to visit his friends at The Club. They were currently playing a game of tic-tac-toe. Kagome and Shippo versus Inuyasha.

"Ha! I win! Again!" Inuyasha shouted victoriously. He was insufferable! Even Shippo thought so!

The bells over the door chimed noisily and Kagome turned to see who it was. A very tall business man wearing a crisp looking suit with short-cut black hair had walked inside. What's a business man doing in here? She was about to turn back to the tic-tac-toe game, but then she did a double-take. That business man had the exact same shade of gold colored eyes that Inuyasha did.

Speaking of Inuyasha, he had gone incredibly tense on the barstool next to her. Confused, she looked from Inuyasha to the business man, and back to Inuyasha again. What was going on? Finally the man spoke in a cold and aloof tone of voice.

"Hello, little brother." One of his eyebrows was lifted in a shadow of amusement, but that was the only emotion visible on his face.

Shippo had been sitting cross legged on his barstool, but now he leaned forward and whispered in Inuyasha's ear. "Dude, he just called you little!"

Both Kagome and Inuyasha sent him incredulous looks. Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the kid's stupidity while Kagome tried to explain. "You're supposed to be surprised that he said brother, not little."

Shippo's mouth formed a perfect 'o' in understanding. Kagome smiled. Inuyasha might think it was stupid, but she thought it was cute!

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked bluntly. Kagome could see immediately that there was no love lost between these two.

"The yearly check-up." His gaze swept the room looking for anything out of place or uncared for. Then his eyes landed on Kagome. She looked back at him, but couldn't hold his gaze for long. His eyes were so cold and distant! They might be the same color, but they were nothing like Inuyasha's!

"So is this the new tramp?" he asked just as coolly as before.

Kagome felt her cheeks heat up. Why did everyone assume that there was something going on between Inuyasha and herself?! And how dare he call her that! "Hey! You can't-"

But Inuyasha beat her to it. "Don't call her that," he warned darkly, his eyes fiery. He was always so passionate about everything that he did, and once again she was reminded how different his eyes were from his brother's.

"Is this one going to ask you to do equally ridiculous things?" he continued. "Because she looks like the last one."

"You think I hadn't noticed or something?!" Inuyasha yelled. "And FYI she's not like her at all. Are you Kagome?" he asked without taking his eyes off of his brother.

It took her a moment to register that he was talking to her, and not about her. "Of course not!"

"Besides, there's nothing going on between Kagome and me, so butt out Sesshomaru!"

So his name's Sesshomaru. That's a- Wait! Is this the mysterious owner of The Club who manages it from afar?! He's Inuyasha's brother?! "You're Sesshomaru?" she exclaimed.

He slid his cold gaze back over to her. Embarrassed, she turned on Inuyasha. "You never told me you had a brother!"

"It's not like you ever asked," he replied defensively.

Silently fuming, Kagome turned to take Shippo and walk him home, just to get out of there, but found the bar empty. She looked over and saw the door still swinging shut.

"Huh, I wonder where he got to?" Inuyasha wondered.

Somewhere outside a small boy sighed a very exasperated and grown up sigh. "They're so immature…"

Sango was not proud to say how indecisive she felt. She hardly ever felt this way! She was a pick-one-of-the-choices-and-go-with-it kind of girl. But now…

She knew Miroku had saved her life. Looking back, she was afraid of what might have happened if hadn't come along. She would give him that much, and couldn't thank him enough. On the other hand, he was a total player and an apparent pervert. He was really good looking, and had done so much for her, and she had thought that maybe, just maybe… but then he'd gone and done that! She didn't know what to do!

There was a knock on her door, which was no longer locking her in. "Come in Mrs. Morimoto." She heard the shuffling of feet, but instead of the old woman's voice greeting her, she heard an impossibly adorable meow.

She spun around, and sure enough, there was a kitten! Being held by none other than Miroku himself. The kitten couldn't have been more than a couple of months old. It was cream colored, and had black markings. It looked as cute as it sounded.

"Is this some sick way to pick up girls?" she asked rather coldly. But he'd been expecting as much.

"Don't be that way beautiful." Flattery had always worked for him before, why not now?

"Do you call all your girlfriends that or just me?" she responded.

Miroku sat the kitten on the floor, who proceeded to patrol around the room curiously. The baby cat's fur looked so soft!

"Sango, I'm sorry."

When he looked at her with such soft eyes, she found it hard to stay angry with him. Those eyes were almost as soft as the kittens. But she had to stay angry! "Miroku, you grabbed a random girls butt in the middle of a public place!" she yelled incredulously. "She could sue you for sexual harassment if she wanted!"

"Hey, at least I knew her name!" he said defensively.

"Oh yeah? What was it?"

"Tamara. No! It was Takara! Wait! Oh it doesn't matter!"

"How doesn't it matter!?"

"I never did it to you, did I?"

"Am I that repulsive?"

"Re-repulsive?" All the anger left his voice and a challenging lilt took its place. "You think you're repulsive?"

Was he smiling? Suddenly she felt very uncomfortable. Like she had gone from being the predator to being the prey, and that there wasn't anything she could do about it. Unconsciously she took a step backwards. Was it just her or was he getting closer?

"It could be because I find you repulsive," he said with a thoughtful expression, but laughed as her jaw dropped open. Damn him and his jokes! "Or… because I respect the way you do things." He let that sink in for a moment before smiling hugely. He'd reverted back to playful mood again. How did he do that? Back and forth, back and forth. It was like watching a frigging ping-pong match! "However, if you want me to, I'd be happy to oblige!" He reached out, but she caught his hand in hers before it could get too close.

"Thanks but no thanks," she replied sarcastically. With a blush, she realized how close they'd gotten and dropped his hand in favor of picking up the kitten. She was just as soft as she looked! She smiled at Miroku. "I think I'll name her Kirara!"

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Kirara makes an appearance!

The next chapter has one of my favorite Inu/Kag moments in it! So stick around!

And don't forget to review! Thanks!