Kikyo stood in front of the glass tower she worked in. She looked up admiring how the glass casted a reflection of the world around it. Taisho offices were on the outskirts of Tokyo away from the busy city life. She was glad that Toga Taisho preferred the country side, it was nice to stare at the open lands from the 8th floor. She glanced down at her watch, 7:47 AM. Since Wednesday night it was already awkward between her and Sesshomaru, but now after what happened last night in class, she wasn't sure if she could face him anymore.

"Are you just going to stand there staring?"

His smooth voice out of nowhere startled her and she jumped slightly, "No of course not…" she could already feel her face heat up just from his voice. Turning to look at him felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. It was like she was noticing every little detail about him for the first time. He wore dark brown slacks, with a white button-up, the long sleeves rolled to just above his elbows, a light brown vest and matching tie. Flashes of her fantasies kept running through her mind.

"Then why haven't you moved?" Sesshomaru wasn't going to wait for her to reply. He was off to head up to the office, leaving a lingering scent of oak wood. The scent drew Kikyo in, and she closely followed behind keeping her head down.

'This is going to be torturous. Why do I let the things Kagome say get to me? Why do I even let Sango tell Kagome anything to begin with?' her mind felt like it was overloaded.

"So, how long do you think we will be here today?" She wanted to know how long she was going to suffer.

The question irritated him. Was she wanting to know because of her date tonight with Manten? It shouldn't have upset him, but it did. He had considered keeping her late, making up some excuse that this project needed to be done tonight. It would have been a solid excuse, but he could feel his cell phone continue to vibrate in his pocket. He was positive it was Kagura making sure he remembered he said he'd be home early today. Her threats of coming to his office shouldn't be taken lightly, and he didn't feel like dealing with her interruptions.

"Curious if you'll make your date on time?" the words came out like vomit. Uncontrollable. Even so, he wasn't ashamed of them. He spoke his mind freely of no repercussions.

Kikyo's eyes flashed with anger. It was as if he read her mind and knew she was desperately searching for a reason to hate him more so that her inappropriate thoughts would go away. "One, I don't see how that is any of your business. Two, it's not a date. Lastly, I was just curious for my own self."

"Good."

"Good? What do you mean good? Good that it's not a date or good that it was for my own concerns?" She hated his damn aloofness, more than she hated his demeaning remarks.

"It means nothing more than good."

Everything was still in the same spot they left it on Wednesday. Throughout the last two days, both had grabbed a file or two do in their down time. It hadn't made a difference unfortunately, there was still a good number of pages to go through.

"We managed to finish two pages each on Wednesday for almost three hours. There are fifty pages. How soon does this need to be completed?"

"We have until the end of this quarter to review all the files and report back to accounting. The sooner the better, so that any issues can be resolved in a timely manner as to avoid issues if we were to ever get tax audited."

"I'll go ahead to start clearing out the files that had no issues to make more room in here. Would you like a cup of coffee this morning? I am going to grab one for myself."

Sesshomaru nodded in approval and watched her leave. He turned back to the massive piles of paperwork organized on the coffee table. If they could tackle this for a few hours every day Kikyo didn't have school they'd be able to get it done in about three weeks. That was pushing it though. He had a lot of work himself and not every night could be spent working on this. He's never had such a big discrepancy in numbers before, and he had a feeling something was going on.

"Here's your coffee, putting up these files shouldn't take too long. I'll be back soon." The more time she spent doing other things than being stuck in the room with him the better.

Unfortunately for Kikyo, it took a little more than half an hour, and she couldn't stall it anymore. She made it back to his office and sat the farthest she could get away from him without making it obvious she wanted to keep her distance.

"Why are you acting like you can't be near me?"

"I beg your pardon?" So, she may have been a little obvious. Luckily for her, she kept a steady and confident demeanor. "I don't know what you mean. I just prefer to sit over here in this lounge chair."

He went back to reading, he pegged her for just being weird. Unless, he had made her uncomfortable with the hand holding on Wednesday. He did notice that they had barley interacted the last two days, and he knew why he was avoiding her, but why was she. If she felt harassed should he say something to avoid any HR issues down the road, or is it best to just let it sort itself out. He sighed. He could hear his father in his head lecturing him about how to be a proper gentleman around other women, regardless if they're human or demon.

