An alternate fanwork by Wolfye Productions.
I must severely apologize for taking so long to come out with this chapter. It was not my intention at all to take two whole months; really. But for some reason I got stuck in a rut on this one, and so I've decided to cut it short and place the benefit for the next chapter instead. I also apologize for this being short; think of this one as a little filler chapter. Plus, we finally get to see a glimpse of an evil Aki, and as I know that many of you are fans of this new version I have created of him, I hope you like him. Without further ado, please read on!
I don't own any of the characters that you're familiar with, but the ones you don't know are mine (wahaha...). Thanks for reading!
Part :05
Sesshoumaru leaned back in his high-backed leather armchair, dark amber eyes gazing languidly into the blazing fire in his study. He watched as the little flames danced about within their brick entrapment, the combined heat from the fire and his tea making him drowsy. It had been a long day.
Across from him sat Akito in the other matching armchair, slowly sipping away on a glass of red wine. The man had been sulking away all afternoon since he had refused to elaborate on his comment earlier that day. Now, his friend just sat there going over the script for his next episode. Sesshoumaru half-expected him to start belting out his lines for practice, as he was wont to do. But tonight, he remained as silent as ever, a clear sign that something was amiss. Akito was anything but quiet.
Sesshoumaru took another sip of his tea, a delicious blend of jasmine and chrysanthemum petals. This particular blend was his most favourite, and he enjoyed it most especially after meals. It was such a shame, really, that he always had to special-order it wherever he went. Truly, something this wonderful should surely be more popular.
He gave a mental sigh as he felt the luxurious heat from the tea slip smoothly down his esophagus to pool in his stomach, the journey completely warming him from head to toe. Soon it would be time for bed. Yes, not only did the tea have amazing digestive properties, but it also acted as a most wondrous sedative. He could already feel his body relaxing under its influence, and he had as of yet only taken a few sips.
Ah, he sighed to himself, a most magical tea indeed.
A short laugh brought his wandering attention back to Akito. Briefly, he wondered why the man was still here. Surely he was more than capable to do his reading at his own home. Didn't his younger sisters require his presence at night, especially with their parents being out of town?
Sayako had left shortly after dinner, but only after several attempts by him at convincing her that he really didn't need her "help" getting ready for bed that night. And even then, she had left in a rush of feigned tears, all the while bemoaning about how cold and heartless he was. So what else was new?
He took another quick sip of his tea, hoping to calm himself down again. That woman could literally drive him insane.
He had no idea why his father had granted that family free access to the estate, but he had. And there was no way that he could retract the offer of hospitality without tarnishing his father's good name, not to mention the lucrative business partnership his company had with the Souma's, no matter how much he wanted to. Most especially since that incident three years ago when he had returned home after a long and weary day, only to find a very naked and very drunk Sayako draped across his bedspread.
To say that he had been disturbed at the sight would have been an understatement. He had been outright enraged. Since then, he had had a lock installed on the door to his bedroom to deter from a similar situation ever happening again.
"So, are you ever going to tell me how you landed Kagome?" Akito suddenly asked, putting his script aside for the night.
Sesshoumaru frowned over the rim of his ceramic teacup.
"You make it sound as though she were an airplane."
Akito rolled his eyes, taking a long sip of his wine. The silky liquid swirled over his tongue, and he savoured the taste of it. It was perfectly aged, and one of his favourites to indulge in whenever he had dinner here, the wine being neither bitter nor possessing the harsh alcoholic bite that most premature reds contained.
He was really lucky to be friends with the Inukai family, and he knew it. Of all the different companies that they took to investing in, a few of them were award-winning vineyards from around the globe. Okay, so he just happened to be a lush; so what? He kind of deserved the small luxury after having put up with Sesshoumaru for all of these years.
Okay, so maybe he was being a bit overly dramatic with that last bit. He quickly blamed the alcohol in his system for that last comment.
"You know that's not what I meant," he quickly retorted. "Quit being so literal about everything."
