THIRTY FIVE
Rin and Shippo slipped under Ren's arms as he held the glass door to Kurenai's boutique, Orphic along Lexington Avenue. The dark, luscious burgundy walls are offsetted by white ceiling and marble floors showered by plenty of light to showcase the clothing and accessories displayed in golden racks and glass cases. A prominent feature of the store's design is the white marble wall behind the counter with the name of the store in backlit silver chrome paneled by thin strips of mirrors arranged into a chevron pattern.
The staff and the few customers still in the store openly stared at them.
"Oh hey you two!" greeted the gorgeous woman with brown wavy hair and golden highlights behind the counter.
"Hi Sof." "Hey." Kurenai and Ren replied as the woman walked up to them, wearing a fitted grey turtleneck dress under a black cardigan and a pair of black ankle boots.
"My, my, so they're the talk of the town." Her eyes flared at the sight of the devastatingly handsome Sesshoumaru.
"They wanted to see the store so I brought them here," Kurenai said. "Guys, this is Sofia, the store's manager. Sofia, these are our friends, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Sesshoumaru…" she pulled the kids gently towards her, "and my unofficial adopted kids, Rin and Shippo."
"Pleasure to meet you." Sofia snapped out of her hypnotized state and smiled, her dark brown eyes that looked at Sesshoumaru bore desire which didn't go unnoticed by the daiyoukai…nor the very observant Ren.
"Oh Sango, feel free to look around and get anything you want." Kurenai told her friend, completely unaware of the heated gaze her store manager is throwing the daiyoukai.
Sango shook her head frantically, "Oh, Kurenai I can't possibly…"
"Don't sweat it. Just take what you like okay?" she insisted, "If I have something here for the guys and the kids, I would've told them the same but we only have women's clothing and accessories here."
"It will make peaches very happy if you wear stuff from her store." Ren added and the demon slayer just can't say no, she began gingerly scanning through the racks of clothes with the kids trailing curiously behind her.
The men also dispersed throughout the room, inspecting the products of Kurenai's passion and creativity.
The clothes reflect the miko's personality; strong, edgy and enigmatic laced with femininity and are made with the finest materials. She incorporated her Japanese heritage in many of the pieces; some of the black leather jackets are embroidered with a golden dragon or a tiger in Japanese style art, and shirts painted with abstract geisha or kabuki warrior art. There's even a mannequin at the huge window display dressed in a lightweight black kimono robe with a Torii gate art.
Sesshoumaru gravitated the most to a midnight blue silk haori on one of the mannequins inside the store that's printed with a light gray crescent moon hovering over delicate wisps of clouds.
"Oh, that's a bestseller and one of sis's favorite pieces." The daiyoukai's head turned to face Ren who sat on the round gray velvet ottoman in the middle of the store, "The women in our mother's side of the family had an affinity for the crescent moon and each of them owned a cherished jewelry in that shape."
Sesshoumaru's elegant fingers traced the silken image of his insignia, "Does your sister have one?"
Ren had to hold back a grin at Sesshoumaru's display of interest towards his sister, "She doesn't have her own jewelry, but she inherited our great grandmother's sapphire and diamond crescent moon hairpin."
The daiyoukai felt a pinch of disappointment that Kurenai didn't feel the need to possess her very own crescent moon jewelry.
{That's a shallow way of confirming whether she's meant for us.} His beast crept into his annoyingly irrational thoughts.
/This Sesshoumaru is aware, but the crescent moon is such a revered symbol to us, you can't blame me for wanting her to feel some appreciation for it./
"But…" Ren added, "She does have a crescent moon tattoo between her left collarbone and shoulder. The very first tattoo she got when she turned nineteen."
The daiyoukai's eyes flared visibly and his eyes darted to Kurenai's clothed shoulder. His disappointment replaced by his heart pounding in his chest, knowing that Kurenai has such a cherished connection to a symbol that is synonymous to his noble lineage, his identity, that she chose to be marked with it permanently.
{How's THAT for appreciation?} The beast chuckled before retreating back to the recesses of the daiyoukai's mind.
Ren dipped his head towards his phone to hide his grin at the shift in the notoriously cold Sesshoumaru's behavior. He's keen to see how the interesting dynamic brewing between the daiyoukai and his sister develops.
Oblivious to Sesshoumaru experiencing an emotional tidal wave towards her, Kurenai walked with Sofia to one of the racks after checking the sales reports.
"The sales are beginning to pick up for summer items, especially the kimonos." Sofia pulled an oversized black cotton denim button-down off the rack.
