Author's Notes: Once again- many thanks to those that take the time to review ^^ It means a lot to see that people are enjoying this story.
Okay, here we go again….
As always: read, review and enjoy ^^
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Impulse. Something they say people act on all the time. Just a crazy premonition or an unknown feeling. But…how can someone that tries to hide all emotion and feeling act on impulse?
I had so many questions. I just couldn't understand why someone would want to go out of their way on my behalf. Especially when that someone was Sesshoumaru. That man tries to put on the image of hating the world, yet…he'd done so much for me and barely knew me at all.
He'd shrugged it off at many different things- but they were all excuses. But perhaps, I was making excuses too. I didn't flinch anymore when he touched me- but that was just because I had gotten used to it. I found myself wanting to know more about him- but that was just curiosity. And whether I could admit it even subconsciously at the time or not- I found my heartbeat becoming irregular when there was no reason it should have been.
Perhaps my original determination to go to the café and confront my caller was on impulse too. But now- now my impulsive thoughts were just getting downright crazy. It was telling me that deep down- buried under all his issues- that Sesshoumaru might actually give a damn about me. And I knew that couldn't be true…. Right?
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Chapter 14: Ringing True
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Sesshoumaru's gaze hardened as he realized the two men had no intention of leaving the room just yet.
"I assumed you knew the definition of the word privacy," He said, sitting Kagura down on the bed.
Jakotsu smirked, "I thought you said you weren't doing anything that would require privacy."
"Your company with her unclad might be awkward."
Bankotsu shifted from where he was leaning on the doorframe. His eyes, like Jakotsu's, searching Sesshoumaru's to see how much truth there was in the statement he just said.
Before any of them could remark though, Kagura's suppressed temper decided to make its presence known.
"That is it! Whoever the hell you two are, please get the hell out of here! If you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly wearing any clothing at the moment and it's bad enough that one bastard has to see me like this- let alone three!"
Holding the towel against her skin like a lifeline, she seethed. Her eyes glaring daggers through the two men by the door, and making sure to throw a few oft shots out of her peripheral vision at Sesshoumaru as well.
The room fell silent, until Jakotsu dared speak up.
"I see you like them fiery. Not what I'd expect from you Sesshoumaru, but they say opposites attract."
The tall man received two deadly glares in reply.
"And, no need to feel awkward. Women aren't something I would waste my time looking at anyway," He shrugged.
Recalling the earlier incident, Kagura pieced it together.
"I see- so you're the gay guy that works with Sesshoumaru."
"You got a problem with that, woman?" He shot back, eyes narrowed and body tense.
Bankotsu placed a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down! She didn't mean it like that…"
"No. No problem at all," Kagura retorted, shifting her gaze to Bankotsu, "So let me guess- he's your boyfriend?"
"Keh!" The shorter man crossed his arms hastily. "He's my secretary."
"One that does more than file your papers," Sesshoumaru noted, face dead-pan as always.
"Hey!" The braided-man exclaimed, starting to push up his sleeves, "You leave that out of this."
"Wait…" Jakotsu intervened, using Bankotsu's braid to hold him back, "If that's the way you're defining things these days…." He looked from Sesshoumaru to Kagura then back, "Come on Bankotsu, I think Sesshoumaru is wanting his secretary to help him file papers…"
As the two turned to leave, Kagura's shoulders tensed as she began to stand up and storm after them.
Her anger-driven actions were halted by a simple hand placed on her shoulder and a pair of golden eyes that held no discernable emotion in them.
"Don't bother."
"I am not letting those two- two assholes think that you or your Father is paying for me to have sex with you!"
Raising an eyebrow, Sesshoumaru responded, "So if they think it's mutual you're content with that?"
"No!" She yelled, standing up again. Her red-eyes glaring fiercely into his narrowed golden ones, "I don't want them to think anything!"
He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Then without a word, he firmly grasped her chin.
"What are you…" She cut off her own speech on seeing his intent and perplexed face.
