A/N: There is a particular review that I would like to address. A reader responded to the last chapter, stating that they felt I portrayed Kagome too weakly. Though I appreciate the critique and was not upset about it, I do feel the need to explain my Kagome portrayal. It was not because I wanted Kagome to be so, nor do I think she should ever be a weak character. However, this was not about Kagome fighting. The last chapter was about the breaking of Kagome's heart - the fact that Sesshomaru was so cruel and unyeilding, being that he is the man that she loves, that her heart just broke, leading her to think of nothing but her emotional pain. I hope this explaination helps everyone understand my logical for the character portrayals.

Also, there is a new link in my profile for the unedited chapters. The site was down and recently changed domains, so that is why the past link was not working. Sorry about the inconvience.

The First Time Isn't Always Everything

Chapter 10

Three weeks. Three weeks and still he had heard nothing. There had been no angry phone calls, no destructive visits from his half-brother, and no commentaries from his CEO. There had been no mention of his former girlfriend's state. Instead, there had been nothing but silence.

He had not forgotten what had happened, his own words. They were still fresh in his mind, coursing and streaming, debating. It was a constant battle with himself to retain the frame of mind that he was right; that what had happened was for the best. Still, he expected some confrontation from others, to have to defend his points. He had looked forward to these arguments. The irritation would keep simmering his anger as well as convince himself in the process.

Now he sat, drumming his fingers slowly across the surface of his polished desk. His position appeared relaxed, but every muscle was poised, waiting, ready. His golden eyes darted back to a slip of paper on his desk; a reminder of his appointments for the day. It was his 3:30 appointment that glared out to him. The stoic eyes glanced at his elegant desk clock. 3:25. Kagome Higurashi was due in five minutes.

Sesshomaru let out a sigh. Even he, who has always been described as the epitome of composure, had no idea of what her arrival would bring. Would they fight once more? Would he lose his control? Would she cry? Would he be able to handle her tears once again?

"Stop it," he told himself. "This is not the first time that you have broken ties with a woman. It will be no different. There is no reason to delve into what had happened. You can do nothing but move on. Do not allow her words or emotions to sway you from your decision. Her lies will never reach me again." The pace of his drumming increased. He growled. "Why am I still thinking of this?" he asked himself. "Why do I still dwell on her? Stop this now."

"Mr. Tashio, Sir," the voice of his secretary called out. "Your appointment is here to see you."

He paused, merely staring at the black intercom. It was time. Pressing a little red button, he said, "Very well."

Sesshomaru stared expectantly at the door, muscles clenching, bunching, ready to move at a moments notice. He did not know why his body was reacting this way. It was not as if Kagome would harm him, but he could not help but feel as if he needed to be on his guard. He was surprised, to say the least, when the door opened to reveal Inuyasha.

Only Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. "Now is not the time, simpleton," he said, his irritation obvious. "I am scheduled with a meeting."

"Well, I have good news, Fluffylla," Inuyasha said, smirking. "I am your appointment."

The stoic man stared at his brother, eyes boring into Inuyasha, searching for answers, explanations. "She's avoiding me," he stated. He sniggered. "How quaint." He paused before adding, "And predictable."

"Feh," Inuyasha said. "Maybe if you weren't such a dickhole, she would be here. You'd just make her miserable because that's what bastards do." He leaned back in his chair and began picking his teeth with his nails. "So, what's up?"

Glaring at his brother, Sesshomaru picked up a folder and brought it to his lap. "Higuarshi's novel was recently released. It would be wise if she decided to promote her piece. If her sales do not match her expectations, then I will not hesitate to release her from her contract."

"Fuck, she'd probably like that," Inuyasha said with a snort. "I doubt anyone else would be as bitchy to her as you are, Fluffington."

Sesshomaru smirked. "Ahh, but think about this logically, half-wit. If I drop her from my company due to low sales, then how likely is she to be picked up by another company? No one would want to sign a worthless talent."

Inuyasha leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at his brother. "Are you saying that Kagome is worthless?"

"Perhaps."

"You weren't saying that a few weeks ago," Inuyasha replied arrogantly. "And you're the one that signed her with that huge contract in the first place – even before you found out she was hot!"

Inuyasha was met with silence instead of the snappy retort that he expected. Sesshomaru stared at the silver haired man across from him. From his posture and eyes, Inuyasha knew that he was treading on dangerous ground. He gulped. "Oh, fuck," he said mentally.

"Are you saying that you find your client sexually attractive?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Uhh," Inuyasha said, blushing slightly and pulling at his tie. "Well…You see… umm… she is pretty."

Sesshomaru shifted in his chair, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk. "Were you planning on acting on that attraction now that she is single? You do know that it is unethical to do so."

"Oh, motherfuck," Inuyasha mentally swore. To his brother, he said, "Feh. I'm not like you. All right, promotion. I got it. I'll talk to Miroku about it." Then Inuyasha rose from his seat and darted out of the room.

Practically running down the hallway, Inuyasha flung open the door to Miroku's office. He found the dark haired man flipping through a magazine with scantily clothed women on the cover.

"Yo, perv," he said, getting the man's attention. "He's still got the hots for her. Oh, and apparently Kags needs to do some promotion – I don't know what type or anything, but you can figure that shit out," he finished and then shut Miroku's door.

A sly smile crossed Miroku's face. Without even raising his eyes, he reached out and picked up the phone on his desk. Pressing a series of memorized numbers, he flipped the page of his magazine.

"Hello, my delicious Sango," he said once the phone was answered.

"Sweet talking me isn't going to get you laid," she responded.

