A/n: Wow! I never expected to get so many reviews for this story! I guess you guys really do enjoy a good whimsical love story, lol. I'm really happy though because I like this story so far, and I think you'll all enjoy what I have planned. (ie: horribly romantic, funny stuff) I'm doing my best to make this a successful, good story. And for those of you who read my other work, the next chapter of SotO will be out in a few days, and CotG will be out by next weekend. Because there were so many reviews for the first chapter (WEEEEEE!) I won't be doing any reviewer responses (it would take me hours!) unless someone asks a question or makes a comment I think it worth addressing. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but I dream about him sometimes. I dream about Mel Gibson too, but I don't own him either. (breaks into song When you're a clown, no one takes you seriously!)
Breaking the Rules
Chapter 2: The Old Ball & Chain
Kagome's POV
Okay, I know what you're thinking. "Way to go Kagome, you landed yourself a man." Don't get me wrong, if the shoe was on a different foot, I would probably be saying the same thing. But thinking about a situation and being in the middle of it are two entirely, different things. Waking up from a night-long bender to find yourself married to a man you've known less than a day is pretty scary, no matter how sexy he is.
Before I continue, and you all dismiss me as a weak female, understand the reason why. Higurashi's law has been a factor in my life since I was fifteen years old, systematically breaking down every relationship I ever put my heart into. It left me with a lot of battle scars and more issues than I ever tried to sort out.
I think that was why I accepted the job for writing love advice for Kagura. She wanted a cliché article that catered to women who needed the reassurance of themselves by reading of the problems of others. I took the job, trying to reach out to women like me who could just not find love. Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't find love, complain about it. I did that through my articles.
I had always complained about love, run from it whenever it came too close, and nursed a broken heart alone in my apartment. Buyo was the only male creature that had shared my bed in nearly four years. Souta and my grandfather were the only men who had stayed by my side. I had lost my trust in the opposite sex, and the fact that a drunken binge landed me married didn't exactly make me feel inclined to open up.
Now, Higurashi's Law had never backfired on me as bad as I experienced that night. It got me to think that maybe Inuyasha had his own Law--perhaps, the Saishi Principle--that exponentially increased our bad luck with relationships. We were two of a kind, you see.
Sango had been up most of the night, worried sick for the sake of her friend. When she wasn't scouring the hotel from head to toe, she was threatening employees for answers. Miroku had repeatedly tried to put her at ease, as well as free the frightened bellhops from her grasp. He had to remind her that Inuyasha was a gentleman and wouldn't force Kagome into anything, especially when she was without inhibitions. Sango was still worried. She didn't know Inuyasha as well as Miroku did, but she knew Kagome--even a very drunk Kagome.
After a night of searching, they still found neither hide nor hair of the missing doctor or writer. The only lead they were able to track down was a shy bellhop contesting to the fact that he saw the pair of them near the chapel adjacent to the casino around midnight. In the time it took Sango to work herself into a frenzy, Kagura arrived--quarters in hand--to take charge.
Sending Sango off to bed, Kagura took over the search of the hotel. She questioned everyone, even those who had been harassed by Sango as well as searching the building from top to bottom. There had been nothing all night, but when a maid was questioned, she gave them a strange look and said that "Miss Higurashi" had been in her room with a guest for hours. That was when Kagura assaulted the room. What she found was not reassuring.
For a moment, there was only silence. Ruby eyes jetted back and forth from Kagome, who was clutching a sheet to her body, to her guest, who happened to be holding a pillow over the lower part of his body. Both blushed crimson under her stare, but that only caused the editor to take a deep breath of air into her lungs. "SANGO!"
The publicist burst forth from her room across the hall, fully dressed and ready to go. Hopping on one foot while she jammed the other into her shoe, she lost her balance and promptly fell into Kagura, causing them both to fall to the ground in a heap.
"What's so important..." Sango began but trailed off when she looked up and saw the current predicament. "Oh." It was the only thing to say.
"Holy fuck!" Kagura yelled as she climbed to her feet, brushing herself off. "You two have been up here going at it while we've been looking for you high and low?"
"Kagura..." Kagome said, the first words she spoke. She was using her warning tone, the tone that she hardly ever used but did when it meant business. Kagome didn't lose her temper, really lose her temper, very often, but when she did it was not a pretty sight.
