Disclaimer: Just go see Chapter 1, and you'll get the idea…
A/N: So now it's Sesshomaru's turn to be introduced into the spotlight…but don't worry, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo will all be making appearances veeeeery soon….you can count on that ;)
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Chapter 3: Stitches in Time~^~^~^~
"You are telling me that you have failed?"
"Not failed, sir. He was wounded from the fight, quite severely might I add. But—"
"No buts!" Sesshomaru roared, slapping his palms on his desk and scattering papers everywhere. The others in the room flinched. "I asked you to dispose of him, and you come back and tell me that all you managed was to give him a minor scrape. That is not what I asked, and therefore it is failure."
The man standing before him was near to begging on his knees. The mighty youkai was not known to be forgiving. "Just give me three more days. My men have traced him, and I think we may have found where he is hiding out. I only need a few more days, and I can finish the job." He clasped his hand in front of him, pleading with every last scarp of dignity he could muster. Never in all his years as an assassin had he resorted to such humiliation. But this time it was different; this time his life depended on it.
The dog-youkai towered before him, illuminated from the back by the sunlight streaming in through the window.
"Where is he residing?" Sesshomaru finally asked. "Do you have this information with you?"
"Yes—yes sir. He is staying at the Silver Fan Hotel, presumably staying with the owner of the place."
"Did anyone see him go in?"
"No one in the lobby at least. We think he may have gone through a back entrance."
Sesshomaru handed the quivering man a pen and paper, disgusted by his pitiful display of fear. 'Humans are a pathetic race,' the youkai thought as he indicated to the assassin to write down the information. 'Afraid of even the smallest shadow on the wall.'
"Is this all?" The youkai lord nodded at the address jotted down on the paper.
All the assassin could do was nod, which was enough of answer.
Sesshomaru nodded to his men standing at the back, and turned to gaze out his window as one of his men drew out his dagger. The cars flew by underfoot, and airplanes over head, all moving along with the flow of time that every thing seemed to follow. Everything moved on, even as a man lay dying on his office floor.
Oh, the ironies of life.
"Sir, what should we do about this mess?"
The youkai glanced over his shoulder, noting the blood pooling on his carpet. "Dispose of it in the usual way."
The two men nodded, and quickly dragged the body out through the door. They knew their master well, and they knew he didn't like a lengthy clean-up.
Meanwhile, sidestepping the crimson stain without so much as a thought, the mighty youkai business tycoon dialled his secretary.
"What would you like, sir?" A pleasant female voice drifted through the speaker.
"I need the number for the Taijiya Corporation. And, Yura?"
"Yes?"
"Order another carpet for my office. This one doesn't match the décor."
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The music was pumping, vibrating the floors, walls, tables, and stools that occupied the space of the club. Kagome watched her glass skip and hop its way across the bar, feeling a little out of place amongst the young people who crowded the scene. She had come here on her last night of freedom because of her friends' insistence that she needed a life.
'It's not that I don't have a life,' She thought, catching her glass before it danced off the edge. 'It's just that I enjoy a quiet evening to myself now and again. Where's the problem with that?'
"C'mon, Kagome! You can't stay on that stool all night!" Yuka, one of her friends, bounced off of the dance floor, interrupting the veterinarian's gloom. "There are plenty of cute guys out there, who I'm sure wouldn't mind meeting you."
"I'd love to, but I've got a long day tomorrow. I think I might call it an early night."
"Just five more minutes! Please?" Not waiting for an answer, Yuka grabbed her arm and dragged her out onto the dance floor to join Eri and Ayumi. There was a group of guys hanging around them, and Kagome had to admit Yuka was right. They were kind of cute.
She was just about to be introduced to a dark-haired one with nice eyes when the familiar ring of her cell phone cut through the noise.
"Damn it all," Kagome cursed under her breath. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Miroku. I need your help."
"What now?" She plastered the phone to her ear, trying to discern Miroku's voice from the hundreds of others around her.
"Our friend has run into a little trouble."