His smile widened, and he tilted his head to change the angle in which he viewed the photo of the magazine. "Perhaps I could change your mind later. But for now, we have a development."

"What is it?"

"Apparently, Mr. Tashio is still expressing some interest in Kagome."

He heard a sigh. "Miroku, I don't know… I mean she's not sulking anymore. It seems like she is moving on. I don't know if we should do anything."

He turned the page again. "But isn't she moving?"

"Yes," she replied, a bit testily. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"What was her logic for this again?" he asked.

"She said that her place reminded her too much of…"

"Sesshomaru. So, in other words, she still has feelings for him. If she was truly moving on and getting over their relationship, why would memories of him affect her to the extent that she had to move. It has nothing to do with closure. After all, if it did, she would have moved when her relationship with Kouga ended as well."

Sango was silent. He was sure that he realized the truth in her words but did not want to admit it.

"What are you doing later?" he asked.

"I'm helping Kagome move," she said, slowly, unsure. "Don't tell me you have a plan."

"Ahh, my luscious goddess, you know me to well." Another page was turned. "I was wondering if you could pick me up something from her apartment. It's nothing big, just a particular book by a particular author."

"Miroku! I can't do that! That's hers! And besides, she would notice it was missing!" Sango exclaimed.

"But how would Kagome know that it already wasn't in one of her many boxes. Besides, it's not like she won't get it back," he said.

"I don't know if I like the sound of this."

"We're going to give it back to Sesshomaru."

"Oh, no, you're not! Do you know how much of an argument that would start? And if either found out we would be buried six feet under," she said.

"My love," Miroku said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "both are too stubborn to seek out the other. Someone needs to prod them a little. We both know that they miss each other. This way, one of them is guaranteed to seek out the other. I doubt that Sesshomaru would take this lightly – or Kagome for that matter. Once they get together, the rest will work out itself."

"What if it backfires? This could be the straw that broke the camel's back," she said. He could tell that she was concerned.

"It will be, but it will be the straw that broke the loneliness camel's back."

She sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. But if any of this goes wrong, I'll castrate you."

"Sango! Don't you think…"

"And one more thing," she interrupted, "stop looking at porn magazines when you're on the phone with me." She then hung up the phone.

"Just wait till you see the new apartment, Sango," she said, placing a book into a large, brown box. "It's perfect."

"Isn't it kind of far away though?" her friend asked back. From her place beside Kagome, she grabbed a book and placed it in the box as well. The dark haired women kept glancing at her friend. Despite the happiness in Kagome's voice, Sango could tell that her friend was not that overjoyed.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "It's a bit further away, but, with the money that I got from my contract, I can buy a car. I can drive to see you. You won't even notice the distance."

Sango sighed mentally. She was right. Her friend was defiantly not happy. "I'll kill that silver-haired moron," she thought. "Well," she voiced, "whatever makes you happy."

"So how are you are Miroku doing?"

"We're fine, I guess," she said, a bit flippantly.

Kagome paused, raising an eyebrow at Sango. "You guess? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just…" She paused and shook her head. She didn't want to talk about this right now.

"Just what," Kagome asked, turning concerned eyes towards the woman.

"Nevermind. It's nothing."

"Sango."

"Are you in love with him?"

Sango paled. No. She couldn't be. She didn't even know him for that long. But, still, that feeling… She lowered her eyes. "I don't know. Let's not talk about it."

"But you're not sure how he feels about you, right?"

Her head jerked upwards and towards Kagome. Her friend's eyes were soft, yet clouded with tears. Without a doubt, it was touching a cord with Kagome, reminding her of her painful situation with Sesshomaru. "Shit," she thought. "How could I do this to her? I can't talk about this."

"Kagome, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean."

She placed a gentle hand on Sango's shoulder, stopping her protest. "It's not your fault, Sango. What happened happened. Besides, I can't always let this bother me. Besides, my experience might come in handy for you, ne?" She smiled weakly. "How about I go make some tea and we can talk."

Sango nodded silently and reached over to give her friend a quick hug. "I'll be down in a second. I just need to use the bathroom."

"All right. I'll see you down there."

Watching Kagome leave, she waited until her friend was out of eye sight before turning back to the bookshelf. Scanning over the titles, her eyes fell upon it: A First For Everything by Kagome Higurashi.

"I'm sorry, Kagome," she whispered. "I hope this works out right." Taking the book, she slipped it into her purse before following Kagome down the stairs.

Snap. Snap.

With those two simple sounds, his briefcase was closed. Picking it up, the tall man walked through his office, done with this place for the day. It had brought him nothing but irritation.

Striding towards the elevator, he was addressed by a voice.

"You're leaving awfully early today, aren't you?"

Miroku. Frowning and turning his head slightly, Sesshomaru glared at his CEO. "What do you want?"

"Oh, just wondering why you were leaving when it's still daylight. Usually you're the last one to leave," the lavender eyed man said, grinning and walking closer to his boss. "Have a date or something?"

His frown deepened. "It is none of your business."

"Oh, come on. We're friends! You can share some details!"

"If you must know, I do have a date. Now go back to work," he said, clearly irritated.

Mirkou gave him an incredulous look. "What? When? Where? Why?"

"It is what single people do, ingrate." He turned back towards the elevator, growing impatient for its arrival.

Letting out a chuckle, Miroku said, "I know that. I guess I'm just not used to it."

Sesshomaru grunted but was slightly relieved when the elevator finally opened. "Well, perhaps you should. Go back to work or you will be looking for another job.

As soon as the man was out of eyesight, Mirkou slapped his palm to his head. "I really hope my plan works."

TBC...

A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Please, let me know what you think of this!

Formerly RurouniNikkitch13