"Where in hell did you two go?" Sango yelled as she got to her feet.
"San, believe me when I say--"
"What's going on in here?" Miroku interrupted as he entered the room as well. He had been drawn to the room by the raised voices. With one look at the disheveled Kagome, Miroku received his answer. When his eyes wandered to Inuyasha, he clamped his hands over his violet eyes and shouted, "My retinas!"
Inuyasha scowled and turned to look at Sango. "What do you possibly see in that guy?"
Sango shrugged. "He's cute."
"Can we get back to the subject at hand, people," Kagura yelled, ruby eyes flashing. She placed her hands firmly on her hips, making the transition to business woman in the blink of an eye.
"Yeah!" Sango agreed lamely. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"
"Sorry Mom," Kagome muttered sarcastically. "I'm a big girl you know."
Sango scowled. "Yes, a big girl who got drunk and disappeared out of a bar in Atlantic City with a man who could very well be a serial rapist!"
"Hey!" Inuyasha interrupted. "I resent that."
"Inuyasha," Kagome said in her warning voice, only louder than before. She also pointed her finger at him while holding up the sheet with her other hand. "Sit!" Without hesitation or argument, Inuyasha sat down quietly on the bed, looking both wounded and annoyed. That was when Kagome rounded on Sango.
"In case you have forgotten, San," she said poignantly. "You're the one who made me go on this blind date to begin with."
"But I didn't tell you to get drunk and fuck the guy!"
"You didn't tell me to get married either," her friend yelled back, getting ferocious and clutching her sheet higher. "I did that just fine on my own!"
That was when the room fell silent. Sango, mouth agape, simply stared at her friend as if she had grown a second head. Even Miroku peeled his hands from his eyes to look at his ex-roommate for a denial that never came. Kagome looked away from them, her eyes welling in defeated anger, threatening to spill the tears she'd be damned to let any of them see.
When the silence stretched too long for comfort, Kagura spoke. "Okay, someone gonna clue me in to the story here?"
"Last night," Inuyasha voiced, noticing how ridged Kagome had become. "As you all know we were drunk out of our heads. Well, somehow we wandered into the chapel inside the casino and... we kinda got married."
"You... did.... WHAT!?" Sango screamed, all the blood rushing from her face. She looked like she was about to faint. Miroku gripped her shoulders in case she did, but she batted his hands away and stomped over to Kagome, pointing a finger in her face as she towered over the smaller woman. "If this is some kind of a joke, it's not funny!"
"It's not a joke," Kagome said quietly, almost inaudibly. "I wish to God it was, but it's not."
Sango looked at her in desperation. "Kagome--"
"Get out," Kagome said calmly.
Sango was about to comment further when Kagura grabbed her, a hand across her mouth. "I think that's a good idea. You can get cleaned up and we'll talk this over rationally later." With that, she promptly dragged Sango from the room, Miroku trailing behind and closing the door.
Once they were gone, Kagome let out a deep breath. "You okay?" Inuyasha asked her, getting up and helping her to the bed. Kagome, still hung over and feeling sick, appreciated the help until she remembered that she was angry with him too.
"When I said for everyone to get out," she said evenly. "I meant you too."
Inuyasha blinked, gold eyes wide in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"I want you to get out," she said again, raking a hand through her tangled hair. "You're the last person I want to see at the moment, so please, just go."
"But, we need to talk about this," he stated, feeling his annoyance coming back. "I'm just as involved as you are."
"Inuyasha," Kagome said, looking up so midnight blue met with gold. When their eyes met, he felt something tighten in his chest, something about how lost and frightened she looked. That was why he was so caught off guard when she grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door before slamming it in his face.
Inuyasha was dazed a moment until he came to terms with the fact that his clothes were still in her room and all he had was a pillow. Turning, he banged on the door. "Kagome, let me in! I'm naked out here! Kagome!"
A few early riser guests walked down the hallway, looking at the man standing in the hall, pounding on the door, bare apart from a pillow. Inuyasha tried his best to ignore the looks, but his temper was getting the best of him. "Kagome!" The door opened just long enough for him to be hit in the face with a ruffled pile of clothes. He growled, but took the clothes and stalked toward his own room.