"If I've made you uncomfortable, you should just come out and say it. You're my secretary, we can't work together if you're acting like we can't be around each other. If I did something, tell me."

"You're right," Kikyo gathered what she had and went back over to the couch closer to him, "I am uncomfortable. It is nothing you did though, it is just something with me. I don't mean to make working with me difficult. I am grateful for this job, and don't want to give you a reason to let me go."

"You're somewhat of a competent secretary. I have no issues of letting you go, unless you wish to leave." Relieved her answer wasn't about feeling harassed. Naraku is typically the one dealing with these issues, and he'd never thought it'd be him in that situation.

Kikyo smiled at him, "Was that a compliment?"

"Of course not, but you're always telling me how good you are. I figured I would just let you think that if it continued to provide me with good results."

Kikyo laughed. She wasn't sure if he meant to joke around with her, but she'd take it. This was the nicest Sesshomaru she's gotten thus far. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

Four hours passed by and they had chatted casually a few times. Surprisingly, Sesshomaru found himself asking her questions more than she was asking. He wanted to know more about her, more about her life. Maybe this would help him figure out why she's different than most other human women. Kikyo was asking similar questions, so she must have been curious about him as well. He wasn't very forth telling as her about his life. He tried to keep his answers simple and to the point.

"I've noticed something about majority of these cases where the financials are off. Majority of these cases, the money is being paid by the same account, there are a lot of refunds, and the actual times worked are different than the times reported. I haven't noticed a consistency or pattern that pegs one attorney for all these issues, but it also seems odd that it has happened at least once to every attorney at this firm."

"Yes, I've noticed that as well... I'm surprised you've caught on."

Apt. That's another quality he could add to the list of things about her that intrigued him. She was going to become a great lawyer if she proceeded with that profession. It was a shame she'd waste it on family law.

"I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing that my intelligence surprises you."

"How you decide to perceive it, is your call. I don't think I've made any indication that it was good or bad. However, it is 12 PM. Did you care to grab some lunch?"

"Lunch? I hadn't realized the time had passed so quickly. Did you want me to go get you food?"

Maybe it was too soon to say she was apt if she couldn't tell he was asking her to join him for lunch, "I meant we'd both go."

"You're asking me to go to lunch with you? Uh… sure…"

"If it's that unpleasant to go to lunch with me then you can say no. It does not hurt my feelings."

"No, that's not it. I'm just surprised you asked me, as you'd say: It's out of character," she flashed him a smile, "although I do want to mention. Only because you've either been ignoring it or haven't noticed, but your phone has been going off repeatedly for the last ten minutes."

He looked down to see his cell phone screen light up with missed calls and texts from Kagura. The very latest text was her announcing she was coming down here. It seems he has forgotten about her, and it was disappointing to realize he would not be having lunch with Kikyo after all.

"I see. I seem to have forgotten I made prior arrangements. Perhaps some other time then. We will call it a day. Don't worry about coming in tomorrow. We will continue Monday night." He'd love to say come in tomorrow, so that he could inquire about her date with Manten. He was unsure about what Kagura had in store for the night, and was certain she'd throw a fuss about him being late today she'd rope him into something tomorrow. Half the time he wondered why he ever bothered with marriage or tried to make it work.

They locked up the office and made their way out, Sesshomaru opted to be polite enough as to walk her to her car. As Kikyo was about to shut the door to her car he grabbed it. He didn't know why or what he was going to say until it was too late, "Since you're about to start your last semester of law school and only have one class left. Would you like for me to help you study for the bar exam? You should think twice before rejecting my offer, as I won't offer again. I'm one of the only four in the country who've passed with a perfect score. Two of the others being members of my family."

Kikyo didn't have to even consider the question, she already knew the answer before he even asked. Her whole purpose of coming to this law firm was to be a great lawyer, and though she never imagined he'd ask to help her pass the bar, she knew she'd say yes to any opportunity to help her achieve her goal.

"Of course, yes. Thank you so much for offering. We can talk about the details later perhaps? I do not wish to make you late for your appointment any more than I have."

