Demons and their secrets

by Umineko-san

After a tragedy involving a demon accused of assassinating a human, all demons were forced to hide, or be killed. Now a human is working in a Company run by demons. But does she know?

8. Jinxed

Thankx overlyobsessive240, jibril, DAYLE-CHAN, Jakenliker and everyone else who reviewed!

Sorry this took so long to write, my computer got a virus and it wiped off all of my stories! So I'm starting this chappie and the next from scratch.

Disclaimer: I own something that is a lot better than Inuyasha………..oh who am I kidding? I OWN NOTHING! NOOOOOOOOOTHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The date

Mikomi waltzed into Sesshoumaru's office humming contently; she twirled around and sat down gracefully onto her wobbly stool. She sighed and glanced at Sesshoumaru who was in deeply concentrated in his usual writing. Mikomi sighed again in a way that it would be impossible to ignore, but Sesshoumaru did. She couldn't hold it in anymore,

"Hey Sir, guess what?" She blurted out.

Sesshoumaru glanced at her but simply straightened his posture and continued to write. She moved the seat from side to side painfully slowly so that Sesshoumaru was forced to look at her.

"Guess what just happened while I was having lunch"

Sesshoumaru mastered the impulse to roll his eyes, but went back to his writing all the same. Mikomi rocked the stool almost desperately,

"Oh come on! Don't you want to know what I'm so happy about?"

"No"

Mikomi gasped, "But I was humming. I never hum! Just guess!"

This time Sesshoumaru put down his pen, swirled his chair around to face Mikomi and put the tips of his long fingers together..

"You were having lunch with Kenichirou Koyanagi, you talked, he asked you about me, you made him laugh and then he proposed that you accompany him to the 'Silver Dragon' restaurant, and as you are so naive you were foolish enough to fall for his false charm, and agreed."

Mikomi almost fell off Kouga's stool, "How the hell did you know that?"

"I have known Kenichirou longer than you. I, unlike you, can see through his lies. You are so predictable." He added sharply.

Mikomi felt slightly annoyed. "What do you mean?" Sesshoumaru sighed as if he was explaining to a retarded 5 year old.

"What I am saying is that Kenichirou is just using you to get to me."

Mikomi stood up angrily, "Why does everything have to involve you?"

"Saikawa, you do not comprehend-"

"Oh no, I understand perfectly! You're just jealous that I have a date, aren't you? And now you're trying to rip us apart! Well, I'm going on that date, and I'm gonna have a great time!" She turned on her heel and made to go out, before adding-

"And not everything has to be about you." And with that, Mikomi turned on her heel and stalked out.

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Mikomi walked quickly past everyone, ignoring a few people who said hello and wiped her eyes angrily. She HATED that man; he just wouldn't let her be happy! It was the first date she's had in ages and he couldn't say "That's great!" or at least "Good for you!" But what hurt the most is that he could be right, there was a possibility that Kenichirou was just using her. Deep in thought and unaware of the route she was taking, Mikomi crashed into someone, who's papers went flying all over the place.

"Oh! I'm sooo sorry!" Mikomi wiped her watery eyes furiously and began to pile the papers back into the poor person's arms. When she had placed the last sheet of paper on top of the huge pile, she looked up into the face of her victim.

"Hey! I know you! You're that waiter guy! In the restaurant!" Mikomi snapped her fingers and pointed at him again, "Akitoki! Wasn't it?"

He gave a hearty laugh, "Oh no no no. My name's Hojo. Akitoki is my cousin. Everyone always confuses us, have no idea why though." Mikomi raised an eyebrow, was he blind? Or was he just kidding? But she tried to make conversation, company is what she needed right now.

"So… what do you do here?"

Hojo tried to adjust the pile of papers and smiled at Mikomi, "Me? Well…I carry people's things, run a few errands inside the company, you know, the usual stuff."

Mikomi nodded politely and kept the conversation going, after a while Hojo had launched into the subject of Kagome Higurashi. Mikomi didn't know how much more she could take.

