I don't own these characters. Y'all know that by now.
A/N: This is also a present day AU.
Behind Closed Doors
1: Living the Life
Sesshomaru sighed as he put his cell phone down on the nearest surface after quite an annoying call from work and silently decided he hated his job. It was a reoccurring theme within his mind, sometimes repeating in his head every hour. Well, why have a job he utterly loathed? Because he enjoyed having a steady paycheck, which many people could not comprehend. Sesshomaru had a trust fund that could feed him and a building of people for a few lifetimes, so it was not like he required money. He was also set to inherit his father's business, along with most of the great dog demon's lands. So, most people did not understand why Sesshomaru bothered to work at all, especially doing a job he disliked.
The noble dog demon simply liked being self-reliant. He liked to be able to do things for himself. He wanted to pave his own way in this life and build his own image on his own accomplishments. Not to say he was not going to take over his father's things when the time came and he was definitely proud to be his father's son for the most part, but at the moment he was a mature adult demon and he believed he needed to act as such. So, he had a horrible, horrible job, just like any adult would have.
What did the glorious Sesshomaru do to bring in the dollars? He worked for an advertising firm. It was a top firm, but still seemed lacking in too many things. He had too much education in his opinion to have even considered taking such a job, even though it was in his field and claimed the degrees he had were necessary. He did not think he should even need qualifications to do such work, at least not here. But, it seemed he had been in school long enough and these people were hailed as sophisticated and the top of their field, so when he spotted an opening, he took it. What the hell was I thinking then? He massaged his forehead with two fingers.
No one would guess he actually hated his job as he did it so well. How could he not? Whenever he did something, he made sure to put his everything into it and his everything was perfection. People seemed to understand that. They would admit they did not understand why he did his job so well with his antisocial personality and everything. How did he figure out what people liked? How did he figure out how to tap into people's minds to get them to want something? But, he seemed to know how to handle his accounts and he had plenty of clients. He still disliked his job.
So, why do a job he despised? He could get money in so many other ways. He could build a reputation in so many other ways. But, this job catered to one part of his personality he would not compromise on. He was an artist at heart and trained as such. He mostly sketched and painted, but he wanted to practice his art as often as he could and this career allotted him that opportunity.
He occasionally created something worth hanging in a gallery and he had a few works gracing galleries with their presences. He was often commissioned by demon nobility to do works for them. But, he learned such an existence would not yield the steady paycheck he carved. So, he went somewhere he could get in some practice while gathering a stable income.
Most of his work dealt with graphic designs. He had a dynamic style that caught his clients' attention and they believed the style would grab consumers' attention as well. They seemed correct. Sesshomaru was a hot commodity in graphic designs.
Of course, his job required more than coming up with eye-popping designs sometimes and he was mediocre at best in the other aspect of his work, not that he would ever admit such a blasphemous thing out loud. He had to come up with slogans on occasion to go with his designs and he found that to be extremely irksome, especially since he typically did not know what was catchy or if anything was popular. He was pretty much anti-popular culture.
Usually, he cheated when it came to the slogan aspect of his job in his opinion. He listened to his clients and what they wanted for their account, no matter how stupid the idea seemed. He then took their ideas and came up with several different pictures from their notions. He then got outside help on the slogans and also what design worked best. He called in his siblings or his stepmother. They understood what people liked and they tended to know what was popular.
Sesshomaru tended to act like he did not value anyone's opinion, especially not his wretched simpleton of a half-brother. But, in truth, when it came to normal things, he went with what his idiotic and often childish brother thought. So, he tended to show Inuyasha his designs and let the bigmouth do what he did best, express his ridiculous opinion very loudly and crudely about slogans that went with his favorite designs. He figured with Inuyasha being like the average peon on the street, then whatever caught Inuyasha's attention, it would logically also catch the attention of most other people. The reasoning seemed to work with the way he continued to have clients.
Aside from Inuyasha, Sesshomaru also used his little sister, Rin. She was a spark of help and she loved doing it. Where Inuyasha could tell him what a young man or just an adolescent might like, Rin was perfect for testing things out that were targeted at children or youngsters just hitting the teenage years. She could not come up with crazy slogans like Inuyasha could, but she knew the right colors and images to catch a child's eyes and that was enough.
His stepmother served the same purpose, but to help him get the idea of what human women liked, even though she was a bit more difficult to work with than his siblings. Izayoi, his father's current wife, had a thing where she disliked stating what was on her mind when he asked what she thought. He always took it as false modesty, as he was very aware the woman had a working brain, after all. His father would not put up with her if she was completely brain-dead, and yet she insisted she did not know something. Getting information was like pulling teeth with her, but he typically stuck it out and she would come up with things. Sometimes, he believed she behaved in that manner to tease him. He could practically smell her holding in giggles on occasion.