It was long hours before Kagome dragged herself from the room. With the theme song to Mission: Impossible playing in the back of her head, she snuck down the empty hallway and to the elevator. Kagura and Sango were both in the casino, as expected, feeding their hard earned money-- changed into quarter form of course-- into the slots, hoping to hit that jack-pot million.
Taking a deep breath for strength, feeling the butterflies in her stomach grow more intense and that voice yelling at her from inside her chest, calling her a coward, Kagome went up to them. "Kagura, Sango?"
"Kagome!" Sango exclaimed, surprised to see her. "How are you?"
Kagome smiled a little sourly. "Don't ask me that," she said lightly. "I would take up all your time." Her friend only nodded and frowned.
"What's up?" Kagura asked. As always, she scented a problem from miles away.
"Can we leave Atlantic City?" she asked timidly. "I know it's asking a lot, making you two give up your vacation time, but I just want to go home."
"Of course," Sango said with a nod. "We can take a bus this afternoon back to the city."
"Yeah, I already spent enough money as it is," Kagura said with a sly smile. Kagome returned it. "We have your back." The writer nodded appreciatively.
"What did Inuyasha say?" Sango asked.
Kagome winced. She hadn't talked to him. She couldn't face him. Just thinking about him made her feel like the biggest of assholes. She was being even more of a coward, even more of an ass, by leaving without telling her husband. "We'll talk after I go back to the city," she said lamely. And that was when she went back to her room, to hide her shame, to cry a little more, and to just be generally miserable. If this was what it was like to be married, she never wanted to get married for real.
"Do you think she talked to him?" Sango asked, watching Kagome leave.
"No chance in hell," Kagura returned. "Kagome is too terrified for rational thought, right now."
"You saw that too?"
"It's obvious. What's even worse, she probably would end up liking the guy." Kagura laughed a little before turning to Sango. "Irony is Kagome's bedfellow."
"I guess."
"So tell me, what's her husband's name?"
Sango repressed a laugh with a cough. Using Kagome and husband in the same sentence was a sign of the apocalypse. "Inuyasha Saishi, I think. Dr. Inuyasha Saishi. He was an old roommate of Miroku's."
"Inuyasha Saishi huh?" Kagura furrowed her brows and shrugged. "That name sounds familiar to me."
"Saishi is a fairly common name," Sango commented idly.
"I guess."
"Well, we should go pack our bags for home," the publicist declared as she got up, arching her back and yawning.
"I've got another hour's worth of quarters at least," the editor replied with a scathing grin. Sango rolled her eyes and laughed as she headed for the elevator.
Inuyasha sat in his room and fumed. He was now fully clothed, but he was still smarting from the embarrassment of his hallway experience and the pretty maid who blushed and smiled at him as she walked by.
He had taken a quick shower, attempting to wash off the scent of the woman whom he had spent the night with. It worked, but he could still feel it in his blood. It made him feel a little crazy, a little angry, but mostly confused.
When was the last time he had slept with a woman? Not since med school, before his graveyard internship. Granted, he had been drunk when he and Kagome had sex, but that didn't mean he didn't feel everything they had done. The sad thing was he remembered it all too. Especially the part about them going into the chapel and getting married within ten minutes using a cup full of quarters Kagome had stolen from her gambling friend when she went to the bathroom.
He sighed, running his hands through damp silver hair and cradling his skull in his palms. When was the last time he had gotten himself into such a mess? Not since high school, when he had gotten caught smoking pot behind the bleachers and was nearly expelled if not for intervention.
"I don't think building a gym will make this go away," he reasoned with himself. "I guess we could get an annulment, considering we were drunk."
Inuyasha looked down at his left hand, studying the small gold band on his finger that was the same bright color as his molten eyes. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to take it off his finger. Some instinct told him to keep it on or risk certain doom. He had always been raised to believe superstition and his instincts above reason, so he left the ring alone.
"I should go talk to Kagome," he declared with a nod. He got to his feet and walked to the door, but just as he reached out to grasp the knob, he shook his head and dove back to the bed, tossing the blanket over his head like a scared child. "Ah hell, five more minutes!"