"She's so sweet, and pretty, but I don't stand a chance! I mean, to be honest I'm kinda scared of that boyfriend of hers…what's his name? Ah yes, Inu-"

"Hojo"

Hojo's eyes widened and he spun around, causing a few papers to fly into Mikomi's face, which woke her up. She craned her neck to see what Hojo was facing when she saw Inutaisho's grinning face. Hojo squealed, threw himself onto the floor and began shouting at the floor. Not daring to look up.

"So sorry Master! Hojo was working I swear! I was just taking a smaaall break!"

Inutaisho looked around uneasily at the workers who had stopped what they were doing to watch. "Okay Hojo, that's fine. You can go back to work now." He said trying to smile.

"SOOOOO SORRY! Hojo isn't worthy enough to lick Master's shoes! Hojo should be punished for disgracing great Master's presence! Hojo is a stupid, worthless lazy-"

Inutaisho's smile began to twitch and he looked around smiling nervously at the passers by who had also stopped to watch Hojo shout at the floor.

"Hojo get off the floor!" He hissed through clenched teeth. But this just made Hojo shout even louder.

"HOJO IS A DISGRACE! HOJO IS VERY SORRY! HOJO WILL NEVER TAKE ANOTHER BREAK AS LONG AS HE LIVES! HOJO IS DEEPLY SORRY WISE MASTER!"

Mikomi was staring with her mouth open at the embarrassing scene, and let out a small scream as Hojo began banging his head against the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Inutaisho had enough. "HOJO!"

Hojo's sobbing ceased immediately and he looked up in surprise for a split second before squeezing his eyes shut and looking at the floor again. Inutaisho laughed uncertainly and tried to speak calmly.

"I forgive you; now please return to your duties."

Hojo scrambled up and with his eyes still clenched shut he somehow collected all his papers and ran past Inutaisho, and then collided with the door frame. Causing all the papers to fly away again. Everyone was quiet, watching the motionless Hojo splayed on the floor. Until a good looking demon stepped out, chuckled uneasily, and picked up the papers which were obviously his and ran back to his desk, leaving Hojo unconscious. Inutaisho turned to look at the rest of the workers, who all sprang back into action as if nothing had happened. Inutaisho then turned to Mikomi, whose jaw was still hanging in shock. Inutaisho smiled,

"Never mind all that, he does that all the time, that's the 6th time this week actually. Oh well! I think it's time for coffee don't you think?"

Mikomi stared at him, shocked that anyone could act so calmly after a scene like that. She pointed over Inutaisho's shoulder at the still unconscious Hojo lying on the floor, and opened her mouth to speak but Inutaisho seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Oh don't you worry about him, he'll be all right. He should be used to it by now. See you around Sakana!" (If you don't know Japanese, then Sakana also means fish!)

Mikomi forced a smile, which vanished the instant Inutaisho turned away. She made her way back to Sesshoumaru's office muttering under her breath. "Sakana my ass." She strolled into the office, picked up her clipboard and pen and glimpsed at Sesshoumaru who was looking at her, surprised that she had recovered so quickly. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

"Don't ask." Was all she said before sitting down on the squeaky stool and waiting patiently for the day to end.

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After what seemed like a decade, Mikomi heard the usual squeal of the microphone and Inutaisho bidding them farewell and reminding them to come to work the next day. She didn't wait to hear the traditional squeal, thump and swear words after every announcement, but collected her things and ran out of the office, reminding herself that Sesshoumaru was driving so that she had no choice but to wait for him.

"Come on Sir, you can tidy up your desk tomorrow." Mikomi whined stamping her foot. Sesshoumaru glared at her and continued to put all his papers in the top desk drawer, but she kept whining so he had no choice but to leave his pens on his desk. (That's a sin!) They both walked into the elevator where Mikomi complained about Sesshoumaru's attitude. Finally the elevators doors opened.

"Grrr! I might not be ready in time for my date!" She said irritably as they walked out of the company.

"If that's what you want to call it." Sesshoumaru retorted. Mikomi elbowed him sharply in the ribs which took him by surprise.

"Don't you start" She warned. Sesshoumaru glared at her but let her get into his sliver Peugeot 407 first. He patted the spot on his ribs, and then got into the car himself.

They had been driving for at least ten minutes and Mikomi was relentlessly telling him to speed up.

"Ms. Saikawa, if you haven't become aware of the fact that police are covering the area then you must be slower than I thought."

