A/N: Any philosophical views expressed here are not necessarily the views of the author. Not that anything gets too deep.

Still don't own any of these characters and I doubt I ever will.

Chapter 2

Four years before the crash …

Sesshomaru sighed and checked his expensive silver wristwatch for what had to be the billionth time in that minute alone; there was no way to calculate how many times he had eyed the watch since he had been in the Hell that he was currently in. He wanted to leave and he wanted to leave yesterday. He was currently stuck at a rather elegant and crowded party.

Why was he stuck? Well, the party was in his honor and if he dared to leave, his father would fill his life with misery and woe for an indefinite amount of time. It was not something that he wished to experience … again. He was already looking at the party as a punishment for either something wrong that he was going to do in the future or had done in the past and his father just had been waiting to get him for it. Either way, he was in Hell and he was not going to be getting out soon it would seem.

Had Sesshomaru known that his parents would make such a big deal about everything, he would have lost his first case just to avoid the annoyance of celebrating the victory. All right, he was lying there. He would not have lost because he could not let anything mar his reputation in any way and he guessed that the party was unavoidable once he won his first and very important case. Of course, he could have come up with some clever excuse to not have to attend the party, but he doubted his parents would have let anything slid short of him being dead.

He had not expected that he would have to stay for the whole function just because he was the guest of honor, but he had been told by his father to stay "or else." He was not in the mood to find out what "or else" meant. Note to self, never be the guest of honor for anything ever again, Sesshomaru told himself.

The stoic, platinum-haired male cast his bored golden eyes out into the gathering, watching many people that he was aware of, but could care less about, mingling with each other and talk about undoubtedly pointless matters. He was willing to bet that most the folks engaging in conversations actually did not care what was coming out of the other person's mouth and was merely pretending to listen anyway. He knew that he would not care for the conversation spewing from most people, in attendance or otherwise.

He scanned the get-together for only two people, his parents. He figured that if he did not see his father or his mother then he could sneak away and head home. He could always make up some excuse later on, if they desired an explanation anyway. They could always remember who he was and cut him some slack; well, his mother might do that anyway and be able to talk his father into doing the same. It was worth the risk, if only to save him from throwing himself out of a window. Although, the window might be a good plan B.

Before he spotted his parents, Sesshomaru caught sight of his brother. He was willing to bet that his luck was cursed for the simple fact that his little brother saw him at the same time and started heading toward him. He was now totally convinced that the so-called celebration was a punishment, some sort of divine retribution considering the way that Fate had turned on him by allowing his irksome brother to spot him. He then noticed that his brother was almost tugging a petite female form behind him; yes, the party was certainly some form of divine vengeance, he concluded.

"This is just great. Not only will I have to deal with Inuyasha, but also one his shallow, shatter-brained females," Sesshomaru muttered in an almost tired tone. He felt weary already and shook his head. He was truly starting to believe that it was wrong of him to win that case. Had he lost, at least he would be at home right now and not about to have to put up with his ignorant brother.

"Hey, Sessh-dude," Inuyasha called loudly when he was barely ten feet away from his brother.

"Is it a must for him to yell and act like an idiot all the time?" Sesshomaru sighed before turning his attention to the younger male. "Brother, show just a little civility and speak in a lower tone more appropriate for the indoor. Also, cease to call me everything that is not my name," he ordered coolly.

"What? Sessh-dude is like your name," Inuyasha argued, as if that statement would appease his older brother. The grin on his face told that he knew he was getting on his big brother's nerves and he loved it!

"But, it is not my name," Sesshomaru pointed out in his usual calm tone. His eyes flashed with a warning that the younger male ignored.

"Whatever." Inuyasha scoffed and rolled his golden eyes.

"I see you wore that monstrous red suit of yours," Sesshomaru commented in a bored voice, even though the outfit was an affront to his eyes in his opinion. He viewed his brother's crimson-colored suit as a crime against fashion, even though the color did fit Inuyasha and it was a very well made suit, fitting the younger male perfectly. He wore a cream-colored vest and no tie along with the suit; Sesshomaru sometimes considered that his brother got dressed in the dark. It was the only way he felt the boy could honestly put such an outfit on.

