Don't own these characters and probably never will.

Chapter 10

The marriage started out well, even though Kikyo's mother still disapproved and was not afraid to make that fact known, even with people around. At least she had not objected at the wedding and she had even played nice with Sesshomaru's parents. Sesshomaru was bothered by the fact that his mother-in-law hated his guts, but he did not let it show. He just tried to be on his best behavior around her and that way he figured that she could not go back and tell Kikyo something negative about him and possibly ruin the good thing that he had going with his beloved.

The couple's honeymoon was a two month long affair, pretty much Kikyo's whole summer vacation. They stayed in the tropics, going from island to island and doing pretty much the same thing everywhere they went. Sesshomaru doubted that he would ever see a more pleasant public sight than Kikyo in a bikini; the best sight that he had ever seen in his life in his opinion was her in nothing at all. If it was possible, he would love to always see her in her birthday suit, but they did have to go outside sometime and her in a bikini was just the next best thing for him. It had taken him quite a long time to talk her into the two-piece bathing suit, but he was very pleased with his effort.

Sesshomaru did find it that he detested when other men looked at his Kikyo in her bikini. He silently resented men eyeing her when she was around because he was well aware that his new wife would hate for him to start trouble, even though he would not see it as starting the trouble. He saw it as protecting her honor, but she would never accept it as that. Whenever she turned around for a moment, he typically glared at some male, silently telling the man to turn his attention elsewhere or suffer the consequences. No male challenged his glare, seeming to know what the consequences were and that he would certainly follow through on them.

Other than men ogling his new wife, Sesshomaru had the very definition of a good time on their honeymoon. Kikyo also enjoyed herself, doing plenty of things that it never would have crossed her mind to do at home. She found herself experiencing a lot of eagerness and anxiety at the same time through out the trip, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself. They felt like they had started their union out on a good foot.

When the newlyweds got back to the real world, Sesshomaru found that he had a load of work waiting for him that was almost as tall as he was. He should have anticipated that such a thing would happen since he was gone for almost two months, but he had not been thinking about work in the slightest when he was away. He tried his best not to work too late while attempting to catch up with the needs of his clients, but most of the time, he just could not help being at the office for long hours.

The silver-haired male still went to pick up Kikyo from work every day because he did not want her on the train with Naraku. The man did not seem to care or respect that she was now a happily married woman and was still completely uninterested in him. Sesshomaru wanted nothing more than to tear into the guy's chest to help him understand what Kikyo said in plain words, which was that she did not like Naraku.

"Sessho, you know you don't have to come get me every day. I don't mind taking the train," Kikyo informed him as she got into the car. She disliked how coming to get her interrupted the flow of his day, even though he never complained. It was still a lot of time out of his schedule that she thought could be used for a better purpose.

"I mind you taking the train," he replied. He minded that pest of a co-worker having a chance to be close to her for over an hour and with no one around to protect her should Naraku try something foolish.

"Perhaps I should learn to drive," she suggested, containing the fact that she seemed a bit delighted by that idea.

"It's unnecessary," he tried to assure her.

"You always have to take time out of your schedule for me. I would prefer it if you didn't have to waste such time," she argued.

"I don't find it a waste."

"I know you don't. But, you come home so late most of the time. I was just considering that if you didn't have to stop working to come get me and take me home, then you wouldn't get home so late," she explained her position on the matter. She would like for him to come home earlier and if she had to learn to drive for that to happen, then she would learn to drive.

"It shall be considered then," he answered because of the logic behind her reason. He would like to get home to her earlier, but then again, he had also come to enjoy his break in the day where he got to do her a little favor.

Kikyo hoped that Sesshomaru agreed that she should learn to drive. She could afford a car and it would make their lives so much easier if she knew how to drive. He would not have to stop working to come pick her up for one and then he would get home before eight most nights. She would like to spend more time with him at home and he actually wanted that also.

Sesshomaru gave Kikyo one lesson in driving and that was the end of all lessons. It had been a rather terrifying experience and he doubted that he had ever yelled the word "car!" so many times in his life. Rivaling his use of the word "car" that day were words such as "tree," "truck," "brakes," "old lady," "old man," "stop sign," "red light," and his personal favorite "lake." The only thing that he could think of as a bright side to the whole thing was that some people actually paid money at amusement parks to be that scared.