Despite the money and reputation building, Sesshomaru still disliked his job. There were too many people at the agency for his tastes, especially humans. Societies mixing on any level got on his nerves more than anything else. He had to deal with stupid humans, stupid demons, and peasants of all kinds out in the street, interacting and getting in his way. Maybe the whole world was just idiotic and it took a real job for him to see that. Well, actually, he had known for a while now since he had gotten out of the care of his governess. Things were not getting any easier as he continued to move about in the real world.
Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Who thought of mixing, anyway?" The thought was more a distraction from his true problem.
Irking him further, he had been informed by his boss that he had a new account to handle, but there was a catch to it. He would be working with someone and that was bad enough. But, it turned out there was more to it. The person he had work with had originally handled the account when they dealt with a different firm. It seemed the new guy had stolen the account after fleeing from his other job. Yeah, that was just great.
"I'm working with a thief. Who would hire someone who made it a point to take other accounts from his previous job?" He shook the question away. He tried his best not to contemplate his boss or his decisions. Those were mysteries best left to the universe.
Sesshomaru decided not to stress over it. He would deal with it when he had to go to work, which was too soon in his opinion. He was at home in his elegant, monstrous apartment and had nothing to worry about now, except the fact his canvas was still blank.
"I can't even blame work for that. The art isn't coming." He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He doubt it would come while he was thinking about work, so now he needed a real distraction.
He fixed himself something to eat and then focused on the white space staring back at him. He had hoped to get some painting done over the weekend, but his muse did not seem to agree, before the bad news. Who or whatever his muse was, he noted it had been absent for a while now.
He scowled. "Muses are so unreliable."
He sighed, nothing would come to him by staring at the canvas. He decided to go in search of some inspiration, and then perhaps his unknown muse would return to him. If not, he would go be a good big brother and do something with Rin, as she always appreciated his company and he did not mind giving her attention. She was probably the only person on the planet he did not mind giving his attention.
-8-8-8-8-
"Something wrong?" Naraku inquired, speaking to his wife, Kikyo. They were on a plane, flying to their new home. Well, her old home.
"No. Why would you ask?" she countered, her voice flat and her eyes ahead.
"You look like something's wrong," he commented, almost as if he were amused. There was a light in his eyes, which she ignored.
"It's nothing," she assured him. She did her best to keep her face blank, expressionless. Partly, it was her personality, but there was also the fact that she did not want anyone, especially Naraku to be able to read her.
He chuckled a bit and smirked for no reason she could see, except for the fact that he probably enjoyed that it looked like something was wrong with her. Sometimes, she believed he could sense trepidation from her and he delighted in it.
Kikyo focused her cocoa eyes out of the window and ignored her husband, even though she had to look across him to see the window as he had taken the window seat. There was nothing wrong. She was secretly happy they moved because they were going back to her home city. She would get to be near her sisters, cousins, and old friends. It was a very pleasing thought and she could not wait, but she contained herself.
Had Kikyo showed any signs of happiness, she was certain her husband would try to ruin her mood. He might even plot against her to ensure this move ended up making her dejected. It was just the way he was. It seemed he could not be content unless she was miserable. Most of the time, she projected a resigned look of misery to keep him from bothering her. She would not consider herself melancholic, but she would concede she was not happy. She doubted she ever would be truly happy.
Kikyo had never thought of herself as happy before. Happiness was never an emotion she tracked until she married Naraku. It was then she had realized she had been happy before he became her husband. She had not had much before he entered her life and she did not need much.
Her parents had died when she was thirteen and for a while, she had worried things would only get worse. Her aunt had come to the rescue and assured her and her sisters everything would be fine. Her aunt allowed the sisters to live with her, but they had not stayed any longer than necessary. It was painful to live with their aunt because she was their mother's identical twin sister. It took a lot of energy to share a home with a woman who looked exactly like their mother, behaved like her, sounded like her quite often, and even had many of her mannerisms, but with shorter hair, so the sisters moved out as soon as possible.
Her aunt had understood when they moved out. The three sisters had moved into an apartment and their aunt helped them pay the rent. Her older sister, Midoriko, had gone out and gotten a job to support them. Midoriko was three years older than Kikyo and felt responsible for her and little Kaede. She wanted to support her younger sisters, but their aunt had objected to Midoriko working full-time because she wanted her niece to give her own education the proper attention. She knew her twin would want the girls to be all that they could be.