Mikomi opened her mouth to argue, but then she heard a heavenly tinkling tune which turned her head immediately. She gasped and plastered her face against the window. Sesshoumaru glanced at her in disgust.

"Saikawa what are you-" "Pull over" She interrupted in a muffled voice.

"I am not going to stop-" "PULL OVER" Mikomi squished her nose against the window even harder as she saw the ice-cream van stop and a crowd of people with their children neared it. Mikomi unstuck her face from the window and looked expectantly at Sesshoumaru. He glanced at her as if to say 'you're kidding'.

"Sir?"

"No."

"Aww! But I want ice-cream!"

"You were complaining non-stop about being late for your-" "I WANT MY ICE-CREAM!" She yelled.

"Saikawa I am not stopping this car so-" But Mikomi cut him off as she lunged on top of the steering wheel and turned it to the left, Sesshoumaru tried to keep control but she was scrabbling at his hands to let her stop the car and her screaming "PULL OVER! I WANT ICE-CREAM!" Was distracting him. The car swerved violently onto the pavement and into a dark alley where Sesshoumaru slammed his foot on the brakes, and his car screeched to a stop. Sesshoumaru hadn't even taken his hands off the steering wheel and Mikomi was already running towards the ice-cream van where an extremely long queue was forming. Mikomi pushed away an old woman with her nephew out of the way and waited impatiently at the end of the queue for her turn. Sesshoumaru took his time and walked calmly towards Mikomi but made sure to stand a few feet away, just in case anyone from work was there. He checked his watch.

"Saikawa it's almost 5:30pm" But she wasn't listening, instead she was bribing a bunch of kids to let her go in front of them.

"If you do, then that tall man over there will give you 100 dollars each! Really? I can? Okay then, now go over there and ask for your money!"

The bunch of kids came running towards Sesshoumaru who gave them a lethal glare which sent them all running to their parents. Mikomi tapped her foot impatiently as the father carrying his toddler in front of her tried to coax his toddler to choose an ice lolly.

"Oh for heavens sake just get him any old lolly he won't remember it when he's older anyway!" She said irritably. The father stared at her and hurriedly carried his son away from her as if she was some kind of maniac. It was finally Mikomi's turn and Sesshoumaru decided to go and see what was taking so long for her to order. He strolled up to her hearing all the complaints about the hold up on the way.

"Saikawa what is ta-" But Mikomi signalled for him to be quiet as she looked at the poster with all the different ice-creams on it, trying to decide. The ice-cream man blinked at her holding the ice-cream scoop. Mikomi squinted at the poster,

"I think I'll have the…..no. Maybe the…..no no no, wait, I want the….nah...um…."

The people behind her were starting to complain and the ice-cream man was about to turn to the next customer behind Mikomi but she stopped him.

"Hey hey hey! I haven't ordered yet! Mr…" She looked at his name tag "Totosai, I'm paying so you just have to wait!"

Totosai blinked at her and then at Sesshoumaru. Mikomi went back to scanning the poster.

"Okay okay, I'll have the….the….no…..in a minute, um….that big….no…."

Sesshoumaru was losing his patience, "Saikawa-" "I'll have a cherry flavoured ice lolly." Mikomi said triumphantly. Totosai who had fallen asleep momentarily, snapped back into action and dug through the freezer for the ice-lolly. Mikomi sighed contently and turned to Sesshoumaru.

"Oh yeah, what will you have?"

"Nothing"

"Come on, you must want something, shall I order for you?"

"No I-"

But Mikomi was already ordering a lemon ice-lolly for him. Totosai handed them their orders and waited, hand outstretched for his payment. Mikomi searched through her pockets while Sesshoumaru glared at the already melting ice-lolly in his hand. He looked down to his left and saw a small girl staring up at him licking her ice-cream. Sesshoumaru stared back for a moment until he had had enough and took a threatening step towards her. The small girl jumped in fright, so that her ice-cream cone fell onto the floor with a splat. She stared at it for a while and then at Sesshoumaru with her big brown eyes brimming with tears. Sesshoumaru looked at his own unwanted ice-lolly and handed it carelessly to her. She hesitated but took it, then gave him a toothy smile as thanks. Sesshoumaru wasn't used to being smiled at by kids and stared at her with his usual poker face. A young woman then came up to them and took the small girl by the hand; she seemed to be the mother of the child and led her away from Sesshoumaru while looking at him suspiciously. "Come on now Rin" She said while still gazing at him.