He gave her a simple nod and walked off to his own car. It was completely out of character for him to assist others in getting anywhere in life. He had been a firm believer in people getting only as far in life as much effort they put in to it. Kikyo was no exception to that, she certainly did work hard to get where she is, and would have continued to do so regardless if he offered. He knew that, yet he still found himself offering to help. He didn't want to believe it was because he was growing accustomed to her, he'd just play it off as making sure an asset such as herself would remain with the firm. That sounds about right, he wasn't helping her, he was helping himself.

{…}

Kikyo was waiting at a bistro table in her favorite coffee shop with her class materials. It was a quaint little shop, not one of the big chains that were plastered on every corner of Tokyo. She was waiting for Sango to come join her. She casually checked her phone, there was no messages waiting for her. Sango was never usually late like this, especially without saying anything. Kikyo dialed her number and it went straight to voicemail. It concerned her, and as she was about to pack up her things to investigate, she saw Sango running through the door looking a mess.

"Sango? What happened to you?" Her hair was falling out of her signature high ponytail, her face was flushed, and she was wearing a man's shirt that wasn't too big on her but, most certainly, not hers.

Sango put her finger up to signal she needed a moment to catch her breath. In this moment, she glanced Kikyo up and down. "What happened to me? What happened to you?"

Kikyo was dressed up more than usual. She wasn't donning her typical business style nor her casual style she opted for. Instead, she was in a black strapless jumpsuit with gold accenting jewelry and heels. The only thing normal about her was her long unsecured ebony hair and natural face.

"I will tell you once you tell me? Did you get robbed or something?"

Sango's face immediately turned red, and in a low whisper she held her hand to her mouth, "I was hanging out with a certain wolf demon and I lost track of time because my phone died. I didn't even grab the right shirt."

Kikyo wasn't one for boisterously laughing, but Sango's predicament incited a louder than normal chuckle. Sango seemed so ashamed. She knew which wolf demon she was talking about and how it was embarrassing to be in bed with him given his history with her best friend. Both knew it didn't matter to Kagome, but no woman wants to have a fling with their friends ex.

"How did that happen?"

"We ran into each other at the park. I mean literally ran into each other. I busted his nose on accident and it started to bleed everywhere and wouldn't stop. You know I live two seconds from it, so I brought him over to my place to clean up and it just happened. I couldn't even tell you if it was him or I who seduced the other. Ugh, Kagome is going to never let me live this down. Anyway, why do you look so fancy?"

"I don't think I look fancy. I'm meeting a friend from work for drinks tonight." Her nonchalant attitude didn't play down the situation as much as she hoped for. Sango was staring at her wide eyed, "Is it your boss?"

Kikyo glared at Sango, "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. It's just another guy from work who I talk to occasionally. It doesn't matter. I'm not looking for anything serious and I'm going to let him know that tonight. He's just a good friend and I enjoy talking with him."

"Well, I believe you, but that outfit doesn't quite send out the 'let's just be friends' vibe. Unless….. Are you gonna sleep with him and then pull the friends card?"

"You and your lude mind. I swear you spend too much time with Kagome."

"I'm not judging. I'm ashamed of what happened today, but let me tell you. I needed it. It's ok to lighten up a little Kikyo and find some relief. You've worked so hard all your life, and you've never been obsessed with love and guys, so I don't get why you won't just give up your virginity already."

Kikyo's face was probably the deepest shade of red documented on the color spectrum, "Please speak louder why don't you."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Kikyo." Sango was smiling at Kikyo now, patting her on the back.

"Let's just change the subject please, did you bring your notes?"

Sango groaned as she fished out her notebook from her bag, "I don't understand why you need this? Your notes are always so much better than mine."

"Well, no thanks to your comment about Sesshomaru yesterday, I didn't take very good notes. My mind was all over the place."

"What are you talking about," Sango grabbed Kikyo's notebook and before Kikyo could even protest and snatch it out of her hand, she was already at last night's lesson reading the erotica in between lecture.

Sango's face dropped, "Oh my. How can you even describe something this well without having ever done it?!"

Kikyo snatched her notebook back, "I don't even remember writing it. I went to study and that's what I found. This morning was rough, but eventually my work was able to take my mind off it."

Her friends gaping mouth quickly curled into a devilish smile, "Oh yea, you were alone with him today. After writing this? Is it cause you acted it out?"