Kurenai rubbed the denim fabric between her fingers, "Well it's almost that time of the year and the kimonos are a year-round hit, but even more so during summer." She looked down at the vibrating phone that should be in her assistant's hand and it greeted her with four emails on top of the over thirty that remained unread after she squeezed going through the inbox during car rides and hair and makeup.
Sofia's eyes caught the drop-dead gorgeous silver-haired guest taking a seat beside Ren and she leaned over to her boss and whispered, "Hey boss."
"Hmm." Kurenai hummed distractedly, her focus on having a clean inbox before leaving the store.
"The silver-haired hottie with you, is he taken?"
Her thumbs froze over the screen, "Which silver-haired hottie?" Kurenai's eyes searched for the guys and found all of them now sitting on the ottoman.
"The taller one." Sofia grinned not knowing that her boss felt a twinge of disappointment realizing that her store manager's got the hots for the elegant daiyoukai.
"Well..." she started hesitantly, "I don't think Sesshoumaru has anybody at the moment but I should warn you, he's a bit intense."
"Intense can be a good thing my dear." Sofia winked at her.
Kurenai smiled and shook her head at the suggestive comment, "I didn't mean THAT. He's a little unsociable that's all."
"I always love a challenge." Sofia insisted.
Before Kurenai can think up a response, her personal phone rang and it's a call she can't ignore so she gave Sofia what she thought was the right response,
"Go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you," regret washed over her the moment she said it but Kurenai chose to ignore it and answered the phone.
Sofia glanced at her form in the mirror and gave her hair a quick comb and smoothed down her dress, making sure she looks her best in front of the exotic hottie before approaching the men in cat-like strides.
Ren, Miroku and Inuyasha had a little conversation going before Sofia approached them.
"It's a little unsettling when you're this quiet my friend." Miroku nudged at Inuyasha's shoulder, "It was hard to sit next to you during dinner."
"Just leave peaches to cool off a bit, Inuyasha. She will never stay mad at you but you really hit a nerve," Ren tried to comfort the disgruntled hanyou, "We had people accuse us of being handed our success because THE Ethan Walry adopted us and hearing something similar coming from you hurt more than others."
"Nngh." Inuyasha's heart dropped to his stomach.
"Oh hi Sof," Ren said as she stood in front of them.
"Hey, I just want to know our guests a little better." She charmingly began, "What do you guys think of the store?" the question was phrased for a group but her eyes were transfixed to only one daiyoukai.
Miroku replied to her inquiry, "It's very elegant and it's remarkable to think that Kurenai is behind all this."
"Yeah, the boss puts a lot of work on this project and is very hands-on," she smiled despite the disappointment that Sesshoumaru didn't engage in the conversation.
Sesshoumaru didn't pay attention to the woman in front of them because his golden eyes are focused on a different woman, THE woman who is busy pacing around the store with a thoughtful look on her face while talking on the phone.
Sofia did not give up, "It's your first time in New York right? How do you find it?"
"It's quite a contrast from LA, very industrialized and crowded, but it's so lively and dynamic." It's still Miroku who's interested to respond, even Inuyasha gave no response, too distraught with his current standing with Kurenai.
"Yeah, it does feel a bit crowded but it's also a place where a lot of high ambitions are achieved," Sofia replied and decided to pull the daiyoukai into the conversation herself. BIG MISTAKE. "How about you sir? What do you think of New York?"
Sesshoumaru finally acknowledged Sofia but not in the way she wanted, "This Sesshoumaru does not see the relevance in giving you an opinion since someone has already provided their insight." he replied coldly.
Sofia blushed at the blatant refusal, Kurenai wasn't kidding! The man is intense as he is handsome. He doesn't hesitate to show his displeasure towards someone, even a woman and she has a feeling that she shouldn't mess with him.
"O-oh... You're right." Sofia's eyes shifted nervously, "Please excuse me, that customer needs my assistance."
Ren and Miroku winced as they watched Sofia shuffle towards a customer that doesn't seem to need help.
Sorry Sof, you're stunning and have a great personality but this guy's got it bad for my sis. Ren silently apologized on behalf of the daiyoukai.
Kurenai wandered over, still on the phone and unaware of what just happened, "Let me send you one of my contacts in Italy. She's worked with some of my clients and they're very happy with the pieces she curated for them." The other phone beeped in her hand and she skimmed through the message.
"Mm-hmm… Sorry what?" she leaned into the phone in her ear, "Yeah, I'll include her website and Instagram account so you can assess her portfolio before—" Kurenai jumped when a hand eclipsed the phone she's staring at. Looking up, her heart drummed at finding Sesshoumaru's face inches away from hers.