Midoriko had gone to school, as did Kikyo, and they excelled in college and beyond. Kaede, being the youngest and currently only twelve years old, was still in school and holding up the sisters' tradition of being at the top of the class. Their aunt liked to tell them that their parents would be very proud of them. Kikyo now doubted that and she had for the year she had been married to her husband.
First of all, their family had a long history of being priests and priestesses and fighting against demons, yet she had gone out and married a hanyou. She believed a person should be judged on their personality rather than genetics, but it was not a belief everyone in her family shared. She recalled how disappointed her older sister looked when she showed her big sister the engagement ring. Midoriko had actually smacked Kikyo across the face that day and stopped speaking to her for a long while. When Naraku moved Kikyo away from home, Midoriko had revived interested in her younger sister and made sure to keep in touch with her. Needless to say, Midoriko did not trust "that hanyou scum," which was her way of referring to Naraku.
In fact, Midoriko tried to talk Kikyo out of leaving with Naraku. But, he was her husband and he had the chance of a fabulous new job. She did not want to be the one to hold him back. There were times she wished she listened to Midoriko then, but at least moving got her big sister to reconnect with her.
Kikyo reveled in the attention from her sisters once she was out of the city because while she effortlessly met people, she did not make friends easily. It made her sisters all the more important in her life. She quickly felt homesick and pings of loneliness when she was separated from her family. Naraku did not help matters, especially since his greatest joy had become arguing with her only days after they moved into their home. She started to see why her sister disliked him and she could not believe she had missed his true personality for so long.
It was hardly a week into their new home when Naraku started being himself was how she learned to look at it. He sniped at her, lots of backhanded compliments, and little complaints about everything she did. There were so many sneers, snickers at her expense, and he gained joy from her sorrow. Living alone with Naraku for almost a year away from her family was painful. It was like a million needles in her eye every day of her life. So, of course, she was pleased to be headed back to her family. It was such a relief.
They were headed back to her hometown because Naraku had taken a new job. She was unemployed thanks to the move, but she would gladly trade her job for her sisters. She had been working at a clinic, as she was a doctor. She would find work after getting a chance to enjoy her family and getting settled in.
When the plane landed, Kikyo almost smiled, but she caught herself. She followed behind Naraku as he went to go pick up his bags, while she had been able to carry on her things. Once the crimson-eyed half-demon secured his luggage, they caught a taxi and proceeded to their new home.
The couple now lived in an apartment on the opposite end of town from where Midoriko and Kaede lived. Kikyo knew he had purposely purchased a place so far from her sisters because he hated her big sister if not as much, then more than Midoriko hated him. He also knew she would want to spend some time with her sisters and it was a taunt of his to have her as far away from them as he could while they were in the same city. Little did he know, but she only needed to be in the same city as her sisters. They would work things out after that.
The second she set foot in the apartment, her cell phone rang. She checked the number and shook her head a bit. Her sisters had to be psychic. She answered the phone in a low voice and eased away, not wanting to catch Naraku's attention. She did not feel like dealing with him and she was very aware he would start up he saw her on the phone with her sisters. She found the bathroom and stepped inside.
"Hi, Kikyo!" Kaede chirped into the phone as Kikyo closed the door.
"Hello, Kaede," Kikyo replied in her usual low voice. There was a joy in her tone her sister easily detected, even though most people felt she spoke in a monotone.
"Say hello to Midoriko, too. You're on speaker," the child reported.
"Oh. Hello, Midoriko," Kikyo added.
"Hello, little sister. Tomorrow we will get together and have lunch. This is not negotiable," Midoriko informed her younger sister. She sounded like Kikyo, her voice mellow and calm, yet there was a sharpness to her voice that Kikyo's lacked. Well, she typically lacked anyway. Given the chance Kikyo could be just as forceful as her elder sister, maybe even more so, if she was worked up enough.
"Yes, big sister," Kikyo replied. Midoriko was the only person on the planet Kikyo was almost totally submissive to. Many people joked they wish they knew Midoriko's secret to controlling her sister. Naraku seemed to think he knew the secret, but she did not want to think about that right now.
"Oh, Kikyo! Kikyo! You've got to see my hamsters!" Kaede shouted into the phone and Kikyo smiled fondly a bit. She missed her sisters so much and wanted to see them as soon as possible.
"She allows these rodents to wander freely through our apartment. I think I shall buy a cat," Midoriko teased their baby sister.
Kaede gasped. "You can't!"
Kikyo almost laughed, but held it in. Such a noise would garner her husband's attention, however small, so she was careful. She ducked her head out of the bathroom for a moment, checking what Naraku was doing. He wandered around their new home to find where he wanted to put all of his gaudy belongs. They had a rather large apartment for two and that was just because Naraku seemed to like to collect junk, in Kikyo's opinion anyway.