The two stared at each other and broke into a laugh, "You're right, cause he's the type of man to just fulfill random girl's fantasies. He's too much of an arrogant ass."

"You'd be surprised Kikyo. I've heard stories about him, and I know one girl who claims she's been to bed with him. He's very good at more than just his job. Clearly it's affected you this much just to think about it, why don't you let him un-affect you."

"Ugh Sango, please quit it. This kind of talk is what had me messed up last night and this morning. He's offered to help me study for the bar, so I'd rather not have any more distractions being around him."

"Wait, the Sesshomaru Taisho offered to help you? The arrogant ass who thinks of only himself? Kikyo please tell me you didn't really sleep with him?"

Kikyo rubbed her temples, "Again, for the last time I haven't. You're driving me insane. I need to get to copying all these notes. So, unless you're going to keep quiet or talk about lasts nights' lecture, I think it's time for you to go."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I still think it's crazy he is helping you. I'll head out though, I still have a horny wolf waiting for me anyhow. I figure if I'm gonna live with this mistake for the rest of my life, I might as well make it a day and get something out of it. Have fun Kikyo."

"No Sango, you have fun."

Sango winked playfully at Kikyo and left her alone to catch up. She looked at her watch and she had exactly one hour before she had to leave to meet up with Manten. She was extremely anal about her notebooks and notes. She would love to rip out the pages or scratch out what she wrote, but that would bother her to have her neatly organized books ruined. She would have to re-write the whole notebook if she wanted to rid herself of her homemade porn. At a later date, she would have to worry about that. For now she'd leave it be and just copy whatever notes Sango took down.

{…}

Kikyo walked into the bar where Manten had quickly spotted her and waived her over to the high-top he was at, "Kikyo, I'm glad you could make it. I was hoping the boss wouldn't keep you there too late."

"No, he had plans for this afternoon so we were done by 12. I just spent the rest of my time taking care of a few errands I had and getting some school work done."

"Plans? It's been a while since he's taken a half day to have a social life. Good for him. He works too much. I hope when you become a big shot lawyer like him you don't waste your days away in an office working."

"You think one day I could be as good as him?"

"Of course Kikyo! You're great just as a secretary, I can't imagine how it'd be if you focused your attention on cases. I'm sure you could even compete with Taisho Law if you ever opened your own firm. They better do what they can to keep you around." Manten was grinning from ear to ear as he boasted about her.

"I don't think he thinks that. If he saw me as a potential threat he wouldn't have bothered offering to teach me about law."

"What? He offered to teach you? If Sesshomaru is going out of his way to pass on his knowledge, then I think that means exactly what I said. He must see potential in you. I've worked for this company for years and he's never once offered his assistance on anything or to anyone. Not even the other attorneys. He refuses all projects his father tires to pass on him that require working as a team. You should feel pretty lucky."

He was the second person today who commented on how weird it was for Sesshomaru to help her. She hadn't gotten any vibes that he particularly cared for her. If he did see potential in her then it was possible, he was trying to groom her to be a lawyer for them. In that sense, he was helping himself not her. Taisho was his birth right, and even if it had only been a month, Sesshomaru was always thinking of the future and planning accordingly.

Kikyo smiled casually at Manten, hiding the curiosity, "Let's not worry about Sesshomaru anymore. I'm tired of talking about the office. What are you drinking?"

{…}

Sesshomaru didn't know what was worse: being out in Tokyo on a Saturday night or being out with Kagura, his mother, her friend Yura, and Yura's boy toy of the night.

"Sesshomaru, doesn't Kagura just look absolutely sexy in that skin tight strapless black dress?" Yura purred into his ear as she traced Kagura's body with her own hands.

The latter was definitely worse.

"Girls, stop messing around with Sesshomaru. You know my son doesn't care to be bothered about trivial things. Of course, he thinks Kagura is sexy, there's no need to ask." His mother giggled as she teased him along with Yura.

Women were insufferable.

"Now, now calm down Sesshomaru. We are only teasing. Look, I see your father, oh, and looks like he brought your half-brother. We are almost there."

Father? Half-brother? Now, this was a nightmare. He would have to remember to never agree to things from Kagura without knowing the details first. Leaving now would not be an option since his father saw him there. He certainly wouldn't allow him to bail. He could hear the lecture already.