As if testing the waters, he slowly swept his thumb up and onto her closed lips.
Eyes widening and completely confused as to what he could possibly be up to, Kagura's mind ran wild.
"What in the hell is he doing? Did he…want there to be something? Oh yeah, that's likely. But why is he looking at me like that?"
"Kagura."
She quirked her eyebrow since her lips were still covered.
"It is to be known that I am not one to use my money for things of that sort."
Beginning to part her lips to retort, he tightened his hold a little.
"And my Father is not of that belief either. Despite the pressure he maintains on us. He would not want a forced relation."
Finally removing his finger, Kagura found she really had nothing left to say.
Walking around her, Sesshoumaru slowly pulled back the covers on the bed and pulled off the sheet, then he reached for her wrist.
Tugging her slightly towards him, he began to reach up for the towel she clutched about her.
"Hey you bastard! Just because your friends want us to have consensual sex doesn't mean we have to!" She protested, yanking her arm free.
Frown settling on his face, he held out the sheet to her.
"Given the lack of undergarments I assumed you would want something more substantial than a towel."
Snatching it away from him, she took the sheet.
"Whatever."
Wrapping it around her waist, she took the remaining part and clutched it against her chest before letting the towel fall to the ground.
An awkward silence hung in the air as she almost mechanically walked towards the bed. Seeing as she was acting a bit strange, Sesshoumaru stood, and waited for her to seat herself. Then without a word, he sat beside her, gently guiding her to lie down and rest her head in his lap.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kagura protested, caught off guard by the surface her head laid upon.
"The pillows are behind your back." He said simply.
Feeling the gauze against her bared skin, she looked up at him the best she could.
"Why?"
"Why…?"
"Why are you going out of your way to be so damned nice to me? Your family, your friends- everyone knows that it's not like you to act like this…."
"It's not every day someone who's had a champagne bottle shattered on their side is left in my presence."
Turning slightly, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to read his expression.
"And so just because my life sucks you decided you'd go out of your way to give a damn? Likely story, but I'm not buying it."
"Your life is not of my concern."
She sat upright then, her face inches in front of his.
"Bullshit. You say that, yet you give up your pillows to make me more comfortable. Let me stay in your house, tend to my injures- that's not something someone who doesn't care does!"
Sesshoumaru frowned, for once not certain what to say in reply.
Mimicking his earlier gesture she reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing his eyes to look into hers.
"Tell me why. Now. Stop these riddles and just tell me."
"The simple answer is unknown."
"Sesshoumaru…" She moved forward, her knees resting alongside his on the bed, "Why the hell can't you just tell me!?"
"Because he doesn't even know right now either," A soft voice said from the doorway.
Snapping her head around, Kagura's eyes caught sight of Bankotsu who was leaning there casually.
"You…"
"I wasn't spying. But the food should be here soon and I figured you might want to know that," He muttered with a shrug.
"Don't consume it all while I finish here," Sesshoumaru said simply, completely nonchalant about Kagura's proximity to him.
Going out the door, he paused with it half open.
"Sesshoumaru's a weird one. He acts without reason. And sometimes- if you're really lucky, he'll do something unexpected and out of his way for ya. It's not like him, but hey- people do things on impulse. Life's just that way."
As the door swung close, the young man's final words came through.
"Don't let him get to ya, Missy. If anyone can do it- you'll be the one to find his heart."
Kagura just stared after him, her mind processing the words he'd said.
Having forgotten how close she was to Sesshoumaru, she started slightly on turning and finding herself practically nose to nose with him.
Before she could retreat to more comfortable distance, her body registered the light pressure of a hand on her hip.
"It's not proper to be unnecessarily cruel to someone who has already been wronged," He stated, voice low and expression unreadable.
"Was that…my answer?" She thought to herself, not realizing how she leaned into his grasp.
His hand slowly moving up her back, it gently rested on her injured side as he slowly unrolled the gauze.
"People do things on impulse…Is that all this is Sesshoumaru?"