Sometimes, she suspected Naraku's things were trophies. She was not sure of what. There were times he would come home, tell her a story of some coworker he squashed through foul means, and add some useless bauble to his shelf. She learned through him how his morals were nonexistent, especially when it came to his career.
Well, at least, once Naraku began working, she would have the apartment to herself, not that she planned to spend much time in the apartment. They were now living in a great city with so many places that called to her. She had art museums to hit first of all, new ones to become familiar with and old ones to rekindle her relationship with, and she hoped her sisters would join her.
"Kikyo," Naraku called her. "You've been in the bathroom for while."
Kikyo groaned low in her throat. "I have to go, sisters." She stepped out of the bathroom, locking eyes with her husband immediately. She did not want to hear his mouth for longer than necessary.
"What? Why?" Kaede cried.
"Well, Kikyo, don't you think you should get to making dinner?" Naraku suggested with a cruel smirk on his face. "We should celebrate being in our new home, after all. Together. Alone." It seemed that she had been having too long a conversation with her sisters and he wanted her off of the phone now, possibly by making her vomit from what he implied.
"Why is it that you like to pretend that you can't use your phone?" Kikyo countered. She was not going to make a meal the first night in their new house. There was nothing in the place to cook. He wanted to cause a fuss, but she did not care. She would sink right to his level and she would bite back when he bit her. She was not sure why he thought she was controllable.
"Is Naraku bothering you?" Midoriko asked her younger sister.
"He is requesting a meal I won't make," Kikyo replied, looking her husband in the eye as she spoke.
"You will make it," the half-demon insisted.
"Tell him to stop being a pest before I come over and purify him," Midoriko commented and she was dead serious. All she wanted was for Naraku to provide her with the excuse and distance to leave him a smoldering pile of half-demon ashes. Kikyo was certain Midoriko already had several defenses worked out if someone dared question why she killed Naraku.
"I don't know what your sister's saying, but you should tell her to watch her tongue," Naraku threatened the siblings with that line quite often. A wicked glint sparkled in his eye. He had the precious middle sister right with him and while the big sister was trying to make it to them to make good on her threat, he could always hurt the middle one, he believed anyway. He liked to believe it would be easy for him to destroy Kikyo and he believed Midoriko was on the same wavelength as he was, thinking he could harm her little sister. Every now and then, Kikyo wished he would try.
Midoriko did not think there was a demon alive who could hurt her or her little sister. Kaede still had some way to go, but she was only a child and she would eventually make it to the same level as her other sisters. The only reason Midoriko had not slain Naraku, aside from the fact that she would have go to court for murder, was because Kikyo had not requested it. She would never just outright kill her sister's husband, no matter how much she loathed his existence. She would wait for Kikyo to take care of the hanyou annoyance unless it was absolutely necessary for her to act.
"Big sister, the battery on my phone is about to die," Kikyo said. It was not a lie.
"Call on the house phone. It is connected, right?" Midoriko asked.
"No, that's to happen tomorrow," Kikyo replied.
"Just talk until the battery dies. It's what I always do," Kaede pointed out and Kikyo did not need to see her baby sister to know she smiled. She remained on the phone until the battery died and then she was left to play along with Naraku as he picked a fight over dinner. He's such a child. In the end, he called for takeout, but only for himself. She went out to find her own meal and to avoid second-degree assault charges.
-*-(New day)-*-
Sesshomaru sighed as he strolled into his work building. Though he walked with pride in his spine and his head held high, it felt like he carried a weight on his shoulders. He was meeting with the person he would be stuck with for more time than he liked, namely more than a minute, to work on the new account. He could only hope that on his scale of annoyance, the new assignment was low, but he doubted that was going to happen.
He took the elevator up to the boss' floor and entered the man's office without knocking. It was a habit of Sesshomaru's to never knock and most people had learned to deal with it. Most people had learned to deal with him while he only loosely tolerated people.
"You should work on your manners, Sesshomaru," Totosai commented from behind his large black desk. He had his feet kicked up like he was lounging by a pool and not at work. Added to that, he had on Converse sneakers. Sesshomaru counted it as a victory that Totosai was dressed appropriately for once, but he seemed to only wear suits when there was a meeting of some kind.
"I am here about the new account," Sesshomaru said in a clipped tone. He wanted to get to his office as soon as possible to avoid having to deal with something stupid, especially considering how his boss typically behaved.
"I know why you're here," the boss replied.