She sighed, and rolled her eyes. No conversation starting with that line would be good. "Don't tell me. Another dogfight?"
"No, no. Just…come by as soon as you can, okay?"
"But I'm kinda busy rig—"
But she couldn't finish because the dial tone buzzed in her ear. Frustrated, she turned to her friends and shrugged, trying to block out their disappointed faces.
"Sorry, guys, but duty calls."
Eri's shoulders sagged as she waved goodbye. "You take this vet stuff way too seriously, Kagome."
"I know," she replied, "But I enjoy it anyway."
The fresh, nippy air that whistled past her as she walked to her car cleaned out the staleness that had accumulated in her mind. Sure, she enjoyed going to the occasional club, but this had been one of her first nights she had had all to herself in—well—a very long time. And she had been looking forward to catching up on some reading, or T.V. or movies, or something! Now she was heading over to Miroku's to deal with an ill-tempered part dog demon. What a great night this was turning into.
As she was about to hop into the warmer confines of her car, the winter's first snowflakes drifted down with the wind, catching on her hair and jacket.
Kagome smiled slightly, catching a few on her gloves and watching them melt. There was something magical that snow brought with it—along with the snowploughs and complaints about bad shovelling. But still, it always made the city look cleaner, fresher, and less like an over-populated place ridden with people and garbage. It would create the Winter Wonderland that everyone always wished for.
Oh yes, there was finally some magic in the air.
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"You called her, didn't you?"
Miroku gave a small shrug, put the phone back in its holder. "That's none of your business. And stop scratching at your shoulder! It's bad enough as it is without you irritating it."
"Thanks for the diagnosis, doctor," Inuyasha sneered. "But I think I know what I can and can't do." Nevertheless, he lowered his claws to his side.
"Just stop acting like such a bitter, self-possessed idiot for one second here. You came to me for help, remember? You're in my apartment, eating my food, and watching my TV. I deserve to have a say in what goes on."
Inuyasha glared at his friend, but refrained from insulting him further. The guy had a point. "I just don't get why you got a damn veterinarian to fix me up! Of all the medical people in this entire city, you go and get a vet. And not just any vet, a useless, small-animal vet, who's probably never stitched up anything larger than a titmouse."
"Kagome is a perfectly respectable veterinarian, and someone I know well enough to trust. She seemed like a good choice," Miroku replied, not deterred by the rude tone the hanyou was taking. After two years, he was used to it. "Want some coffee?"
But Inuyasha didn't hear the last line; he was too fixed on the undertone he had detected in his friend's voice. "What's the real reason you went to her? After all, there are plenty of doctors in close distance here. But no, you take a taxi to the outer reaches of the city to get a veterinarian."
Miroku suddenly found a pair of golden eyes focussed on his own. He pursed his lips as the coffeemaker buzzed, and found the cup in his hands to be rather interesting. All those funny blue swirls at the bottom…
"You know why, Inuyasha," Miroku said quietly. "You know exactly why I couldn't go get a human doctor, or a youkai healer."
Inuyasha's voice was soft—and the pain distinct—as he murmured, "Because no one would take a half-breed as a patient."
It wasn't a question, but Miroku still nodded, watching the blue swirls go round and round in his cup. It was a gloomy world, where youkai and humans—although they managed to co-exist—hated the ground the other walked on. And half-breeds were caught in that limbo in the middle, accepted by neither humans nor demons. A sad, sorry world it was.
Eyes narrowed, the hanyou began to claw at his stitches again, not so much to ease an itch, but because it felt better to feel pain on the outside, rather than on the inside. He didn't want to admit to the hurt he felt, but there was something about the rejection that stung.
The doorbell was a welcome distraction from the uneasy silence that had settled over the room, and Miroku was quick in answering the door.
"This better be serious, Miroku, or I swear your hands will never function again."
"What's your definition of serious?" He asked as he took her snow-dusted coat.
"Life-threatening, imminent death, that sort of thing." Kagome grabbed her bag from the floor and made her way over to the couch where a set of white, fuzzy ears was poking over the top. "So which is it?"
