Author's Notes: Ah, so sorry for the long delay. I'll spare you all the details and just say- November wasn't a good month for me.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next chapter and please consider checking out my other stories- or those of my wonderful beta-reader Kellychan85. :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You've probably all heard those embarrassing stories. Girls who accidently left their skirt hiked up after a visit to the bathroom. Or people who've ended up snorting while they laughed. Everyone has one of those embarrassing moments that you just wish you could go back and erase from your life.
These blunders seem to always pick the choice moments to occur. It's always when you're trying to be very serious or just casually going about your day to day routine when they seem to happen.
And of course, like everyone else in the world, I found myself plagued with one little trait that would continually come back to haunt me.
Sure sometimes it would be a minor little change in my voice, and something would come out more of a purr than a normal sentence. Sometimes I found myself slipping into that breathy "you know you want me" pitch. But usually I'd stop myself from making an idiot of myself further.
But not this time. Oh no. Without even thinking about the implications, I had somehow worked myself in a predicament that I'm sure I'll never quite live down.
Because no one, and I mean- no one, could ever forget pinning one Sesshoumaru Taiyoukai on the ground, in a rather…unintentionally, seductive manner.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 29: A Moment to Re-Call
-------------------------------------------------------
Sesshoumaru continued writing, words appearing one after another on the page. But even though the story was progressing smoothly, his mind was distracted; namely in part to the woman sitting in the chair behind him.
Rin had left, yet the same strong tense air hung; its uneasy, stale nature pricking at Sesshoumaru's senses and making him keenly aware of any and every sound and movement.
"This is becoming rather troublesome," He thought to himself, golden eyes trying to look about the room without Kagura becoming aware of his awkward state. That, he knew, would only be cause for more trouble.
"Is something on your mind, Sesshoumaru?"
He could pick up the almost sensual, mocking tone of her voice; she knew what was up and she was going to use it fully to her advantage.
Defiantly silent, he began to write faster now, acting as if he was completely concentrated on those countless words and nothing else.
Kagura had realized it almost moments after she'd sat down and noticed Sesshoumaru immersing himself in his writing. The room was thick with tension, and someone was trying very hard to freeze himself into a block of ice away from it all.
"Okay, maybe I'm just seeing things because I want them to be there… but I'm pretty sure that he's got something going on in that head of his about me. The question is…what?"
Standing casually, she rose and began to walk towards him.
At the sound of her footsteps, Sesshoumaru's frown deepened. He was writing nonsensical words, just anything to keep himself looking busy.
"Hey, Sesshoumaru…"
Leaning down beside him, she slowly placed her hand atop his and made him lower the pen to the table.
"I'm trying to write," His forced tone snapped.
"And I'm trying to ask you a question."
Kagura dropped all semblance of joking at that moment, her own thoughts perplexed by the ever so slight tremble she felt from Sesshoumaru's hand.
"I shouldn't push him. He's not used to this, it's probably well…as weird as it sounds, it's probably scaring him… or at least confusing him a lot."
"What goes on in my head is not something you should be prying into," Sesshoumaru said, his voice almost chilling in its darkened tone.
She paused, her mind telling her to apologize, but her tongue refusing to speak the words.
"…I'm not joking around, okay? It's just that someone told me not to go around aggravating my injury and the gauze is on the high shelf still."
His face showed a momentary instance of shock, then fell back into its normal dead-pan appearance. Standing without a word, he walked towards the doorway.
Turning, his eyes fell on where Kagura still stood by his chair.
"Come," Was the only word he said and once he saw that she was listening, he began to head up the stairs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Every motion occurred in silence. Kagura content on trying to see what was Sesshoumaru's problem and Sesshoumaru content on ignoring all thoughts and just going through the motions.
So intent they were on observing the other and trying to sort out any thoughts that did enter their minds, that neither one noticed the soft footsteps of Rin as she came up the stairs and waited quietly in the doorway.
"Sesshoumaru?"
Her voice snapped them both from their cold world of isolation and observation, and Sesshoumaru stood from the bed and walked towards the small girl almost immediately.
"Is the movie over?"
She nodded, then trying to contain her smile, she looked up at him.
"I was…wondering if you could put together your gift. The castle's still in the big box."
He glanced back to Kagura, a silent question being asked.
"I'll be fine, go on. I can get my pain medication by myself, I'm a big girl."
They both started to leave, but Sesshoumaru paused suddenly, turning back once again to look at the dark-haired woman seated on the bed.
"Kagura."
"Hmm?" She blinked, a bit thrown by his sudden desire to speak to her.
"We'll be downstairs."
Kagura let a small smile creep onto her face at that. Sure to most, it seemed like a pretty obvious statement, but Kagura knew- it was Sesshoumaru's strange way of telling her he wasn't far away if she needed him.
And silently, she thanked him for that kindness.
-----------------------------------------------------
The room was becoming too quiet for Kagura, and even the light sound of Rin humming from downstairs was a welcome noise. Taking her medicine, she slowly made her way back down the staircase.
Stopping mid-way down, she observed the current situation Sesshoumaru was now facing.
There, in the middle of what was once a drab living room was now the largest pile of pink and purple plastics that she'd ever seen. Rin was keeping herself entertained elsewhere with various other toys, leaving Sesshoumaru to the daunting task of assembling the "dream castle."
Noting the waylaid instruction sheet, Kagura just sighed.
"Looks like even Sesshoumaru isn't the type of guy who uses instructions. This will take him all night…"
Making her way down the rest of the stairs, she walked over and knelt beside him.
"You know, I think the instructions might speed things up."
He paused momentarily, and raised an eyebrow as he glanced up at her.