"Do you really have to go?" Miroku begged, kneeling beside the bed, watching Sango pack her clothes in the small suitcase.
"Yeah," she sighed, pulling the sipper. "I really did bring this on myself though."
"What do you mean?"
Sango faced him, sitting on the bed in front of Miroku and running her fingers through his hair. "We did force our friends on that date."
"We didn't tell them to get drunk and get married," he reasoned, looking up at her pitifully.
Truth was, Sango didn't want to go and Miroku didn't want her to. They had planned to have a little weekend away from business and the hectic city. For Sango it was to have some time with her friends during the day, but the nights would have been theirs. Now, she had to leave because Kagome needed her, and her loyalty was to her friend before her man.
"No, but Kagome is always begging me not to force her out. I just never listened." Sango sighed and leaned down to kiss her boyfriend. Miroku met her halfway and they were locked in a heated exchange until a jolt at the door brought them back to their senses.
Kagura threw the door open nosily and stalked into the room, ruby eyes flaming, her sturdy frame shaking, and her hands balled into fists. "We're fucked!" she yelled.
Sango jumped to her feet, inadvertently knocking Miroku over. "Kagura...?"
"I remembered where I've heard that name," she said simply. "And we're fucked!"
"Calm down," Sango said rationally, brow furrowed. "What's the problem?"
Kagura took this opportunity to narrow her eyes as Miroku. "Why did you set up my best writer with a Saishi?!"
"What's the matter with Inuyasha?" Miroku said defensively.
"Kagura," Sango said, her temper rising. "If you don't start explaining yourself..."
"Kagome's new husband is the little brother of Sesshomaru Saishi!" Kagura shouted. Her top lip curled into a snarl and she looked ready to kill someone. Miroku, preferably, if she could get her hands on him.
"So?" He asked.
"Miroku, quiet," Sango said tersely. Her lavender eyes were closed and her body was tense. After a few deep, cleansing breaths, Sango opened her eyes to face the editor before her. "We have to deal with this carefully. No leaks to the press. When you dance with a devil, you do it lightly."
"Just what I expected," Kagura said with a smirk. "We have to go back to the city. Now."
"We'll leave as soon as Kagome is ready."
With a nod, Kagura turned and left the same way she had come, slamming the door behind her. Miroku watched the exchange with a pensive expression, but once the scary one was gone, the scary-but-hot one turned to him.
"Am I missing something?" he asked. One approached these things carefully when trying to get information from a tigress. She was as deadly as she was beautiful.
"A brain," she snapped, massaging the skin on the bridge of her nose. "How could you do this to me?" Sango begged him, looking completely overwhelmed. "Why?"
"What's the matter?" he asked in surprised horror when he saw the tears brimming in her bright eyes.
"This could ruin us Miroku!" her voice catching as she spoke. "If Sesshomaru gets wind of this, it could mean the end of The Winds."
"Okay Sango," he declared, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to sit down. "You will take a deep breath," which he led her in by example, "and you will tell me what you are talking about. What does Sesshomaru have to do with this? How could Kagome and Inuyasha's little indiscretion ruin your magazine?"
"You don't get it," she said in a low voice. "Journalism... No, all writing is the most difficult of careers. You live by the issue, praying your readers are loyal, will buy your product, and will continue to read what you have to say. One scandal, one loss of faith in us and our readers are gone and everything we've work for is nothing."
Miroku sat beside her, looping an arm around her waist casually so as not to make her feel crowded. He had always been a good listener, a comforting presence to all who knew and trusted him. Okay, so he freely admitted that his hands could take on minds of their own when around certain women, but that didn't mean that he couldn't tell the difference between a time to grope and a time to behave.
"You still haven't told me what this has to do with Sesshomaru," he said lightly when Sango leaned her head against his shoulder.
"He's the editor and founder of The Western Lands, our main competition," Sango sighed, her temples beginning to throb at the thought of all the paperwork she'd have to clear in the name of this matter. "If he uses this incident against Kagome, it could be the beginning of our downfall."
"But Inuyasha is his brother," Miroku commented, "wouldn't exposing this backlash on him?"
"Not really, considering Inuyasha doesn't work for him. Still, we'll have to take this slowly and carefully to avoid damage." He nodded, pulling her a fraction closer to him. "Oh, Kagura is going to be on edge for days."
