These chapters are not heavily edited so forgive the mistakes you might come across.
When Kagome ran into the bakery two hours late and drenched from the rain, the last thing she expected to see was Sesshomaru and one of his bodyguards sitting in the dining section. They seemed to have been having a conversation before her arrival. Golden eyes took in her appearance and her cheeks heated.
"Sessho-" She paused to correct herself, "Taish-"
"KAGOME!" Flinching at the angry yell she turned to find Kaede openly glaring at her. "You are late!"
Her student and his bodyguard were the only two customers in at the moment, so she offered them a short apology for interrupting their day before moving towards the employee locker rooms.
"Sorry Kaede-san, I wasn't expecting the rain." She smiled at the older woman.
"It is not me who you should hope to appease girl."
She winced.
Sango.
"For now, get changed and clean up the mess you made."
Nodding she changed into her uniform and pulled her towel dried hair into a bun. Grabbing a mop she headed back to the entrance where she made short work of her mess.
"I apologize if my dramatic entry interrupted your morning Sess- Taisho-san umm." Blue eyes turned to his companion. Looking up at her with expressionless yellow eyes the man nodded a short greeting, his pin straight black hair shifting slightly with the motion.
"Genkishi, Higurashi-sensei." His voice sent all kinds of warning signals through Kagome. Well he was a bodyguard, maybe that was his thing. Be so freakin creepy that it keeps people away.
"It was not a problem." Sesshomaru waved, "I was not aware you had other employment."
"Well it's not cheap living in the city." She grinned, leaning a bit on the mop. "One job is enough to cover rent, but you need more than rent money to get through the month."
"The distance between this place and the school is large." Genkishi added.
"Ah well I worked here first, but things happened and I got a place of my own and that meant needing more money so I found out the school was hiring and it was closer to where I lived. But enough about me. I don't see you as a purveyor of bakeries Taisho-san."
He pointed to the plates with small pieces of different kinds of cake, "We were tasting samples."
Blue eyes brightened, "Oh!" That's why Kaede was a bit upset, she was the person in charge of walking clients through samples. "Well then excuse me for a second."
She quickly deposited the mop in the back, and ignoring Sango's glare when she went into the kitchen to grab her clipboard and portfolio and made her way back to the two men.
"As the lead chef, I am in charge of all custom orders. I apologize for the wait Taisho-san, Genkishi-san."
Sesshomaru smirked at her change in tone, back to business it seems. To be honest when he had seen her in the western city that day he had assumed her presence here was more nefarious than working at a cake shop. He did not believe in coincidences, perhaps as a result of his occupation, but it had kept him alive and on top for this long.
The report had come back clean, so clean he was a bit disappointed.
"So have you decided on a flavor?" She asked, noticing that there were small bites taken from each piece.
A few minute later the basics for the cake were done. Now the fun part.
"What kind of occasion is this?"
"A birthday."
She set the binder in front of him, "These are some of my past designs, but I can always do something new. I am quite skilled." She flashed him a confident smile. She got up and took the sample plate, "I'll give you a few minutes."
Back in the kitchen Sango rushed her, "Do you know who that is?"
"He's one of my students."
"No offense but he seems too rich to be going to your class."
"Offense taken." She scoffed, "Maybe it's a humbling experience for him or something."
Sango shook her head, "Rich people."
Giggling she placed the plate in the sink and prepared two cups of tea before headed back out.
"Any ideas?" She asked.
"Flowers." Sesshomaru replied, pointing to a picture of a round cake with a pastel palette of colors. Flowers crowned the borders and elegantly scattered down the side.
She nodded, "I'm assuming you want happy birthday in the center, do you want an age or name on it?"
"Rin, ten."
She smiled as she wrote it down, "Your daughter Sesshomaru-san?" She received no answer but didn't dwell on it as she continued to asked basic questions before finishing. She saw Genkishi looking at his watch and let out a small laugh, "Didn't expect ordering a cake to be so time consuming?"
The man offered her a rueful smirk, "Not quite, we should be on our way Sesshomaru-sama."