It had been decided that Kikyo should never get behind the wheel of a car for any reason, even if she was just taking the keys out of the ignition. She agreed with his conclusion just because she had never seen her beloved look so shocked, appalled, and downright frightened in all the time that she had known him as he had when she was "driving." She had not anticipated being so horrible in driving; it looked so simple. She was not sure what else to propose to get Sesshomaru to stop coming to get her from work in order for him to get home earlier and nothing ever did come to mind.

As time pressed on Sesshomaru's schedule did not get any better. He was handed big case after big case because he was, as he put it, too good at his job. At first, he would come home and find dinner on the table with Kikyo waiting for him, so they could at least have a meal together. Then he began coming in and finding her asleep at the table; their meals would be cold. He would carry her up to bed with a heavy heart; he did not mean for what was happening to happen.

Kikyo understood that her husband had a demanding career and she respected his work, so she never complained about his hours. She tried her best to be supportive of him in her own unique way, which meant that she behaved exactly as she always did, even when he did not come home some nights.

Kikyo knew that some women would be suspicious or at least upset with Sesshomaru when he stayed at work some nights. She had faith in him that if he had a chance to be with her, then he would be with her. He just wanted to his job to the best of his ability and she understood that.

Kikyo tried her best to keep busy while Sesshomaru worked on case after case. She thought of plenty of activities to do with her class and she spent a lot of time with her sister and Rin. The little girls liked the extra attention a great deal, but they sometimes did wonder why Kikyo was not with Sesshomaru, especially when they stayed at the couple's house. They seemed to know it was impolite to ask why Sesshomaru was not with his wife, but they were not below gossiping such musings to their mothers. Kikyo was suddenly getting phone calls from both her mother and Sesshomaru's mother. She knew whose fault it was, but did not bother saying anything.

"He's not there again?" Izayoi asked, speaking to Kikyo over the phone for what seemed like the thousandth time to the younger woman that week alone. Kikyo did not like the new attention that she was receiving from their mothers, but did not say anything about it, hoping they would drop the issues when they saw that she was not bothered by her husband's absence. No such luck, though.

"No, he was given a new case and he has to begin working on it immediately," Kikyo informed her mother-in-law, keeping her usual tone of voice with the older woman, trying to show that she was not upset with the fact that Sesshomaru was not home yet.

"That boy," Izayoi sighed. She thought that Sesshomaru would know better than to leave his young wife at home alone so many times. He was not usually so inconsiderate … well, with people that mattered to him, anyway.

"I don't mind. He needs to focus on his job," Kikyo tried to assure her mother-in-law, but as usual, her words seemed to be glossed right over.

"He also needs to focus on his wife. I'm going to call him and scold him," Izayoi declared quite seriously. She was going to give him quite the lashing verbally if he did not stop acting like he was still single.

"Please do not," Kikyo requested, her tone almost begging.

"He needs to be home with you," she pointed out in a stern tone.

"It's all right," the younger woman insisted.

Kikyo did not understand why Izayoi kept persisting that she reprimand Sesshomaru. He was merely trying to do his job and provide for her. She would let him without bothering him on the matter. He was already stressed out, so she did not need to add to that. She figured sooner or later the workload would subside and he would start coming home more often and earlier. She was certain that things would return to normal for them sometime soon. Her mother argued against such thinking.

"Kikyo, have you even considered that he might be seeing another woman?" her mother inquired as they had tea together at Kikyo's residence. They were sitting in the dining room at the table.

"He is not seeing another woman," Kikyo replied with a bemused look in her chocolate eyes, as if she did not even understand where her mother pulled such a scenario. It was almost like she thought such a thing was as likely as the world exploded at that very moment.

"Isn't it possible?" her mother asked because she noticed Kikyo's expression. She did not think that her daughter was being realistic if she did not at least consider that Sesshomaru could be lying about what he was doing with his time.

"Well, it is possible, but not probable. He's working on a case," the teacher stated soundly.

"Have you considered the other possibilities aside from the one that he keeps telling you?" her mother inquired.

"I believe him when he tells me that he's working," she informed the older woman in a rather firm tone, hinting to the fact that she was not enjoying their current discussion.

"All right, have you decided what you're going to do for your first anniversary?" her mother inquired, purposely changing the subject to avoid upsetting her daughter any more than she had already done. She merely wanted her daughter to be aware that there could more to things than what she was being told.