Slumping forward against him, her forehead rested on his shoulder.
"Damn, I hate being woken up early in the morning…" She muttered, her interrupted sleep beginning to catch up on her already taxed body.
Noticing this out of the corner of his eye, his frown deepened.
"Why am I…doing this?"
Gauze slowly unrolled as it wound around her midsection, covering the small cuts and minor bruises that covered her side.
"Sesshoumaru…"
Regarding her, he paused, the gauze hanging loose for a moment.
"Just let me rest like this for a moment."
Blinking once, his vaguely apparent shock crossed his features and was gone in an instant.
"Resting in an upright position isn't advisable," He replied.
"I don't care…" She yawned, head tilting against his neck, "Just don't let your Dad wake us up so early anymore on a weekend…"
"This whole situation must be straining her body more than she's letting it show," He reasoned, pulling the gauze around one more time before tying it off.
Sitting the remainder of the roll on the nightstand, he braced her body gently so she wouldn't fall.
"Not one to show this weak side of yourself to just anyone- are you, Kagura?" He pondered to himself, leaning back against the headboard, "Then again. Weakness is not something people want to be so easily seen."
"Sesshoumaru?"
Looking over towards the doorway, he noted the two familiar faces peering in through the cracked door.
Raising an eyebrow, he awaited what he believed would be inane, irritating questions.
Instead, the two men had begun to figure things out themselves.
"What happened to her? Bankotsu said he saw cuts on her side when he came up earlier," Jakotsu said quietly as to not disturb the woman they spoke of.
"It shall be explained at a later time."
"Is that why she's here?" Bankotsu questioned.
"It could be conceived in that manner."
Plopping down into the nearby chair, Jakotsu gestured with his head for the shorter man to follow.
"I never thought you'd be the type to play saint again, Sesshoumaru. The whole instant with the kid was shocking enough…."
He frowned slightly.
"But- it's nice to see that you're beginning to act a little more human. I'm sure the rest of the staff will be glad to hear it."
"It is not of their concern what goes on in this house," Sesshoumaru said firmly.
"Sooner or later they'll find out your new secretary is living here. You'd best just explain things up front."
"That will be to Kagura's discretion."
Bankotsu sat down on the arm of the chair, after swatting Jakotsu's hand away, "Is what happened to her really that bad?"
"Her willingness to speak of it in public is uncertain."
"Anything we can do?" The braided-man offered.
"Don't let anyone strange come near her," Sesshoumaru said firmly, his eyes looking to the gauze.
"Okay, we'll help you protect her from whoever caused that," Bankotsu said, turning to his companion, "Right Jakotsu?"
"Sure… hey can we get a bonus or something for it? You know like- for being bodyguards or something?"
Frown returning to his face at the usual antics, the white-haired man sighed lightly, "Take that up with my Father."
"Publishing and editing staff by day- bodyguards by night… you know that would make for an interesting story, Sesshoumaru…" Bankotsu joked, his usual grin in place.
"Maybe to someone like you," Came the flat reply.
About to defend his idea further, the black-haired man stopped on hearing the knock from downstairs.
"Ah, there's the food. Come on Jakotsu, I'll need help given all we ordered."
"Okay okay," He stood and walked over to Sesshoumaru and held out a hand, "The money for it?"
Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his wallet and handed over the cash.
"We'll be down in a moment."
"All right then," The two said, making their way out.
The silence from before once again settling on the room, Sesshoumaru found his thoughts drifting back over their conversation.
"Help me protect her? They make me sound like some hero from one of those horrid romance novels Kaguya reads."
Feeling the light shift against his side, he glanced down at the black-haired woman.
"Making a story out of this? What an absurd idea…"
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Preview for Chapter 15:
With the food there and some questions to answer, Sesshoumaru and Kagura begin the task of filling in Bankotsu and Jakotsu in regards to the situation. But when Kagura's previous job comes up, you can be certain that Sesshoumaru will never hear the end of it from his friends.