Author's Notes: Well first off, since a couple of people have asked for it- yes, there is a Sesshoumaru/Kagura shrine on the net!

http:// www. geocities. com/ sess_kagura/   (Just remove the spaces ^^;;)

"Feather on the Moon" is a lovely little site that just happens to be run by my beta-reader, and fellow author InuYasha fanfiction author: KellyChan85 (ff.net user id: 92753)  ^^

Also, since I've gotten a few reviews on the matter- I apologize if I am not writing this as you think it should be written. I tend to have a unique style and a set plot in mind, and I really have no intentions of changing either. If you have qualms with the way this is written, then please don't waste yours and my time by bothering to read it.

All right, a few of you guessed it already, but here comes a little mayhem with our two visitors.

As always- please read, review and enjoy ^^

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They say you can tell a lot about a person by who they consider their friends. Normally such a saying didn't matter one damn bit to me- but given the situation I was placed in, I must say- I protest.

True, I had only been around Mr. Personality himself for a few days, but that was enough for me to know that the two people on his doorstep were nothing like him. Hell, they were downright opposites. How in the hell people like that are supposed to help me understand someone as stubbornly stoic as Sesshoumaru, I have no idea.

But, despite the oddity of it- these two called themselves his friends. And despite his outward appearance of not caring, he did allow them in. Which made me think that saying was a little wrong- it's not what the friends of a person tells you about them- it's the sides of the person you're allowed to see when they're around their friends.

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Chapter 13: Call Interrupted

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Beginning to realize this day was marked for disaster, Sesshoumaru was just about to slam the door in their faces when the taller of the two stepped forward.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Sesshoumaru. Here all this time I was hoping you'd come to my side."

Kagura froze on hearing the other voices, "Sesshoumaru if you brought some of your stupid friends over to gawk at me, I'm going to come down there and kill you right now!"

"The towels are in the dryer."

"But you just washed them the other day!" She retorted, moving up a few more steps as to be out of the viewing range of the strangers at the door.

"This household is only equipped to maintain one adult. Not two."

"Oh shove it! I suppose I'll just have to let my hair drip dry…"

Eyes narrowing, he turned towards the stairs just about to forget about his visitors.

"If we're interrupting something, we can always just wait downstairs while you finish up," The dark haired man spoke again.

"Are you trying to get him to fire us?" The shorter protested in a harsh whisper, "If he wants to be alone, we should respect that. Not everyone is like you and willing to have sex in the middle of the office."

"What? We both have breaks at the same time…why not?"

"Jakotsu…"The braided-man warned, "No one besides you is generally that sexually comfortable."

"Bankotsu. Jakotsu. You may wait in the kitchen while I attend to the issue here," Sesshoumaru stated calmly.

"You're…actually letting us stay without trying to slam the door in our face?" Jakotsu questioned.

"The supply of food here is low," He explained, beginning to head towards the dryer to retrieve a towel.

Kagura blinked, watching the exchange between the three men.

"Who in the hell are those two anyways? Employees? If so, you think they'd know better than to invite themselves over…"

With a shrug Sesshoumaru disappeared into the hallway and the two strangers headed for the kitchen.

"We getting pizza or Chinese this week?" The shorter man questioned.

"Dunno. Sesshoumaru actually has a visitor aside from us. Otherwise he wouldn't care."

"True. You really think she's his new secretary, Jakotsu?"

"It is strange that's she's here. He usually hates all his secretaries."

"Or they hate him. There was that one that said his lack of emotion was causing her mental problems, remember?"

"Oh yeah, her. Never did like her."

"Jakotsu. You've never liked any of them."

The taller shrugged, "I prefer to reserve my tastes for the finer art of men."

Bankotsu rolled his eyes, "You never change."

Smirking, he replied, "And you love me just the same…don't ya?"

"Not here," He said firmly, noticing the stray hand drifting towards his leg.

"You're no fun," Jakotsu pouted.

"I don't want to get fired. We're lucky that he's taken this kindly to our weekly visits as it is."

"Weekly visits?" Kagura questioned inwardly, listening into the conversation, "So Mr. Ice Block does have some friends whether he'll admit it or not…"

But before the two could converse further, the phone began to ring.

"Should we…"

"Just let the answering machine get it," Jakotsu shrugged, "He probably doesn't want people to know he has visitors."

"Do you…try and hide that from the world, Sesshoumaru?" Kagura pondered, "You don't want them to know you care…do you?"

Answering machine in the main hallway finally picking up, the black-haired woman heard the familiar voice of Sesshoumaru's Father coming over the line.

"Sesshoumaru. It's not like you to not attend to the phone. Am I hoping too much in thinking that kiss earlier with the young lady wasn't as little as you made it? I expect a call when you are less occupied."

"Ugh. There goes his family with the matchmaking crap again…" She sighed, "Must have something to do with their family owning so much of the town. That or they're just worried about him in their own strange way…" Thinking over that last part again, Kagura hugged the towel about her closer, "I suppose that's what families do. They worry about each other and want to see their children happily married with a family of their own. That's normal life. I'm the one with the family issues here. Not him."

Returning with the small pile of dried towels, Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he realized who was in the household that overheard the message he missed.

Namely- two impish men who were currently sitting at his kitchen table grinning with mischief and obviously up to something.

"Now this will have to be addressed with them before the next business day," Sesshoumaru thought to himself, "It's troublesome enough as it is. I don't need added complications to the matter."