"I've brought him a new watch and a new pair of shoes, so that he has more than one pair to wear out. I've decided to cook his favorite meal instead of going out. I just want to have him all to myself next week," Kikyo explained. The couple's first anniversary was hardly a week away and she could not wait to celebrate being married to her beloved for a year.

"Why you love this man I will never understand. The family that he comes from has done such detestable things and he's by no means the cleanest man out there," her mother stated, showing that she had heard rumors of not just Sesshomaru, but of his family, which was expected considering the fact that he came from a wealthy, aristocratic family.

"I know he is not a saint, but he also isn't a demon. He does what he must," Kikyo argued. Her husband was not as bad as her mother would like to believe in her opinion and she felt like the woman would see that if she just gave Sesshomaru some chance.

"I suppose as long as you're happy, I should be the same."

"If you could."

"But, you know I cannot," her mother spoke the plain truth. "You could have done so much better than Sesshomaru, Kikyo. You're everything that a good woman should be and you deserve morally decent man."

"There is nothing wrong with my husband."

"You know my stance on that statement."

"I do. One day, I truly believe that you'll be all right with this. You'll come to accept him … or at least tolerate him," Kikyo commented.

Her mother conceded with a shrug for it was possible that she might one day tolerate her son-in-law, even though it was not very likely. She thought of it as sort of like being struck by lightning. The rest of the time that they spent together was pleasant enough for the fact that her mother stopped talking about Sesshomaru. It was nice to have company that was not ten years old, Kikyo thought.

Kikyo did dismiss her mother's suggestion that Sesshomaru might be having an affair. She believed him when he said he was working and that was good enough for her. She did not see why he would cheat on her because she had not changed from when he first met her and he seemed to like her just fine then. She reasoned that he should still like her just fine because she had not changed. She figured that she should just look forward to their first anniversary as a married couple. She hoped that it would be as special as it felt to her.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kikyo hummed to herself as she prepared dinner and lit candles all over the house for a romantic effect, waiting for Sesshomaru to come home. She was feeling such obvious delight, apparent by the way that she moved about the house and the small smile on her face. Joy sparkled in her eyes as she worked. She just could not wait for her beloved to come home and they could share their special day together.

Kikyo fell asleep long before her husband came home; he did not even call. Sesshomaru found her at the table with melted candles that the flames had disappeared from long ago and some very cold food. He looked around and wondered why she was dressed so formally and why all the lights were dimmed. He dismissed everything as he went to lift Kikyo up and take her to bed.

"Sessho?" Kikyo muttered as he picked her up. She opened her eyes slightly to look at her husband.

"Beloved, why do you insist on waiting for me on such long nights?" he asked in an almost disapproving tone.

"It's our anniversary," she answered in a low voice.

Sesshomaru went rigid with shock, which his beloved noted. She did not even bother to say anything in regards to his reaction to her words. She snuggled into his chest and turned her eyes away from him, expressing the two extremes that she was feeling at the moment; a desire to be close to him, but being upset over the fact that he did not seem to know that it was their special day. He cradled her to him even more so than he was already doing. He was happy that she could not breathe fire because he knew that he would be roasted if she could, despite the fact that she was trying to act like she was taking things well.

"You've forgotten," Kikyo whispered. There was no accusation in her tone; she was merely making a statement. She was glad that he was finally there, but part of her, a big part, was angry that she was apparently not important enough to him for him to even recall the day they had been married.

"Forgive me," he replied in a similar tone. He knew that something terribly important was coming up, but his mind was so wrapped around that ridiculous case that he was working on. He was so stuck doing research and witness preparation that he barely got three hours of sleep every night, so his mind was not as sharp as it should have been.

"It's all right," Kikyo lied.

"I will spend all of tomorrow with you," he promised, hoping that would make up for his carelessness.

"It's unnecessary."

"I will spend all of tomorrow with you," he simply repeated.

Kikyo did not argue and Sesshomaru made good on his word. He spent all of the next day with her. He treated her to whatever she desired, even though she insisted that she was happy just being with him. He made sure to show affection for her whenever possible, but it did not take him too many days to go back to business as usual.

Kikyo was back to being alone. The curse of having the whole summer off was having no work to do and no grown people to hang out with for a good part of the day because they were all at work. She was left to taking Kaede and Rin places, which she liked to do, but she would have preferred to be with her husband just some of the time. Would they ever be together again like they used to, she wondered.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: What could go even more wrong than Sesshomaru missing their first anniversary? Find out next time.