"Ah, but it vexes you so," Sesshoumaru quipped back in his smooth velvety tones, suddenly ready for an intellectual spar. Too bad his chosen combatant wasn't in an agreeable mood. He sighed heavily, resigning himself finally to that which he couldn't evade forever.
"We had gone out to breakfast this morning after the shoot," he explained. "That was when I had asked her to the benefit tomorrow night."
Akito gave a low whistle. "So, you went out on a date this morning? Why didn't you call me?" he whined, doing his best to imitate Sayako just to annoy the man for holding out on him. It worked.
Sesshoumaru's expression contorted into one of disgust and he gave a low snort. "You are not my keeper," he said, glaring at the man sitting smugly on the other side of the fireplace.
Akito felt a shudder go up and down his spine despite the warmth in the room. Gods, that look was effective. Too effective. Maybe he should try squirting something in the guy's eyes someday. Then again, he thought as his eyes roved over the tensed muscles in Sesshoumaru's arms, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. An image of himself decapitated at the angered hands of his best friend flashed across his vision at the thought. Nope, definitely not a good idea.
"Yeah, well..." Akito lamely replied, shrugging his shoulders at the other man. He leaned a bit forward in his seat, his face turning uncharacteristically serious.
"So," he started, doing his best to keep a level head. He had had nearly half a bottle of wine already, after all. By himself, too. Nope, not a lush, his brain hazily supplied. "What do you want to do about my sister? She might try to sabotage tomorrow night once Kagome shows up, y'know. Oh yeah, are you going to be picking her up?"
Sesshoumaru gave a slight shake of his head. "I have arranged for Haru to pick her up," he supplied. "Apparently, the two know each other from high school."
Akito's interest piqued. "Oh really?" he asked, his alcohol-laden eyes suddenly lightening up with a mischievous spark. "Any juicy gossip about our beloved vixen?"
Sesshoumaru gave his friend an annoyed look.
"Aki, you know very well that this Sesshoumaru des not partake of such trivial and menial things," he scoffed in as dignified a manner as possible.
Akito rolled his eyes in a dramatic fashion as he stood up to stretch his long legs.
"Oh please, give me a break," he retorted, looking down at the silver-haired male. "Let me guess, you haven't got the balls to ask," he verbally jabbed. He smiled when Sesshoumaru took the bait.
"I beg to differ," Sesshoumaru snorted in his ever-so-arrogant manner. "It was not I who was nicknamed 'PeeWee' during grade school," he quipped back.
A scowl crossed over Akito's face as he plopped ungracefully back into the armchair. Damn, he had forgotten about that. He was never going to live that one down, and all because he had matured a little later than everyone else. The scowl soon passed and his features turned thoughtful.
"What was yours again?"
Sesshoumaru smirked evilly over the rim of his teacup.
"Long John Silver," he replied.
Akito smacked his palm unceremoniously against his forehead, chuckling. "I can't believe I forgot that one!"
In truth, despite how it may have sounded, Sesshoumaru had not been nicknamed due to the size of his genitalia. Actually, no one had ever caught a glimpse of the man naked, as far as he knew; well, despite the women he bedded, of course, and they weren't talking. The man was surprisingly shy for someone of so much confidence and arrogance. Instead, the nickname was ironically derived from the man's insane love for sushi, of all things.
Akito shook his head clear, miraculously bringing his sloshing mind back to the important topic at hand.
"So," he started once again, putting his wine glass down on the antique end table next to him, "Are we going to do anything about my sister tomorrow, or what?"
Sesshoumaru sat in silence for a moment, contemplating the various events that could occur on the morrow with the arrival of his angel. He felt a small smile grace his lips at his conclusion that nothing would happen to her as long as she remained by his side, and he would endeavour to make that happen.
"It will be of no consequence," he told Akito, who stared back at him incredulously. No doubt, his friend's overactive imagination was running amuck with several distressing scenarios. "I will simply keep Kagome by my side throughout the night," he attempted to reassure the man. "You know as well as I that your sister would not attempt anything in my presence."