He shook himself to get what just happened out of his mind and turned to look at Mikomi who was still searching for money, and just as he had suspected, she looked at Sesshoumaru hopefully. He handed Totosai a few coins. Totosai stared at them for a while, and then stared at the van scratching his head. They both began to walk towards the alley licking their ice-lollies….well, Mikomi was anyway. She glimpsed at Sesshoumaru who seemed to be thinking about something.

"Whoa, you ate yours fast." She said in astonishment. But Sesshoumaru wasn't paying attention, and had stopped dead, staring into the alley. Mikomi turned to see what he was staring at and gasped, dropping her lolly in shock. Sesshoumaru's new silver Peugeot 407 was now in complete ruins. Sesshoumaru walked slowly towards it and looked inside, which wasn't very difficult as the car doors had been torn off. His radio was gone, along with his digital road map, car seats, rear view mirror, mats, his car phone, windscreen wipers, the air conditioning device, the contents from the glove compartment and even the steering wheel. (?) Sesshoumaru gradually and surprisingly calmly straightened up and walked to Mikomi's side, who was squatted on the floor poking the flattened tires with a stick.

"Your hubcaps are gone. And your bumper" She added pointing at the place where the bumper had been brutally ripped off. Mikomi dropped the stick sighing and stood up looking warily at Sesshoumaru, his face was expressionless as usual but he had a far away look in his eyes, as if he couldn't believe this had happened to him. Was he going to explode? Kill the first person he sees? Die on the spot? Mikomi decided to break the painful silence. She coughed quietly,

"So. What do we do now? Walk?"

Sesshoumaru reached into his pocket and pulled out his sliver and black cell phone, which he flipped open.

"Jaken. Bring me my Porsche. The black one. Now."

He flipped it closed and stowed it away. Mikomi was still wary of him but didn't let this trouble her too much.

"ANOTHER ONE? Jeez, when do you get exercise?"

Sesshoumaru looked at his watch and pushed past the rambling Mikomi.

"-I mean you have at least 20 cars so how you don't have a flabby belly bulging out of your pressed suits is anyone's guess-" Mikomi stopped, noticing that she was just complaining to herself. She looked around wildly and spotted Sesshoumaru in the distance walking across the street. Mikomi rolled her eyes and ran to catch up.

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Mikomi quickened her pace to keep up with Sesshoumaru, she was exhausted. And he hadn't even broken a sweat!

"Why-gasp-didn't we-gasp-wait for the-gasp-Porsche?" She choked out, before grabbing Sesshoumaru's arm to stop her legs from giving way. Sesshoumaru said nothing and walked a bit faster. Mikomi stopped and bent over to catch her breath. Sesshoumaru glanced behind him and walked a bit slower, even though it was because of Mikomi's mad urge for ice-cream that caused the vandalism of his favourite car. He finally slowed to a stop and waited for Mikomi to catch up. They had walked for at least half an hour and Mikomi was almost dead, she opened her mouth to complain about her aching legs but shut up to listen to a distant sound. Sesshoumaru had obviously heard it too, because he had stopped to listen. Mikomi shifted closer to Sesshoumaru and they both listened hard. It sounded like….paws? Mikomi's eyes widened as she heard the sound of thundering paws coming closer. Sesshoumaru remained still; he wasn't at all worried about the situation. Mikomi screamed and hid behind Sesshoumaru, burying her head into his jacket.

She dared herself to look through a small gap between Sesshoumaru's side and arm, and looked at the two large black snarling Rottweilers. Sesshoumaru took a threatening step forward but the dogs began to bark, showing their large sharp teeth. Mikomi uttered a small squeak and clutched the back of his jacket. She heard the dogs getting closer, Mikomi has always had a deep fear of dogs, ever since she was chased by a pack of them away form her house. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for sharp teeth to tear at her….but it didn't come. Suddenly everything went quiet. She felt a vibration; she opened her eyes and stared at Sesshoumaru's back. She couldn't hear anything but she could feel his back vibrating slightly…almost as if he was…..growling.