"Why?"
"She and Sesshomaru had a thing."
"A thing?" Miroku blinked in his shock. "Those two? When?!"
"In college, five or so years ago. It ended bad," she explained. "And the results are what we have, both of them rivals in a fickle business and always at each other's throats when they are within reaching distance of one another."
Miroku laughed a little, shaking his head. "I could never picture the two of them together."
"I could," Sango sighed. "They were a perfect couple. Both are domineering, stubborn, and possess superiority complexes the size of Manhattan. Plus there is that little fact that they are both still madly in love with one another, but neither will admit it."
They chuckled together until a knock on the door disrupted them. Kagome poked her head in, looking apologetic when she saw Miroku, and said she was going to wait in the lobby with Kagura. Sango nodded, kissed her boyfriend, and left the hotel room with her suitcase in hand.
Kagome sat on the rim of her bathtub, her hands shaking badly as she pulled the small gold band from her left ring finger and shoved it into her pocket. Taking a few deep breaths to settle her renegade stomach, she ran a brush neatly through her hair and looked herself over.
Three days had passed since her return from Atlantic City, and her first meeting with the sponsors was only moments away. Sango had arranged it where the head of the sponsorship and his assistant were coming to Kagome's own modest apartment to interview her. They wanted to feel her out, see what made her tick. What was better than seeing where she lived?
Kagome had spent the weekend she was supposed to be spending gambling with her friends, cleaning her apartment for company. Now she was sitting in her bathroom, knowing that any second her future would be knocking on the door, and she would have to answer. Buyo was mewing from the living room, angry about being locked out. He always wanted to be wherever she was. It was nice to have such unconditional love, even though it was more common to find in dogs than cats. Maybe it was because he was so obese.
She looked pale when looking back at herself through the mirror. Her eyes were wide and glassy, missing their usual spark of insolence. Kagome felt sick to her stomach, but didn't know if that was due to her cowardice at not being able to talk about her impending annulment, or because of the interview about to very well decide her future in writing.
When the doorbell rang, she plastered a fake smile on her face, pinched her cheeks for color, and answered as cheerily as she possibly could. Standing in the hallway was a man in a fine tailored suit and neat black hair. When he met her gaze, Kagome saw that his eyes were dark, but she couldn't distinguish the color, but she did notice the light eye shadow. She resisted the urge to snicker, and covered it well with a cough. She had gotten so worked up over this?
"Miss Higurashi?" he asked with a questioning glance over her entire frame. "Yes, you looked better on television."
Taken aback by the blatant rudeness, Kagome only blinked before speaking. "You are?"
"Naraku Ichiban," he introduced himself before pushing past her and into the apartment. It was only then that Kagome noticed the young woman following him. She couldn't have been more than twenty, petite in figure with bone white hair and a paler complexion than Kagome herself.
"You're the representative for the sponsors?" Kagome questioned as she closed the door behind them.
"That we are," Naraku said with a smirk Kagome thought looked a little predatory. "So tell me, where can we conduct this interview?"
"Right this way," Kagome said with a smile, ushering both Naraku and the young woman with him into her living room. Kagome paused only long enough to grab her glasses from the counter in the kitchen, shoving them on her face as she followed. They made her feel more intelligent if nothing else.
"Could I get you something to drink?" she offered the two as they sat. Kagome noted, rather begrudgingly, that Naraku went straight for her favorite chair. Mentally calming herself, rather than impaling the man on the spot, she tried to make herself busy.
"I never drink when I work," Naraku commented while making a face. "It goes right through me."
"And you miss?" Kagome addressed the young woman. She looked surprised for a moment, as if not used to being noticed.
"Soda?" she asked quietly, as if expecting Kagome to refuse. Instead, the young writer smiled and nodded.
"One soda, coming up." She disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a mug of tea for herself and a glass of soda. "All I had was diet, I hope that's all right."
"Yes," the woman replied, sipping and smiling slightly.
Naraku, who had watched this in silence, suddenly snapped his fingers and crossed his legs with a flourish of fanfare. "Let's begin. Kanna," he said, turning to his assistant. Kanna placed her drink down on a coaster on the small coffee table in the center of the room, then pulled a notebook computer from her side bag. Setting it up on her lap before Kagome could even settle in her chair, Kanna was ready to begin recording the interview in the blink of an eye.