"An irritated hanyou can be considered life-threatening,"
Miroku commented, following close behind partly to protect her, and also to
protect himself.
Inuyasha had caught her scent even before she appeared before him, trying to ignore the way it tickled at his senses. Which was why she was greeted with another icy cold stare, identical to the one she had first received.
Her eyes ignored his, and instead roved over his clean blue shirt that hung loosely on his frame, the neat black pants that were obviously a little too long. That was strange; there was no blood in sight.
She turned to Miroku, pointing an accusing finger. "Is this some kind of joke? He's not hurt. In fact, he looks far from it."
"I'm not hurt, wench. It's your stupid stitches that are pissing me off."
"So it speaks," Kagome muttered, turning back to the figure on the couch. She contemplated grabbing her things and leaving—she didn't want to put up with the jerk any more than he wanted to put up with her. But she was not one to leave a patient—whether half-breed or animal—in some sort of pain. "Fine then, I'll take a look."
She reached out to unbutton his shirt—wishing that he would stop looking at her like that—and found her hands wrapped in two larger, clawed ones.
"What do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha yelled, a little flustered at the fact that she had just tried to undress him.
"I need to see your stitches, moron! And I can't do that very well unless your shirt is off!"
The hanyou snorted, letting go of her hands. He noticed the faint blush on her cheeks, and discovered an opportunity to have some fun. "You just wanted to see me without a shirt on, didn't you?"
"What?" Kagome screeched, her face growing even redder. How dare he assume such things, the jerk! Her hand raised to slap him on the face, but the smug look on his face stopped her. She wouldn't stoop to any level to get back at him, jerk or no.
"Oh, I know. You won't admit to it, but I know what you really wanted," Inuyasha remarked snidely, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. He raised an eyebrow suggestively, and managed to receive the coldest glare Kagome could muster.
"That's it! You're on your own with this narcissistic asshole, Miroku!" Kagome turned with a 'humph', stormed past her gaping friend.
"Good! I don't need you, wench!"
"Shut up, Inuyasha," Miroku said fiercely as he caught Kagome by the shoulder. Typical idiot, jeopardizing everything because he was too proud to be taken care of by a vet. It was time to do some damage control.
"Kagome, wait, please. There's no one else I can go to for help. I need you," Miroku pleaded, flashing his most desperate, melting grin.
After a university career spent with him, Kagome was immune to his charm. "Nice try, but it's not going to work. You're just going to have bribe some poor soul into finishing the job."
"Look, Kagome." He caught her by both shoulders now in a desperate attempt to stop her movement. "There isn't another poor soul who would finish your work. You know what this world is like, how it treats the demons and humans and those in between. You're the only one who is kind enough to help. No one else has a heart like yours. Please, just bear with him one more time."
Damn it, Miroku sure had a way with words. Kagome chewed on her bottom lip, wishing that he hadn't found the only way to break down her defences. Sometimes, she wondered what it would be like to be hard, cruel, uncaring. And then she wondered how those people could possibly make a living in their day-to-day life.
She let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, but he's taking that shirt off by himself."
Inuyasha glared hard at Miroku, ready to begin a whole new flurry of insults. But there was something in the man's expression that kept the hanyou's mouth shut. And those stitches were really getting on his nerves.
Kagome dug through her bag and pulled out what she needed. And when her eyes looked up, she was caught off guard by the sight of the hanyou, bare-chested and golden eyes flaming in the dim light. Sure, she had seen him without a shirt the first time, but then he had been covered in blood and had a giant gap between his shoulder and arm.
But now, there was nothing except hard lines—and a red line tracing along the stitches she had put in only a five days ago.
"Are you sure your arm has healed?"
Inuyasha nodded. "In case you don't know, demon's heal extremely fast."
"I know that," She retorted, resting her fingers on the swollen flesh. She traced a few scratch marks and winced inwardly. It did look a little irritated. "But then again, you're only half demon. You take a little longer to heal. Now don't move, or I might end up stabbing you with these extremely sharp scissors."