Climbing up the stairs, he paused on seeing Kagura leaning against the wall.

"Rather impractical to stand out here."

"After the fit you threw last time about dripping water on your floor, I figured I'd show you how minor it is," She retorted with a smirk, setting her aloof attitude back in place to hide her current ponderings on the issue.

Handing over the towel, he stood there as she turned to go back and dry off properly.

That's when, he began to follow her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? I thought you got over that pervert phase, or are you just trying to show off for your friends?!" Kagura retorted.

"Employees," He corrected, then explained himself "And I believe you are still unable to bandage your injury alone."

"Don't remind me," She glared.

"Also. I think it best we discuss some of the occurrences of this morning's outing."

Kagura froze where she stood, "He means…"

"Given the injury at hand. It should be proper to inform me as to what we are dealing with."

"You mean my Father?"

"He seemed to be looking for you," Sesshoumaru stated, going over and sitting on the bed.

Storming into the bathroom, she slammed the door.

"I don't want to talk about it, all right?! He's not exactly my favorite subject."

"She's avoiding something," He remarked to himself, "Is she afraid if I know more that he'll seek me out as well?"

"Hey- where's the damned gauze at?"

Standing without a word, Sesshoumaru walked over and grabbed the doorknob.

On hearing it turn, Kagura pressed herself against it.

"I asked for you to tell me, not show me!"

"The shelf it is placed on would prove awkward for your stature," He replied, beginning to use his shoulder to push at the door from his side.

"Just tell me where it's at!"

He increased his pressure on the door and Kagura's side began to feel sharp pains at the force. Despite her protests against it, she turned and pulled the door open.

But her sudden movement left Sesshoumaru a victim of gravity and friction as the door was yanked open from the other side. Falling forward, he found himself with a face full of one of Kagura's more noticeable pieces of anatomy as they tumbled onto the ground.

Wincing as they both hit the floor, it took only a few seconds before Kagura registered where a certain white-haired man's face was.

"You goddamn bastard!" Her voice rang out as she pushed him off her.

He narrowed his eyes, as he sat up, "If you were going to open the door, you should have done so in the first place."

"Fuck off, you."

Eyes narrowing further, he began to reach out a hand in her direction.

She slapped it away.

"Just leave me the hell alone!"

Turning he stood and reached into one of the highest shelves of the cabinet and pulled down a roll of gauze.

Without a word more, he knelt beside her, a hand placed on her shoulder.

"I thought I said to…"

She was cut off as he spoke, "Moving hastily only causes more trouble in healing such injuries."

Pausing, the anger left her face as she realized what he meant- her side was bleeding again, some of the cuts having been pulled open during the fall.

"Shit…" She muttered.

"If you hate that man so much then why is he still controlling your actions?"

"What?"

"I told you. I'm not him," Sesshoumaru said firmly, realizing the panic in her voice earlier was not so much directed at him as it was the mental impact of her Father on her.

Averting her gaze, Kagura pulled the towel closer around herself.

"This should be attended to," He said, gripping her arm.

"I know, okay!" She snapped back, her eyes full of the pain she was trying to hide.

"He's controlling her. Even now…Then, I suppose this reaction is only to be expected," He thought to himself, then moving closer to her, he reached up and grabbed the washcloth from the sink's ledge.

Saying not a word more, he gently began to wash away the blood that was seeping out from the wound on her side.

"Sesshoumaru?"

He paused at his name, and looked up at her.

"What if… the scars won't heal?" She questioned, her mind thinking back on their earlier conversation.

"Then you are a weaker woman than I thought," He said simply, and quietly returned to attending to the physical wounds.

As he stopped to put the washcloth back up in the sink, he felt a feather-light touch on his shoulder.

Realizing it was Kagura's other hand, he raised an eyebrow.

"Will you…" She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, "Will you help me fight him?"

The room fell silent, until finally Sesshoumaru replied.

"Dealing with cowards is not something I enjoy doing."

Despite his words though, his lingering hand as he slowly removed her hand from his shoulder was enough for Kagura to understand.

"It'll be all right now. Naraku won't find me, and if he does… if he does- I…I have Sesshoumaru on my side."

Standing, he stooped to pick her up.

"What the hell are you doing now?!" She protested, thrown by the sudden movement.

"It will be easier to attend to that with you on the bed."

Opening her mouth to retort,  Kagura fell silent as Sesshoumaru stepped out of the bathroom with her.

There in the bedroom's doorway were the two visitors- both smirking widely.

"What's wrong Sesshoumaru? Not the type to have sex on the bathroom floor?" Jakotsu asked, his smirk barely containing his amusement.

Looking to Kagura's disheveled state with only a towel covering her, and realizing the last few lines could easily be mistaken, Sesshoumaru leveled a glare on the two.

"Jakotsu." He warned.

"Okay okay, let me guess- you have an explanation- right?"

"Attend to the food. It shall be explained in due time," He stated firmly, leaving no room for protest or question.

"So- pizza or Chinese?" Bankotsu cautiously asked.

Figuring he'd need some time to convince them of their mistake, Sesshoumaru simply replied, "Both."

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Preview for Chapter14:

In order to keep the peace, Sesshoumaru has to sit down and give a proper explanation to his employees in regards to Kagura. But sometimes you can read into words more than the speaker would want you to.