"Look who's talking. Where'd you get that suit from, a dead body?" Inuyasha countered boldly.

Sesshomaru only rolled his eyes. His suit was pure white and made from the finest silk. It somehow managed to fit him even better than Inuyasha's suit fit the younger male. The elder brother wore a grey vest with it and a golden tie that almost perfectly matched his eyes. He was willing to bet that his tie cost more than his brother's entire outfit two times over and in his opinion that was illustrated quite well, especially when they were standing near each other.

"Who is this with you?" Sesshomaru asked Inuyasha, as if he cared. Whoever his little brother was wasting his time with was really something that Sesshomaru seriously believed deserved none of his attention. But, he would rather steer the conversation away from anything even dumber than the girl that Inuyasha would ultimately bring up. After all, Inuyasha was always good for talking about something that made Sesshomaru just want to bang his head against a wall to escape his brother's voice.

"Oh, yeah!" Inuyasha laughed because of his forgetfulness regarding his companion. He turned his attention to the woman in his company and then introduced her to his brother rather rudely. "Sessh-bum, this is Kikyo Kamina. Kikyo, this is my jerk of an older brother, Sesshomaru."

"Pleased to meet you," Kikyo said in a mellow, almost somber tone. She bowed politely to him.

Sesshomaru stared at his brother's guest as if she was some kind of anomaly, which she was as far as he was concerned. There was something about her that set her apart from his brother's other girlfriends. For one thing, she had been standing there for a whole five seconds and was not running her mouth about some kind of nonsense that he would have to tune out. She was subtly observing what was going on around her, which he thought was odd for someone in the company of his brother anyway. No one with Inuyasha ever did anything subtly, but especially females with him. Then there was the sound of her voice; it was not annoyingly perky like other girls that were around Inuyasha. For the longest time, Sesshomaru thought that irksome voices were contagious considering how much his brother's voice got on his nerves and how it seemed like everyone's voice in Inuyasha's company did the same. It was not so with her.

"Hey, Sessh-butt, keep an eye on Kikyo while I go have a smoke," Inuyasha requested. Well, it was something like a request, but he spoke in his usual forceful manner. He was not really going to take "no" for an answer either, but he knew better than to make it sound like he was ordering his big brother around or nothing would ever get done.

"Why not take her with you?" Sesshomaru countered. The only way to make the evening more torturous for him would be to have to spend a moment alone with his brother's more-than-likely-vacant girlfriend.

"She hates the smell. Go figure," Inuyasha replied with a shrug and a laugh before he walked off before his big brother could object again.

Sesshomaru turned his attention to Kikyo, who did not seem to be paying him any mind. He took a moment to take her in, but not much since he did not think that she worth much of his attention. She was a slender woman with a waterfall of ebony hair cascading from her head, which was kind of hiding her from his view, which he did not mind. He did not feel like studying her much more anyway and then she gave him another excuse to not pay her much mind by speaking.

"You don't need to baby-sit me. I'm quite capable of handling myself at a party," Kikyo informed the guest of honor, but since she was not looking at him, it was like she was speaking with the air.

"Then you can move on. I was standing in this space before you and your moronic boyfriend came over here," he pointed out rather flatly.

"He's not my boyfriend," she told him plainly.

No? It was a bit of a shock to Sesshomaru and he glanced down at Kikyo. She did not look like girlfriend material when it came to his little brother now that she brought that up. She had a sort of ethereal beauty to her; Inuyasha usually went for a girl that was sexy, but not particularly beautiful and yes, there was a difference. She had a quiet dignity and pose to her that he could plainly see just from looking at her. Such a thing was almost unheard of in any female that Inuyasha even looked at, even if the girl was only his friend. She seemed mature like an adult; Inuyasha did not typically hang around anyone that acted over the age of five, in his opinion anyway.

"Is there something bothering you?" Kikyo inquired because of the look in his amber eyes, which disrupted Sesshomaru's thoughts.

"Why are you here with him if he isn't your boyfriend?" Sesshomaru countered, almost as if he cared.

"He asked," she answered bluntly, not betraying any other information in regards to her presence.

"I see," he muttered and there was a moment of silence between them.