"It probably wouldn't be an accident," Miroku supplied with a grin. "Do you need help?"
"Nope. You can go now, if you want." Kagome began to cut away at the stitches, trying to avoid the most swollen areas. "Now, this might hurt a little. Just bear with me."
But Inuyasha hardly noticed the soreness that began as she started pulling at the string. Her feather-light touches were distracting him beyond belief, driving him more than a little crazy. He blamed it on the cooling touch her fingers brought to his inflamed skin…but whatever it was it was driving him to distraction.
She leaned in a little closer, to get a good look at a particular piece, and Inuyasha's nose was suddenly assaulted by the subtle female scent she seemed to exude. He blinked, surprised at his reaction. Since when did human females smell quite so…alluring?
"Hang in there a little longer. A few more to go," She murmured, oblivious to the reaction she was receiving from her patient.
Inuyasha tensed as the last string was pulled free, but he had hardly begun to relax before those slender fingers of hers began to rub a funny-smelling ointment on his skin. The itch that had taken up residence dissipated as she worked her magic, rubbing it in slow circles to ease the pain. Inuyasha caught himself from letting out a contented growl, and instantly he tensed at the strange feeling twisting inside.
'What the hell is she doing to me?' He wondered, unable to pry his eyes off of the young veterinarian's face. If Kagome had only managed to pry her attention away for one second, she would have been bowled over by the fiery heated gleam in his eyes.
But instead, she drew away—conveniently avoiding any eye contact—leaving Inuyasha in the aftermath of her scent. He felt a chill in the air, and wondered whether Miroku had turned down the heat. It hadn't seemed so icy a moment ago.
"Well, I'm done. Here's the cream I used. Rub it in two to three times a day, and the swelling and itch should disappear. If you need more, just get Miroku to drop by my clinic."
"Do you want anything to eat? Drink?" Miroku asked from the kitchen. He had kept his distance while Kagome worked, as much as a way to stay out of her way as to observe. And what he had seen had made his day all the more interesting and entertaining. Who would've guessed that Inuyasha had a repressed desire for humans? Having experienced that same passion many times over, Miroku felt he could recognise that particular glance from miles away.
And that avid gaze had practically barraged Kagome, yet she had never once caught it with her own eyes. So all the pervert was left to do was hide his knowledge, and pretend nothing had happened. Ha, as if that would last long!
Kagome wanted to get away from the heat in the room, feeling sweat trickling down her back. She had never had such a difficult time getting stitches out. But seeing a strange gleam in her perverted friend's eyes, she declined to inform him of any such things. "I should be fine. Where's your washroom? I need to wash this cream off of my hands."
Miroku pointed her down a hallway, waited until she was out of hearing range and strolled over to the couch, a small grin making its way onto his face.
"That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
Inuyasha finished buttoning up his borrowed shirt, not even bothering to glare. "Keep laughing, if you want your eyes torn out."
"Your threats don't work on me, you should know that by now. She's a good veterinarian, isn't she?"
His skin was still tingling from where her fingers had been, but the hanyou tried to ignore the sensation—with little success. "How would I know? I've never been to one."
'Ah, no insults, avoiding the subject. Houston, we have a problem,' Miroku thought, sipping at his cooling coffee. 'An amusing problem.'
"What are you smirking about?" Inuyasha demanded, "You're thinking perverted thoughts again, aren't you?"
"No surprise there." Kagome's voice caused them both to turn around. "If he wasn't thinking perverted thoughts, then I'd worry."
She found her coat and boots, and threw them on, feeling decidedly refreshed after cooling off in Miroku's obscenely spacious bathroom. Warm light spilled from lamps, illuminating the room in a soft, homey glow, and for an instant the veterinarian was almost tempted to stay. But the time was flying, and she needed to get some decent sleep. Her clients would be piling in tomorrow—no doubt about that—and she would need all of her resolve to get through the next few days.
Besides, five more minutes with that damn hanyou would no doubt drive her up the wall, and she wasn't about to start paying off psychiatric bills as well.
