SEVENTEEN

"What is that miko?" he prodded coldly as he watched the yellow-orange extract wash into the clear container when she pressed and twisted the orange on the equipment.

Kurenai looked at the daiyoukai, his face may be stoic but his eyes glowed with curiosity and it's adorable, "It's called a juicer. It's used to squeeze the liquid out of the fruit which we call juice in this time." After filling out two pitchers with fresh juice, she popped them into the fridge and walked over to the coffee maker pouring in ground coffee beans and water.

"Zodiac!" she called out as she walked away from the machine. Sesshoumaru stared in awe as the dog pressed something on the foreign object and got it to work.

"You've got quite an intelligent companion." he can't help but comment.

"He is." She began slicing an apple and cut a few small pieces, "Zodiac!" She tossed a piece in the air and the dog swiftly caught it, doing it a few more times before munching on her own share.

"Would you like me to toss you some?" she offered, stopping herself from smiling when he glared daggers at her.

"Are you expecting this Sesshoumaru to do the same thing he did?"

"Why not? It's fun! And at this distance, you just have to open your mouth and it will go right in." her eyes twinkled with amusement at the low growl resonating from the daiyoukai but she's smart enough to know not to push her luck too far.

The room fell silent with only the sound of slicing apples breaking it then a plate of sliced apples slid in front of the daiyoukai, "It doesn't feel right if I'm the only one eating."

Sesshoumaru caught a glimpse of her foot as she walked back to the other side of the kitchen island, he noticed the big, black shoe on her injured foot which he figured is helping her move around despite her injury.

"How's your foot?" he asked as Kurenai began peeling a carrot.

She glanced at her foot, "It's healing well. Thanks to this boot I can finally move around… with caution of course, 'cause it's still tender. How's the arm?" she asked back.

He flexed the fingers of his newly regenerated arm, "It's functioning properly miko." he heard a thud and looked up to see that she stopped what she's doing and has both her hands pressed on the counter one coiled around a knife while she glared at him, What is her problem?

She looked up the ceiling as if asking the Heavens for patience, "Can't you just…" she sighed, lifting and dropping her hand while shaking her head in frustration as she asked the daiyoukai, "call me by my name? It's not that hard is it? Your name is more of a mouthful than mine yet I say it everytime."

Despite appearing to be unaffected by Kurenai's impassioned speech, Sesshoumaru is actually quite amused seeing her infuriated towards him, the Lord Sesshoumaru and if he didn't know any better, he'd think that she's actually itching to use the knife in her hand against him. /I'd like to see her try./ he smirked inwardly, not letting his stoic face down.

But the woman is correct, she does deserve to be called by her name. Not just because she gave him his arm back. No, she didn't even mention that. She deserves it because of the strength of character and dignity she possessed that not many humans have.

"Very well... Kurenai." he let her name roll off his tongue and was caught off guard at the satisfaction he felt from the way her name sounded in his voice.

It also had significant effect on the owner of the name, she felt a thrill run down her spine hearing her name in his deep voice. It wasn't a chill from his cold way of speaking, rather an unfamiliar warmth tingling beneath her skin, something she's never felt before. What the hell? she thought.

"Th-That's good. Thank you." she managed to say as she fought to push her irregular feelings aside to concentrate on preparing a massive breakfast.

With both of them choosing to ignore the alien feelings shifting within them, Sesshoumaru and Kurenai kept mostly silent aside from when daiyoukai throws her questions about cooking equipment and cooking process.