"Congratulations," she commented out of the blue. It seemed like the proper thing to say in her opinion and she was always as polite as a situation allowed for.

"Excuse me?" Sesshomaru asked, as if he had not heard her, even though he did. He was just caught off guard that she was speaking with him again. He was not used to people talking to him unless he addressed them.

"For winning your case, congratulations," she clarified her statement.

"Oh. It's nothing," he replied nonchalantly to prove his point that it was meaningless.

"It seems to be more than that. This is a party for you, after all," she commented, her deep chocolate eyes sweeping out across the whole banquet hall to prove her point that his victory was something.

"My parents' idea. I would rather be home," the silver-haired male confessed earnestly.

"Doing what?" she asked, some curiosity sneaking into her generally monotone voice.

Sesshomaru had to think about it for a moment. Even if he did not have anything to do at home, it would be better than staying at the party, but he did have something to do at home. "Finishing my book," he answered.

"Writing or reading?" she inquired.

"Reading."

"What book are you reading?" she asked, sounding curious once again. It might have been a record for such a thing to work its way into her tone twice in less than a minute.

"Nothing that you would care about, I'm sure," he replied in a dismissive tone.

"Quite the assumption for a man who has known me all of three minutes. I suppose you think because it's not a coloring book, I wouldn't be interested," she remarked dully. She did not even sound insulted, which was odd. It was like she was just making any old statement.

Sesshomaru was almost taken aback by the remark and how she caught on to his thoughts, but he caught himself from changing his facial expression. Is someone who associated with my moronic brother trying to claim that she has a fully functioning brain? It would seem so. He doubted that it was true because she was his brother's friend, but he could humor her, if only to prove without a doubt that she was just as empty-headed as anyone that associated with Inuyasha.

"It is a collection of philosophical views from the middle ages," Sesshomaru informed her, waiting to see a bemused look appear on her pale face that never did arrive.

Kikyo merely nodded. "Which philosophers does it cover? There are so many traditions to cover during that time and quite a few topics to think on. It must be an immense book. It probably focuses greatly on the existence of God, though since many of the thinkers of the time were also heavily religious men," she replied.

"You know something about the philosophy of the time?" he asked, making sure not sound shocked or amazed, even though he was quite surprised by the fact that she even knew what he was talking about. He remained almost apathetic toward her for the most part.

"I've read quite a bit on the proof that there is or is not a god from the times. I know more about the religious thinking than the philosophy, but they do appear closely linked in that time," she answered with a little flip of her hand, as if she was brushing off her own words or did not show much of an interest in the topic.

"So, which do you prefer as a proof of God, that the world shows intelligent design or that there has to be unmoved mover that set things in motion?" he inquired, his tone still even as if he did not care one way or the other for her presence, but he was conversing with her just the same.

"I suppose I would have to consider that something cannot be in motion if it is not placed in that state by something else, but as Thomas Aquinas pointed out, everything can always just be reduced to nature," she explained with a slight shrug.

Sesshomaru nodded, understanding and agreeing with that assessment for the most part. "What do you study in school?" he asked. He figured that she went to school with his brother. It was possible that she was philosophy or theology major.

"I'm a fourth grade teacher," she informed him.

"Teacher?" he echoed, almost as if he did not know what one was. If Kikyo were a lesser soul, she probably would have laughed at the way that he parroted her.

"I graduated some two years ago," she replied. She figured that he assumed that she was in school since she was there with Inuyasha, who was still attending college.

"Then you're older than Inuyasha?" he inquired, his sleek eyebrow raised ever-so slightly, as if he was intrigued.

"I am," she confirmed.

Sesshomaru nodded again. An elementary school teacher was friendly with his brother, yet discussing philosophy with him. He doubted that the night could get any stranger if it tried, but he would try to swing odder things in motion because he silently admitted that night that he was fascinated with Kikyo Kamina. For this instance, he would be the unmoved mover … or maybe she was because she had moved him.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the pair are actually dating; it seems like it would be much a mundane thing for those two to be on a date.

Oh, and if anybody's wondering why I made Kikyo older than Inuyasha, well, she just seems like she should be older than he is to me.