Akito sat back in his chair for a moment, contemplating Sesshoumaru's words. It was true that Sayako never attempted anything devious right in front of the guy because she was afraid of Sesshoumaru losing his "good" opinion of her. He smirked. Yeah right, since when had he ever had a nice thought about his sister? Even he didn't like her, which was unfortunate since she just happened to be of blood relation to him. She had always made his life a living hell while growing up, and she totally neglected their two younger sisters, who were both angels, thank the gods. He didn't know what he would have done had they turned out like their eldest.
"Well," he said, "I guess it's okay then. But I still think we should keep an eye on her anyway."
"I agree," Sesshoumaru replied.
"Hey," Akito said thoughtfully, "what if I tried hooking her up with somebody? That would probably keep her busy. She's in-between boyfriends right now, anyway."
Sesshoumaru raised a delicate eyebrow at the simple statement. "You would subject one of your friends to such indescribable torture? Aki, I never knew you could be so cruel." A small smirk passed over his lips, indicating that he was jesting.
Akito chucked at the insinuation, shaking his head. "Actually, I was thinking of Rosiel. You remember him? He just happens to be on the guest list for tomorrow night." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Sesshoumaru gave a very ungentleman-like snort and rolled his eyes at the mentioned name. Yes, he remembered that idiot, more than he cared to. They had met the man at a premier the year before, where the fool had felt the need to boast to the media that he was the most beautiful man in Japan. To think, a rookie upstart galavanting such ridiculous notions! It was unheard of! Furthermore, to do so at his first premier where, not a week before, he had been a nameless nobody!
But what had upset him the most in the weeks following was when the whelp had had the audacity to claim that he, Sesshoumaru Inukai, noted "Most Eligible Bachelor in all of Japan" and "Japan's Most Beautiful Man" for more than a decade, had copied his looks from him! He had nearly had the man extricated from the country if it had not been for Akito's intervention at the last possible moment. Somehow, the man had convinced him to simply let the insult slide, promising that they would be able to use the man at a later time to their own benefit.
Sesshoumaru swallowed the remaining bits of his now lukewarm tea, silently marvelling at the depth of insight of his life-long best friend. Akito was the ace up the sleeve that any man in his position would kill for, and he didn't even have to pay him for it. Instead, all he needed to do to keep the man happy was to wine and dine him, and occasionally allow the man to tag along on one of his frequent business trips around the country and abroad. Now, if only he could persuade the man to wear some colour every once in awhile.
Sesshoumaru placed the now empty ceramic cup onto the antique silver platter beside him, his fatigue from before now completely forgotten. He leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting atop his knees, facial features automatically schooled into one of his more serious looks.
"So Aki, what do you have in mind?" he inquired, his smooth voice piqued with curiosity.
Akito smiled one of his triumphant smiles, the kind that would send a severe chill down your spine should you ever catch it. But Sesshoumaru, being who he was, was not affected in the least. Akito, too, leaned forward in his seat, mirroring his partner's posture. His white teeth glinted ominously in the dancing firelight of the room.
"Here's what I was thinking," he began, his normally smoky eyes darkening to an almost obsidian shine.
It was going to be a long night.
A/N:
Thanks so much for all of the support and uplifting words from everyone who reviewed thus far! It means so much to me that everyone is loving this as much as I am having kicks just writing it. I would also like to thank whomever was so kind as to nominate my fic into 2 C2 communities on FFnet! I am SO honoured! You guys have made my day::squee:
Now here's the question: I want a vote. With the characters described thus far, who do you like more in this fic? Sesshoumaru or Akito? Oh, and please give me your reasons why for choosing your fave. I love reading people's responses. I also respond to all of my reviews through my LiveJournal! If you'd like to read my reply, simply go to my author page and click on the link! Thanks so much again everyone!