The next thing she knew, the dogs began to whimper and ran away with their tails in-between their legs. Sesshoumaru turned so that Mikomi was forced to unclench her hands from his back. She stood there, still in shock. Mikomi shook herself and ran up to Sesshoumaru who was walking normally, as if nothing had happened. Mikomi opened her mouth to ask how he did that back there, but was cut off by the sound of someone shouting. She looked up and, to her great relief, saw that they had arrived at Sesshoumaru's complex. And the shouting seemed to be coming from what looked like an overly dressed dwarf.

"Shesshoumaru-shama! Shesshoumaru-shamaaaaaaaaaa!"

The 'dwarf' waddled up to Sesshoumaru and bent down so low that his hat almost touched the floor. Mikomi bent down and stared at it. She supposed it was an old male, which explained the horrible sense of style and color coordination. She scanned his long greenish brown coat that was ten sizes too big with the collar turned upwards and the huge red baseball cap which covered his forehead. Mikomi watched him shout explanations and beg for forgiveness at the floor, which strongly reminded her of Hojo.

"Please forgive me Shir! I brought the car to you my Lord, but my Lord wasn't there!"

Sesshoumaru seemed colder than usual. "You were late."

"My deepest apologies Shir! I stowed your Porsche away, where it was My Lord Shessoumaru-shamaAAAAAGH!"

The 'dwarf' jumped at least 20 feet in the air and ran behind Sesshoumaru's legs, hiding away from Mikomi who had just poked him to see what he felt like. Mikomi also screamed at the 'thing's reaction and stared at it in horror.

"Who is this disgusting human? How dare you poke ME! SHESSHOUMARU-SHAMA'S LOYAL SERVANT-"

"Jaken. Silence." Sesshoumaru ordered in a harsh voice that Mikomi had never heard him use before. What Jaken hadn't noticed while he was screaming, was that his yellow and purple striped scarf which covered almost his whole face up to his bulging yellow eyes; had fallen off and was revealing his whole ugly face. Jaken finally became aware of this and desperately tried to wrap it around his head again, but Mikomi had already seen it and was on the floor, eyes wide in shock as she stared at Jaken's yellow bulging eyes. Sesshoumaru took quick action and kicked Jaken so hard that he flew out of sight.

The security guard quickly opened the gate for Sesshoumaru and Mikomi….as soon as she got off the floor of course. Mikomi staggered a bit but followed Sesshoumaru in. They were walking across the car park when Mikomi snapped out of her shock.

"OMFG! What was THAT? It looked like some kind of….frog! I mean, his skin was green! G-R-E-E-N!"

Sesshoumaru wanted to say nothing but he knew very well that she wouldn't leave him alone until she got an explanation.

"It's a birth defect. That is all."

Mikomi shut up after that. They stepped into the elevator and that was when Mikomi checked her watch and gasped.

"Oh crap it's 7:30! I gotta get changed!" She looked around the lift desperately. "Doesn't this thing go any faster?"

When they finally stepped out of the elevator, Mikomi snatched Sesshoumaru's silver key card out of his hand and ran to his door, sliding it in to access his apartment. Sesshoumaru walked calmly inside and went straight to his study while Mikomi ran around trying to get ready in time.

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There was a smart rap on the door while Mikomi was applying the final touches of make-up. She squealed and ran to her jewellery box to shove on a pair of long gold earrings and a necklace. She took one last look at herself in the mirror before grabbing her coat and running out of the door in her black high heels. Sesshoumaru, who was still in his study could hear her giggling on the other side of the door, and Kenichirou complementing her on how beautiful she looked tonight. Sesshoumaru remembered the stylish low cut silky black dress she was wearing and mentally scoffed.

He could still hear the couple talking as they walked down the stairs and across the car park. He heard Mikomi whoop at the sight of Kenichirou's car, Sesshoumaru imagined a rusty old truck and 'hmph'ed. He kept on listening until their voices had faded away as they drove out of his complex. Sesshoumaru shook himself, realising that he had been still for about 5 minutes trying to listen, even though they were long gone. He pushed Mikomi and Kenichirou to the back of his mind; he had more important matters to think about.