"The complexity of those is worse than the pieces themselves."
Lifting up the multi-paged booklet, Kagura thumbed through the pages.
"It doesn't look that hard. Just try it."
He frowned and Kagura sighed.
"What?"
"Prove me wrong, then," He challenged, and Kagura instantly remembered that tone.
"Same as that first day on the phone, eh? Okay, Mr. Icicle, I'll prove you wrong…" She smirked confidently, "Fine, I will!"
Snagging the jumble of pink plastic from his hand, she looked at the first page of instruction.
"Insert piece AA13 into VM27," She blinked, "How do you know which piece is which anyways?" She asked aloud as she stared at the plastic square.
Sesshoumaru casually pointed to the small imprints on the edge of the plastic brackets.
"This is ridiculous! Why'd you buy her this?!"
"It's what she desired."
"Do you always give people what they desire?" Kagura questioned, her voice taking on a seductive edge.
Her eyes widened instantly and the plastic piece dropped as she clamped a hand over her gaping mouth.
"I see your training is coming back to haunt you," Sesshoumaru remarked, an amused smirk hiding behind his dead-pan features.
"Oh shut the hell up!" She snapped, throwing the paper booklet at him in her embarrassment, "And stop laughing at me!"
"I'm not laughing."
"Not out loud, but in your mind you are!"
"Oh you're a mind-reader too?"
"Shut.Up," She seethed, trying to keep her rage somewhat in check with Rin still nearby.
"So what was that about proving me wrong?"
Her eyes narrowed and before either of them was quite sure what was going on, Kagura lunged forward and knocked Sesshoumaru onto the ground.
Laying on top of him and ignoring the plastic pieces biting into her legs, she scowled down at him.
"I said, shut up!"
Sesshoumaru's normal stoic expression faltered for a second, but he regained it right away. His golden eyes assessed the situation, making a mental note of the predicament he was in.
"Lying amidst the plastic pieces to a dream castle? Check. Hips being straddled by a volatile female in a skirt which- seems shorter than before? Check. Any chance of getting up without a further scene? Not likely."
"It might be advisable to move to another room before you demonstrate anymore of your work's training," Sesshoumaru quipped, a casually glance being made towards Rin.
Red eyes darted to the corner where the young girl was stifling a laugh, then her glare shifted back to the man pinned beneath her.
"It's interesting that you can never stay quiet when someone actually wants you to."
"I suppose you're just lucky," He retorted.
Kagura leaned in closer, seething under her breath, "That or you're just trying to drive me insane."
He smirked slightly at that, "So I make you crazy. Is that it?"
Wracking her mind for a worthy retort, she remembered that sometimes the best way to get to him- was to play along.
Letting her voice slip into a light seductive purr, she leaned down closer.
"You make me more than just….crazy."
And sure enough, as expected, she got the reaction she expected.
Golden eyes widened then quickly narrowed, shifting their attention to a random spot on the nearby wall.
Sesshoumaru felt the weight of room's tension heighten then and knew it was best to remove himself from it before having to face it further.
"This is not the appropriate time for your jokes," He said sternly, pushing her away and moving to stand.
"Well excuse me," She huffed, backing away.
It wasn't like him to get actually irritated, and Kagura knew then that something was up. As he walked a few more steps away, Sesshoumaru spoke up firmly.
"Rin. Get ready for bed."
The young girl, who had remained silent as she listened in on the previous exchange, turned to smile at him.
"But Sesshoumaru- it's not that late. Can't you and Miss Kagura put my castle together first?"
Sesshoumaru fell silent, his posture still tense and his eyes still staring off elsewhere.
Sighing, Kagura knelt back down to the pieces.
"I'll try and figure it out, kid. Sesshoumaru's too busy being a spoilsport to care."
Rummaging through the small pieces, the black-haired woman began to lay them out and look for the letters and numbers she needed.
Rin's movement caught Sesshoumaru's attention and he watched her from the corner of his eye. Walking over to where Kagura was, the girl sat down beside her.
"It's okay. Sometimes Sesshoumaru gets bored with my games and leaves in the middle of them too," She whispered.
"Well then we'll just have to figure out this thing by ourselves, since someone won't help."
Almost to the staircase by now, Sesshoumaru paused to look back at the two.
"What am I running from?" His mind flooded briefly with the encounter with Kagura minutes before and his eyes drifted to the floor, "Why is there always that tension between us? It's not anger or hate. It's just something different. When I'm…" He paused, eyebrows narrowing in thought, "When I'm around her."
And before he was even certain of his own actions, his feet began to lead him back to where Rin and Kagura sat. They looked up as he approached, Kagura's eyes questioning him without a single word.
Reaching down, he lifted up a small piece of pink that was shaped roughly like a window.
"AA13," His monotone voice said simply, holding it out towards her.
Red eyes widened as Kagura found her lips curving upward into a smile.
"Now we just need to find VM27."
He sat beside the two others and began to survey the sea of pink and purple before them.
"Don't the instructions tell you how to do that?"
She frowned momentarily, then sighed.
"Okay. Point taken. Now help me find the stupid thing."
"Only if you assure me that you won't be…" He paused, finding the right word, "Attacking me any further."
Kagura smirked, purposely placing her hand over his as she pried the pink plastic bracket from it, "No making you be on the bottom. Got it."
And on once again noting Sesshoumaru glaring at the wall, Kagura looked to Rin and winked. Between the two of them, it looked like Sesshoumaru wasn't going to stand a chance.
---------------------------------------------------------
Preview for Chapter 30:
Everyone deserves a bedtime kiss. Or at least that's Rin's reasoning to Sesshoumaru.