"Leaving so soon?"
"Have to get ready for the post-Christmas rush." She grabbed her bag from Miroku's hands. "It was nice seeing you again, even if it was under these circumstances."
He got a quick hug, and noted that she gave Inuyasha a quick glance before looking back to him. So maybe it was a two-sided problem. Well, well—that just added to his fun. "I hope your friend gets better, so he can stop being such an annoyance."
"Have fun torturing small animals, quack," The hanyou called from his position on the couch, refusing to turn around. "I'm sure you won't be able to enjoy your day unless you do."
She made a face at the back of his head, and made her way to the door.
"And the bill?" Miroku asked as he showed her out.
"Will be sent to you within the next three to seven days. Have a happy New Year."
He grinned and gave her another grope-free hug. " We'll keep in touch. Don't you worry about that."
Kagome sent him an amused look. "I won't worry too much."
She rode the elevator down to the main lobby, darted past sparkly New Year's decorations, and found herself in a quiet, rather deserted parking lot in no time at all. Already it felt as though her experiences over the last few days had been distant memories from years ago.
Shaking her head at how time really did fly, she hopped into her car, oblivious to all around her.
Including the glint of the camera lens, and the pair of eyes that hid behind it, silently watching her every move.
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Chapter 4 is on its way!Reviewer Replies:
Okay, I realized that I hadn't quite discussed the entire setting of the story too well before this chapter, and I apologize for the confusion that it may have caused. Just in case any one else was wondering—and in case this chapter didn't explain it—demons and humans co-exists in a not so peaceful world, and hanyous are kind of the in-between species. Hopefully this chapter has cleared some stuff up though in the feelings people of that world have about the whole situation. Now onto the thanks:
Kristen Sharpe: Yep, there are quite a few lines missing then…I checked on my computer though, and all seemed normal, so I don't know if that's just ff.net being funny or not. Oh well, if this chapter has done something, feel free to tell me and I can check out what might have happened……thanks for reviewing!
Hekiru Kamanachi: Really? You think that I write well? I feel so proud and giddy all at once!!!!!! ^__^ That's by far the greatest compliment I could have gotten….You've made my day! And as for the updating, I'll try to update ASAP, but I'm still working on the chapters… hopefully this one helped for your reading though! And there are not enough words in the dictionary to describe Miroku…really…^__~
Azura Dea: Hey, it's you! No surprise there, insulting me and such…meh, I'm used to it…anyway, I know you've already seen this chapter, but here it is again to read!
Jadegoddess: Hey there! Happy birthday! And yes, demons are common, though half-breeds not so much as I have explained…anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Caligo Origuu: Lol…I guess he does…he has a lot to learn about people, especially Kagome ;) Thanks for reviewing!
Lunatic Pandora1: Hopefully I;ve explained why Kagome wasn;t too surprised he was a hanyou, but if you need any more explanation, feel free to ask!
Elendil Star-Lover: Glad you liked it! Thanks for your time and review!
Celeste: Uh oh…another person on my ass now…should I run? Should I hide? Or will it all be futile? Hmmm….decisions, decisions…~__^ Lol, Miroku has to have a few more lessons in life I think, he seems to be lacking them…and how could anyone ignore Inuyasha's amazing good dog-demon looks? I never like stories that have him turn human permantly…those ears are everything!
kitsunefire: Weird is probably the best word to describe this story, and of course its author ;) Glad you like it and thanks for reading!
ash-chan: I hoped it would be cute, so your review eased all my fears ^__^ Thanks for the review!
FlamingToad: Wow…thanks for the consideration and the appreciation! Your review really made me feel so much better about this story (I was kinda worried people would ignore it for its weirdness, like the image you described)…as I've said—and hopefully this chapter clears up—demons are common, and half-breeds are kind of common. And as for the use of a verterinarian, well I think this chapter explained that! (if it didn't just tell me, k?)…anyway, thanks so much for your review and support! And hopefully the calibre of writing keeps up with your expectations! ^__^