"Well, you certainly come prepared," Kagome said, laughing a little nervously. Kanna smiled politely but Naraku was not amused. Kagome coughed lightly and smiled. "Would you like to start with a few questions?"
"Yes, thanks," Naraku said sourly. He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through a few pages of notes. "Miss Higurashi, why do you think people read your article?"
Kanna's fingers began a steady assault on the keys, typing softly as Kagome began speaking. "Well, I think people read my articles because they go through a lot of the same experiences as those who write the letters. There are a lot of problems that women face in life, and love should not always be as difficult as it is."
"Really?" Naraku said with a smug smile. "And what's the main problem women write to you about?"
"Self-consciousness," Kagome answered without hesitation. "Women write to me most of the time because they think there is something wrong with them, and that's why they can't find true love. They're either too fat, or too thin, or too ugly, or they're not smart enough. Women in this country are set to a very high standard that few actually achieve and many spend their entire lives trying to achieve it."
"And what do you tell them?"
"That they should be happy with who they are," she said simply. "If you don't like how you look, you can change it. Most of the time, it's not that they don't think they look good enough, it's that they think others don't think so. I tell them that as long as they are happy with who they are, they should never have to change for anyone else. Anyone who truly loves you would love you for who you are, no matter what. If they want you to change, they aren't worth it. Sometimes, women are just better off alone."
"You don't think a woman needs a man to be happy?" This question totally blew Kagome's mind. She openly stared at the man interviewing her as if he had two heads. "Miss Higurashi?" he asked, bringing her back to reality when she had spaced out for too long.
"A woman's happiness should never depend on a man," she said vehemently.
"This, of course, is coming from a single woman," he replied smugly.
Kagome seethed, but bit into her tongue instead of socking her potential sponsor. Oh, Kagura would owe her for this one. She was, however, about to come out with her own smug remark when the doorbell rang. Kagome got to her feet and plastered the fake smile to her face again. "Excuse me."
With that, she stomped off to the door, not even pausing to check the peephole before throwing the door open. The way she saw it, if there was a murderer or thief waiting at the other end, he picked the wrong time to mess with her. Who stood at her door was worse, and made all her indignant anger disappear in the blink of an eye. Inuyasha.
"Hi," he said with a fake smile before scowling at her. "I had to beat your address out of Miroku."
"Oh, remind me to send him a fruit basket," she intoned, too shocked to form real thought.
"How could you vanish before we talked about this?" he yelled at her.
"Inuyasha," she said, looking back into the apartment and seeing that his raised voice had brought Naraku from the living room. "Now really isn't the time." She turned back to him, ready to beg him to leave, but he pushed past her and into the apartment. For the second time that day, Kagome found herself closing the door and facing the danger.
"I don't give a fuck if it's a good time or not," he raged. "You took off before we could figure out what to do about our little situation."
"I'm a coward!" she yelled back at him, poking a finger into his chest. "I didn't want to deal with everything."
"Well welcome to reality, sweetheart," he snapped. "Sometimes you have to deal with the bad things. You can't run every time you get scared."
"Get out," Kagome said low and venomous.
"In case you have forgotten," Inuyasha said, his voice rising as he spoke. Kagome saw Naraku walk into the hall just as Inuyasha shouted, "We're married!"
That caused silence to descend upon the room as Kagome stared at the sponsor in horror and he grinned wickedly back at her. Inuyasha noticed her looking over his shoulder so he turned and saw the man standing at the doorway to her living room. His eyes narrowed as he turned back to Kagome, suspecting her motivation of entertaining this man to be less than pure.
Truth be told, Kagome didn't care what Inuyasha thought, but she cared very much for the thoughts and eventual opinions of Naraku, so she quickly pushed past her angry husband to take Naraku by the arm. "Pardon me," she said with a strained smile. "I have a little business to clear up in here before we can continue." She steered him back into the living room before stomping over and grabbing Inuyasha by his ear, dragging his savagely into her kitchen and slamming the door behind them.
"Ow!" he shouted when she released him, rubbing the injured ear. "That hurt!"