"Well good evening ladies. It's nice to see you. Even you, Mitsuya. I hope you don't mind I brought Inuyasha. He needs to learn to spend more quality time with Sesshomaru." Toga wrapped an arm across Inuyasha's shoulders, causing him to whip his head to the side defiantly, "Feh. Hey."

"They are just cleaning up the tables and making room for us. It shouldn't be too long. It's just a bit crowded in there, so we are waiting outside over here by this bar."

Mitsuya grabbed onto Kagura and Yura's hands, "Well, we must be making a trip to the lady's room before we get seated. Come ladies lets go. I'm sure we will be sat by the time we are done. See you inside, boys."

Not interested in getting involved in a conversation, Sesshomaru stared into the propped open doors of the bar they were standing at. Immediately, his eyes recognized the couple sitting at a high top inside. "For someone who said it wasn't a date, surely isn't dressed as so."

"What are you talking about son? Who are you looking at?" Toga walked over to see what had his son so interested in other people's lives.

Sesshomaru hadn't even realized he had spoken out loud, "Nothing."

"Isn't that Manten? He's on a date? Good for him. In all these years, I don't think I've ever heard or seen a girl in his life. About time. And look at her, she's stunning. Come look Inuyasha."

Inuyasha lazily walked over, his hands shoved in his pockets. He wasn't interested, but when he saw Kikyo he was captivated, "How did Manten manage that? She's way out of his league. I'd much rather be in there with her than having to be suffering with this awkward dinner we are going to have with your ex, old man."

Toga let out a hearty laugh and smacked both sons on the back, forcing them to take a step forward to balance themselves, "Now, now boys. We are grown men, act like it. Plus, Sesshomaru you are married. I've seen and heard how horribly you treat Kagura. That is not how a man acts."

How a man acts? Coming from that man who had a love child while he was still married to his mother. The very love child he detested more than anything. If it wasn't for his father being around, he wouldn't have been as acquainted with Inuyasha as he was. His father always insisted they become close. While both boys bared through all their "bonding" they never went down without a fight first. His boys, however, were no match for him though; Toga always got his way.

"Your table is ready sir, if you'd please follow me." Toga and Inuyasha quickly walked away, Yura's date straggling behind. Sesshomaru couldn't help but stare at Kikyo. Before his father noticed anymore he forced himself to walk away. It didn't matter if he was staring at her or not, she was on his mind now. How she looked. How the date was going. If she was going to go home alone or… He grinded his teeth together, fighting the urge of going in there and ruining their date. Kikyo had a future to worry about, she shouldn't waste her time on a secretary who had no drive or passion in life to be better.

{…}

"Manten, are you ok?" Kikyo turned around towards the entrance to see what he was looking at.

"Nothing, I could have sworn I saw someone I knew, but there's no way. Anyways, tonight was great. I appreciate you coming out with me. It's great to have another friend in the office."

Kikyo shifted nervously in her seat. She was never good at doing this. She owed the men she went out with nothing, but it always made her feel guilty to turn them down. "I'm glad you said that. Because I am glad I've made a friend in that office too. That's the point though, I'm just interested in being friends. I am not completely confident that you were pursuing something more, but I just wanted to clear that up for my own sanity."

Manten just stared at Kikyo with an expressionless face. Suddenly he started to chuckle, "Kikyo I am glad you want nothing more, because neither do I. You see, I feel like I've come to know your character quite well this last month, so I have complete trust in telling you this. I'm not into women. I have a partner. I do keep it on the low. I like to keep my love life private. I hope you understand."

Kikyo felt stupid, "Of course Manten. I am embarrassed for saying anything."

Manten reached across the table to rub the back of Kikyo's hand, "Don't be. I admit, I did flirt and mess with you, in an effort, to keep up the ruse of being attracted to women. I just didn't think I went too far as to give you the wrong impression. I apologize."

"Don't apologize. I am terrible with this kind of thing. I never thought you were trying to get with me, but I often have a horrible time recognizing what is and isn't there. It's a curse really. I had a great time though, please let's do this sometime again soon."

"We can make it a monthly thing; I'll even bring my guy around sometimes. Come on, let me walk you home. You live in the city close to the university, correct?"