Sesshoumaru pushed his chair back and stretched; then got up and strolled into the living room. He stood staring out the huge window; he always thought more clearly when he looked out over the city. His mind wandered off and Sesshoumaru found himself what could possibly be happening between Mikomi and that despicable Koyanagi. He could just picture them, talking, over a bottle of expensive red wine. The next scene was Mikomi drinking wine from the bottle and telling Kenichirou everything he wanted to know about Sesshoumaru; and then Kenichirou taking advantage of Mikomi's drunkenness…..

Sesshoumaru shook himself, annoyed that his mind had drifted there. It was virtually impossible anyway; he hasn't told Mikomi anything about himself. He decided to make the most of his time alone and took out his Palm, scanning his agenda. But everything seemed to involve Mikomi! Everyday there was a message reading 'Mikomi picks up suits from laundry' or 'Photocopies needed for father, get Mikomi to do it.' And 'Signature needed for important document. Mikomi has the document'

Sesshoumaru soon grew fed up of seeing her name on everything and put his Palm away, then he stretched again, even though he wasn't tired. He thought about the last time he had sat down and read a book, and realised that he hasn't done that. So, Sesshoumaru picked out a book, sat down on his black leather couch, checked his watch, opened the book and began to read.

MEANWHILE, in the restaurant, Mikomi was busy laughing her head off at a bad joke that Kenichirou had just told her. She wiped away a happy tear and took a calming sip of red wine. Kenichirou ended his hearty laugh and sipped his wine also, staring at Mikomi all the while. They had already finished eating and were now waiting for their deserts. Kenichirou sighed and stared into Mikomi's eyes, she blushed and looked away. He laughed again at her bashfulness.

"So, tell me about you. Your work maybe?"

Mikomi shook her pretty head, "Oh no no, I don't wanna talk about work. Too depressing. Lets talk about you."

Kenichirou forced a smile. It was obvious to him that Mikomi knew absolutely nothing about Sesshoumaru, oh well; he decided to just play around with her for a while… have a little FUN.

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It was way past eleven, and Sesshoumaru had read at least 15 books already. He finished the last sentence and put the book on top of the 'read' pile. His ears pricked at the sound of a car pulling into the complex. He got up rather quickly and was all set to run downstairs to pull them apart when he stopped himself, his hand was already outstretched to open his apartment door. He mentally slapped himself for even thinking ofsuch a stupid action. Instead he walked up to the window and looked down on the couple who were arm in arm and walking in zig-zags up to the entrance. He could smell the alcohol in their breath. He listened hard to Mikomi giggling stupidly as they tripped up on the stairs. The drunken couple stopped in front of Sesshoumaru's apartment and giggled foolishly.

"When can we do this again? How about next Saturday?" he was just using her, but he hadn't even started to have his little fun yet.

"Oh Keni, I would love to, but my BOSS probably won't let me."

"Oh never mind him, just give me five minutes with him. I'll convince the old dog."

Sesshoumaru twitched at the last two words. Old dog?

Mikomi giggled again and Sesshoumaru's eyes widened, he could hear her heart beating faster, he could smell her nerviness. They were going to…...kiss! Sesshoumaru used his demon speed and opened the door, he cleared his throat to get their attention. Their noses were almost touching, a few seconds later and it would have been too late. Sesshoumaru was familiar with Kenichirou's falsely charming ways. If he had kissed Mikomi then she would be completely brainwashed.

"I take it everything went well. Ms. Saikawa, you have work to do."

Mikomi smiled at Kenichirou, who smiled back and kissed her hand as a farewell. She glared at Sesshoumaru and elbowed him hard on the way in. Sesshoumaru then looked at Kenichirou with a distinctively colder look in his eyes. Kenichirou grinned,

"I almost had her there Sesshoumaru, couldn't you have waited five more minutes to barge into my fun?"

Sesshoumaru took a step backwards into his apartment, "Leave. You are not wanted here. Goodbye Koyanagi" He said frostily before slamming the door in Kenichirou's face. He turned around and found himself face to face with a seething Mikomi.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She hissed.

Sesshoumaru took a step to the left and walked right past her. But Mikomi followed him.