"You son of a bitch!" she screamed at him. "How dare you come here and throw a fit! Where the fuck do you get off?" He looked ready to add a few words of his own but Kagome only grabbed his ear again and shouted some more. "Well I hope you're happy, you hell spawn, because you've probably cost me my fucking career!"
"What are you talking about?" he asked loudly when she released him again.
"That man," Kagome ranted, pointing out toward her living room, "is the representative for my sponsors. If he doesn't get a good opinion of me, my magazine doesn't get paid. If they don't get paid, I'm out on the fucking street!"
For a moment, he looked a bit remorseful, realizing the full impact of what he had just done to her, but he shook it off. He had come feeling angry and he resolved to leave angry as well. She was the one who ran away, he was just cleaning up the mess she left. He would not be driven to feel sorry for her.
"That doesn't excuse you from running off instead of just being an adult and talking to me," he told her, determination set in his expression. He would not back down.
Kagome frowned, looking away from his steady golden gaze. "You're right," she sighed, defeated. "I should have stayed and faced it, but you don't understand." Kagome turned from him then, hugging herself tightly and pressing her forehead against the door of her refrigerator. "Higurashi's Law has fucked me over pretty good this time."
"I beg your pardon," he commented, not understanding her at all.
"Never mind," she said, still not looking at him. A loud meow drew her attention as the bulk of Buyo launched itself at Inuyasha and successfully landed himself haphazardly in the bewildered doctor's arms. Also managing to knock Inuyasha off balance and into Kagome.
Suddenly too close for comfort to the person neither would like to be close two, both blushed fiercely before jumping back simultaneously. Inuyasha decided to change topics and look at the thing in his arms.
"What the hell?"
"Buyo!" Kagome scolded. "Bad kitty!" As she had suspected long ago, Buyo the cat actually had a habit of thinking he was a dog. He acted like one too, and one of his more dog-like habits was defending Kagome when he felt she was in danger.
"This fur ball belongs to you?" Inuyasha questioned, adjusting the sudden weight in his arms until he was cradling her cat gently.
"My one and only true love," Kagome commented dryly, scratching her cat behind his ears until he purred loudly. So loud, in fact, that Inuyasha thought he was holding a jackhammer rather than a cat. After a moment of silent reserve, Kagome drew herself up and headed toward the door. "Wait here, I'm going to finish up my interview and then we can talk about this like adults."
"I'll be right here," he said with a nod. Kagome felt reassured as she exited, and entered the living room once more.
Kanna was typing furiously at her notebook and Naraku was in the corner, on his cell phone. "I'm telling you," he was saying excitedly. "A guy just burst into her apartment and declared himself her husband! This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. The press will eat out of the palms of our hands for this scandal. I can see the headlines now, 'Advice Writer Caught In Wedded Web'. I stun myself sometimes."
Kagome cleared her throat angrily, drawing attention back to herself. Naraku quickly closed the phone and pocketed it, as if he had not been speaking into it seconds before. He smiled, huge and fake, in her face, the smile one gave a slow child. "Kagome, we were wondering what became of you."
"I had a little business to deal with," she said calmly. "Shall we finish?"
"No," Naraku announced. "We can finish this up another time. We have all we need." With that, Kanna began closing her computer and getting ready to leave. Kagome knew that she was about to be ruined if she didn't do something quick.
"I'm married," she blurted suddenly. Both of them stopped what they were doing to stare up at her. "I got married over the weekend," she continued. "The man who came in here was my husband. We haven't made it official yet, my name hasn't changed and neither of us have moved yet, so I would appreciate a lid on the fact until we make it official."
"Of course!" Naraku assured her with that fake smile again. He had no intentions of honoring her request and she knew it. At least if she openly admitted to the marriage, it wouldn't seem as though she was hiding anything.
"When should we finish the interview?"
"We'll contact your publicist with the date," he commented, summoning Kanna as they made to leave. Kagome trailed after them, the picture of defeat. There was no saving her now. It was the end. Everything she had ever worked for was slipping through her fingers like sand.
"It was... interesting, meeting you Miss Higurashi," Naraku said as he was about to walk out the door. "Or should I call you Mrs. ...?"