She sucked in a breath under his molten gaze and the sensation of his fingers trailing over her skin. His hand felt surprisingly warm as it coiled around her wrist in a firm yet gentle hold that sent sparks through her body.
'Kurenai? Are you still there? Hello?" the person on the other line echoed.
She blinked out of his spell, "I'm here, sorry. Where were we?" she said and watched bewildered as Sesshoumaru carefully pulled the other phone away, 'What are you doing?' she mouthed, not understanding what's going on but the daiyoukai just nodded at the phone in her ear, telling her to finish the phone call, which she did despite her head being in shambles.
Sango froze and blushed upon stumbling on the scenario when she peeked out the fitting room curtain while Ren and Miroku had to hold a furious Inuyasha down despite being stunned themselves.
"Inuyasha, calm down. He's just helping her focus on the phone call." Ren whispered at the trembling hanyou.
That's not what it looks like to Inuyasha, his half-brother's too close to Kurenai and the intimate way he's touching her… how she responded to him… "Bastard… Helping my ass." he grunted.
Kurenai glared at Sesshoumaru after hanging up the phone, "What's that all about?" the daiyoukai's been out of character recently and it's throwing her off balance and she doesn't like it.
"You can't carry on doing multiple things at once all by yourself," the daiyoukai said. He can't bear watching her juggle ten things at a time on top of taking care of all of them. She does an exceptional job but amidst the big, sweet smiles, he'd sometimes catch her with a cornered look on her face.
Kurenai huffed and ran her fingers through her hair, "Well, that's how we strive in this era and right now, I'm my own assistant."
"And I'm telling you that I will be your assistant." The declaration made their jaws drop and their eyes almost popping out of its sockets.
"No. No way. You? Work for me? No. Not gonna happen." Kurenai shook her head and grabbed the phone off his hand.
"Peaches, come here for a second." Ren walked a few steps away and his sister followed, standing unnerved in front of him.
"Ren…"
"Peaches, with our situation right now, his proposal might be our best bet," he murmured and she desperately shook her head. Ren smiled, for the first time in their lives, Kurenai actually looked like the little sister and he, the mature older brother.
"People serve Sesshoumaru, Ren. Not the other way around. Can you even imagine him taking care of my social media activities?" Kurenai hissed, "And speaking of social, he's not exactly fond of people, I can't have him scaring everyone away."
Ren flinched inwardly at the memory of Sesshoumaru's harsh rejection of Sofia, but he has a feeling that if it's for his sister, the daiyoukai will work on that brutally sharp tongue of his.
"Well none of us dreamed of seeing him fold his clothes and yet you convinced him to." He pointed, "He offered to work for you, I'm sure he knows what he's getting into. He's a fast learner and we won't have to worry about one more stranger learning our situation."
Kurenai glanced at the daiyoukai while weighing her brother's words and after a few moments, she closed her eyes and sighed before reluctantly approaching Sesshoumaru.
She handed the assistant phone to him, "Miguel and I will start teaching you once we get back to the hotel." She saw a triumphant glint in Sesshoumaru's eyes as he reached for the phone but she snatched it away, the daiyoukai looking up confused,
"Being my assistant means you'll help build and maintain my business and personal relationships. You'll be interacting with people, some of them may annoy you but you can't snap at them like you usually do," she warned, "Only take this phone if you're certain you can carry out this task on top of many other things." She lowered the phone within his reach.
The daiyoukai nodded and resolutely took the phone, surprising everyone for his willingness to work for somebody, especially in a job that requires patience towards humans.
"Kurenai, you can't be serious." Inuyasha objected.
The red eyes that looked at him were impassive, "With the current situation, I have to take all the help I can get Inuyasha."
The hanyou clenched his jaw because he can't argue with that. He also doesn't want Kurenai to struggle with her workload and personal issues. It just frustrates him that HE can't be more of a help to her.
Kurenai looked up at Sesshoumaru, "Thank you for offering your help, really." her red eyes welled with gratitude and relief and it made the daiyoukai all the more glad that he did what his gut told him to do because she actually needed him. Well maybe not him specifically, but he'll gladly be the hand that reaches out to her.
"Oh Sango, I love this on you!" Kurenai went to get a closer look at Sango in an off-white sundress with bare shoulders, printed with dark red chrysanthemums and compliments from Ren, Miroku and the kids rained on the demon slayer.
Sango's fashion show continued with two more outfits Kurenai chose for her before they finally headed back to the hotel and Sesshoumaru began his lesson on being Kurenai's assistant.