"Then where is this new man?" the dog demon inquired. His eyes drifted around the large office for no reason than to make a point that the new man was not there.
"Late apparently," Totosai answered as if it was no big deal. He even shrugged.
Sesshomaru frowned. His day was not looking promising and it did not help matters that he had a boss who did not seem to care about what was professional. Well, once the newcomer showed up, Sesshomaru would straighten him out. There was not going to be any tardiness while working with the platinum-haired demon. Everything would be prompt and on time or there would be hell to pay.
The noble demon then frowned deeper as his nose caught a stench in the air. It burned his nostrils. The door opened, so, apparently, Sesshomaru was not the only one that needed to learn some manners. Then the owner of the rank smell entered, a hanyou. Sesshomaru growled deep in his throat and low, but Totosai cut him a look anyway.
"Naraku, I take it," Totosai said, speaking the newcomer.
"That is me. Totosai?" Naraku countered.
"Yeah, come on in," the old man beckoned his new employee.
Sesshomaru curled his lip as he realized he would have to work with the ebony-haired hanyou. Could the day get any worse? He hoped the partnership was over rapidly. The only hanyou he could stand the smell of was his brother. With his brother, the smell was the last thing he thought of because Inuyasha was always doing something moronic.
"Naraku, meet Sesshomaru. You two will be working together," Totosai announced, like this was going to be anything but a disaster.
Naraku knew he would have to work with someone on the account prior to entering the office, but he frowned just the same. He could not believe he took all that energy to lure that account away from his last firm only for them to want Sesshomaru on the account when he was hired by this other, bigger, more prestigious agency. Apparently, they liked his artwork, among other things. He did not think the dog demon was so special, but he could not express that to the clients.
"Good to meet you," Naraku said and he extended his hand. It was clear he was lying to the full demon.
Sesshomaru glanced down at the hand offered to him. Surely the hanyou did not think he would lower himself and shake the hand of a thieving half-breed who smelled like his blood was mixed with rotten vegetables and raw fish because that certainly was not going to happen in that or any other lifetime. It did not help he was already unprofessional with being late and looked like he was playing dress up in his flashy purple suit.
Sesshomaru turned his golden eyes to Totosai as if silently cursing the old man. He was definitely taking the new account as some kind of cruel torture. Totosai gave him a shrug, as if that made everything better.
"I hope you two come up with some good ideas. I think you know how much this account is worth," Totosai said with a smile.
"Let's get this over with," Sesshomaru said in a gruff tone. The sooner they finished the account, the sooner he could get away from the smelly hanyou. "Oh, and Totosai."
"Yes?" the bug-eyed old man inquired.
"Let's not have this happen again," Sesshomaru stated.
"I can't tell the clients how to pick their workers," Totosai replied, throwing his hands up, and the dog demon frowned. The two employees left the office. "Man, I'd hate to be the new guy," the old man muttered in an amused tone.
"Let's get a few things straight, half-breed," Sesshomaru said right outside the boss' office.
Naraku scowled before the speech even began. Did that dog bastard just refer to him as "half-breed" as if that was his name? It seemed he would have to put the puppy in his place.
"You are to never be late while we work together. I do not care what the excuse. You are to be here on time no matter what. Understood?" Sesshomaru demanded with a hard look in his eyes.
"I don't know who you think you are—" Naraku started, but the nobleman cut him off.
"I suppose you don't understand. Let me explain it plainer, if you are not on time everyday, I shall travel to your home and rip your filthy stomach out because I have no desire to move on your schedule. You are on my time and you will adhere to my schedule," Sesshomaru stated firmly.
"I think you mean the company's schedule," Naraku corrected the dog demon.
"No, I mean my schedule. You will be on time and you will pull your weight. We will get this project done and I will never be bothered you again, agreed?" Sesshomaru made it seem like he was asking a question, but he was actually making a statement. He was always making a statement.
"I can agree on that much," the hanyou concurred because he would not want to be around the arrogant dog any longer than necessary.
"Good," the golden-eyed male said and he turned to leave.
"But, since I am new to the city, I might have a hard time finding my way around, like today," the ebony-haired half-demon commented.
"Get lost if you like, but I will not tolerate your shenanigans," Sesshomaru informed his partner. If he wanted to play kid games, he would spend the day with the only person whose shenanigans he would tolerate, namely his little sister.
Naraku did not respond. He would not let some cocky dog demon tell him how to run his account. He was the one who brought the account to Sesshomaru, so in his opinion, the pale demon should be thanking him for bringing him work. Well, he would show Sesshomaru which one of them was in charge.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: Kikyo and Sesshomaru meet each other by accident.