"Miss Higurashi," Kagome said firmly. "I haven't changed my name."
"Of course," he said with a humoring look. Kagome shut the door behind him just a little harder than was necessary. Once out in the hallway, Naraku turned to his assistant with a raised eyebrow. "And who is he?"
"My search concluded that, as you suspected, he is Inuyasha Saishi," Kanna replied flatly. She liked the young writer who had politely welcomed them into her home, and hated setting in motion what was sure to be a disastrous thing. "A doctor who works in the ER at Mercy General hospital and younger brother to the Saishi family."
Naraku smiled. "Perfect."
"Miss Nitao's office, please hold," the operator chirped into her headset for the millionth time that afternoon, pressing a button to send the caller off into a world of elevator music and endless waiting. She happily answered another caller in the same way. "Miss Nitao's office, please hold."
As she worked, she toyed with the ends of her shoulder length black hair. "Yura," a voice from the open-doored office behind her called. The young secretary turned to look at her boss.
"Yes, Miss Nitao?"
"Can you forward my messages to my cell?" the editor requested. "I'm expected in a meeting and I don't know how long I'll be."
"No problem, boss lady," Yura smiled, happily going about her job again.
Kagura smirked and shook her head. She didn't know why, but she liked Yura and her quirky sense of humor. Kagura had always liked to surround herself with unique people, which was why she was so happy to hire Kagome and Sango--both of whom were completely insane.
Now, she was not going to see a person she wanted to see, or even a person she liked, or even a person she tolerated. Right now she was about to meet the devil incarnate, the devil himself even. The most vile creature she had ever laid eyes on. The most cunning and ruthless male she had ever known in her life. The man who had stolen her heart when she was a wet-behind-the-ears freshman in college, and had never given it back to her: Sesshomaru Saishi.
Kagura paused outside the wooden doors of her boardroom for a breather. She adjusted her hair to make sure every strand was in place. She smoothed every wrinkle from her crisp business suit. She made sure she was perfect, that he saw she was perfect, and that she had not missed his presence in the least since she had walked away from him nearly five years before.
Of course, it was all an illusion, but he didn't need to know that any more than anyone else she loved needed to know. In fact, no one knew it was a lie, though Kagura expected Kagome might know--being the expert on love that she was--and Sango, because the woman was perceptive as hell.
Kagura Nitao entered the boardroom in her building, in her office, for the magazine she created, without any help. She would make him see how she had not needed him at all over the years, and how she had carried on without a look back or a single 'what if' thought.
Sesshomaru Saishi sat at the head of the long wooden table, his suit a perfect cut of white silk, his straight silver hair perfectly maintained, his golden eyes watching every move she made. In his eyes, she had not changed in the least since he had seen her last. She moved with the same internal grace, her eyes still held that glitter of supremacy and defiance that had fueled so many fights between them. She still had the power to still his thoughts when she looked at him.
"Kagura," he said evenly. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled at hearing her name on his lips again.
"Sesshomaru," she replied. He had to control his memory from jumping into flashback overtime at the thoughts her voice brought rushing back.
"We have a problem," he continued, not letting her see the torture she inflicted on him. Even after five years. His head and his heart could never forget her.
"Yes," she agreed. Her blood ran hot, and then cold, as she sat down on the opposite side of the table from him. "Your brother. My writer."
"The scandal could ruin us both," he explained. "I received a call this morning from one of my more free-ranging journalists. He informed me that my brother had gotten married over the weekend, in Atlantic City, to one Kagome Higurashi."
"She wants an annulment as soon as possible," Kagura said seriously.
"That could prove a quandary for you," Sesshomaru observed.
"That is not your concern," she replied icily. "You will deal with your brother and I will deal with Kagome. Hopefully, our paths will not cross again over this issue." With that, she stood and Sesshomaru followed her example. He'd never guess she was dying.
"Agreed," he replied distantly. "Have a good day."
"You too." They exited together and walked in two different directions as if they were polite strangers. They parted ways the same way they had five years ago. They felt the same as they had five years ago. Five years made them older, but not wiser, at least when it came to the heart. Putting distance between one another was the only way to ensure strength, to guarantee survival, to protect against future hurt.
Love didn't always guarantee a happy ending.