"I almost had him there!"

"How amusing, he said almost the same thing. Except he meant it in a different way."

"I cannot believe you! First you try to break us apart, and now you're twisting keni's words to scare me away! You have to be the most arrogant, big headed-"

Sesshoumaru didn't hear what else he was, because he closed his study door in her face. This was quite satisfying. He sat down and began to go ahead with some work which wasn't to be needed in a few months. He did this until Mikomi had given up screaming and banging on the door.

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It was almost midnight, and both Sesshoumaru and Mikomi had calmed down.Sesshoumaru's study door was now wide open and Mikomi was lying upside down on the couch reading one of his books.

"His strength was the strength of ten, because his heart was pure" She quoted from the book 'The Round Table Legends'

Mikomi grew bored on the third page and decided to go and annoy Sesshoumaru. She got up and wandered into his study where he was profoundly concentrated in his writing. Mikomi paced around looking at pictures and prodding a few gadgets which she had never seen before. After a while, she had stooped down to just staring over Sesshoumaru's shoulder at what he was writing.

"Who's that boring letter to?"

"Nobody."

"Is it to someone important?"

"You wouldn't know"

"So it is to somebody!"

Sesshoumaru put down his pen and sighed deeply. Mikomi blinked, she had been staring over him for over half an hour and he hadn't said a thing, why now? And she was just starting to have fun too. Mikomi waited for Sesshoumaru to hand her a pile of work but to her great surprise, he didn't. Instead he pulled a desk draw open and took out a black Palm pilot with silver buttons. She gasped and snatched it from him. She had never seen anything so beautifully expensive before. Well, she had, but never actually touched one before. Sesshoumaru sighed again.

"That is yours Ms. Saikawa. In it you will insert your schedule and organise your agenda. It is for work purposes ONLY. Understood?"

But Mikomi waved her hand at him in a careless gesture. "Yeah yeah whatever" And she went back to goggling at her new Palm Pilot. She prodded the screen and Sesshoumaru took it away from her quickly.

"I would like this to last for at least a month. Try not to break it so soon. And never touch the screen with your fingers."

Mikomi snatched it back and Sesshoumaru handed her the little plastic pen. She stared at it and then at the Palm. To Sesshoumaru's great relief she had finally got the hang of tapping the screen lightly with the pen and had wandered off into the living room still exploring her new Palm. But he wasn't completely left alone. Every now and again she would yell things like "Oh cool! It has internet!" or "Wow! Look at what I just did!" and "OMG this thing has games!"

After a while, when Mikomi had become familiar with her Palm Pilot and, to Sesshoumaru's disappointment, had come back to annoy him again. She wandered around his study a bit longer and gasped, making Sesshoumaru draw a line right through his letter. He put the pen down and tried to control his anger, he turned around to see what was so amazing that just couldn't wait until he finished his letter. Mikomi took out a glass chess board, which was in pristine condition and carefully placed it on the table….on top of Sesshoumaru's papers. Sesshoumaru clasped his hands over the table and waited for Mikomi's reason of interest in his chess board. Mikomi gawped at the beautiful glass board and picked up a single chess piece, gaping at it. She looked at Sesshoumaru who was staring at her as if she had completely lost her mind. She pushed the chess board towards him.

"Teach me!"

Sesshoumaru looked at the chess board and then back at her.

"No. I have more important matters to take care of than teaching you how play chess."

"Aww! Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase? I've always wanted to know how! Teach me!"

"No."

"TeachmeteachmeteachmeteachmeteachmeteachmeteachmeteachmeteachmeTEACH ME-"

Sesshoumaru lifted up a silencing hand; he decided to use this situation to his advantage.

"I could teach you how to play this game. But on one condition."

"Anything!"

"Stop seeing Kenichirou Koyanagi."

"DONE!" Mikomi shot out her hand to close the deal.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at her lack of hesitation, but shook her hand anyway.

"Remember, this is a very complicated game that requires deep concentration. You must know the consequences of your every move and distinguish your opponent's moves beforehand. Ready?"

Mikomi sat up straight, alert, her eyes bright and interested."

Sesshoumaru sighed and pulled the chess board closer to him, and began

"This, is a pawn….."