Kagome walked them out and as they were pulling away in a black car, she realized she forgot to mention the bodyguard situation. She wasn't one to avoid conflict but there was a part of her that really didn't want to ask this of Sesshomaru. There was something about the idea that made her feel as if she was...imposing.
It was an issue for the school so it should be the administration taking care of it not her. She had no choice but to wait until the next class.
Of course when class began she found herself bombarded with six schoolgirls.
"Please it's my senior year, I need him to accept my love this year!" Makoto begged.
"I need to make chocolates that can survive a plane ride to Hong Kong." Sakura added.
"My boyfriend doesn't like sweet things." Rika said.
"Well my boyfriend loves sweet stuff!" Haru argued.
The arguments went round and round and she resigned herself to her fate.
"What a sad sight." Megumi sighed loudly from her seat. "You're all acting like chickens with their heads cut off."
All eyes turned to the doctor, Rika took a step towards her. "Unlike you Megumi-sensei, we want to be able to have a boyfriend."
Don't give in Megumi, Kagome silently prayed.
"What is that supposed to mean you brat!" Megumi lost her cool.
"You heard me, not everyone wants to be old and miserable like you!"
"Come one guys, no need to be so harsh." Sakura tried to calm down Rika, but only managed to become the source of her wrath.
"And you, why are you still going out with that guy from Hong Kong. How do you know he isn't cheating on you with his fiance!"
"Li-kun is not cheating on me! Sakura snapped back, "Why-"
"Higurashi-sensei!"
Fuck.
Silence crept around the room as Kagome turned her eyes to the door where a very upset Tachibana looked at her. The woman looked horrified.
"What is the meaning of this disruption!" The woman snapped, "I can hear your class squabbling from my own!"
"We were having a bit of a spirited debate over valentine's day chocolate." She weakly offered, "I apologize if we interr-"
"Outside!" The hag was turning red. "Immediately."
The teens sent her a guilty look as she offered them, what she hoped, was a comforting smile, before marching out to her death. Sesshomaru's army of bodyguards, including Genkishi were waiting outside the halls. That probably didn't help how mad the lady is with her.
She moved them at least fifteen feet from the closest bodyguard and glared at her, "Higurashi-sensei you have two jobs in this school, one is to teach and another is to keep order in your classroom."
"Well-"
"Do not interrupt. You are in charge of your classroom and what I saw in there was not you being in charge. Not only were your students stopping themselves from learning but also interrupting classes they are not in." Tachibana wasn't wrong, but it still pissed Kagome off. She did not deserve to be talked to like a child. "You also had another task put upon you by the administration, to ask Taisho-san to stop bringing his bodyguards."
"Actually about that, I don't feel comfortable doing that." She found the expression on the older womans face thunderous.
"Are you refusing a direct order from the administration!" Kagome wanted to roll her eyes, the order was from her not the school and her own temper was rising.
"My students have not complained." She calmly said, "I have a responsibility to teach my students and since the presence of these individuals has not affected them, I must say your students need better discipline." She was purple now, but before she could open her mouth to say anything Kagome began again, "Also, you have interrupted my class by barging in there and making my clients feel uncomfortable and since you are known to be formal, I expect a formal apology for my class. You have wasted their time and money by pulling me aside during class hours to have a talk, now if you'll excuse me I have work to do."
She didn't bother looking at her as she turned around and walked back into her room. When she closed the door behind her, she walked to her table and collapsed onto her stool.
She was going to get fired for this, oh god. Goodbye apartment with a balcony, goodbye apartment with a nice tub.
"Higurashi-sensei?" Looking up she found her entire class staring at her in concern.
"It's fine, we'll take care of it after class." she hoped. "Okay forget that happened," She slapped her face lightly before getting to her feet. If she was going to get fired then she would go all out today. "The recipe today is easy to make and easier to modify to fit what it is you want out of it. I can help you make it less sweet or more sweet based on the ingredients."
Class went by fine, there was some awkwardness around the beginning but slowly things got back to normal and everyone was having fun. After class she gathered her things and began the walk of doom towards the faculty office.
Genkishi came to his side as he stepped out into the hall, "That was an interesting session."
"Hm, women in love are ruthless." Sesshomaru said, with no small of amusement.
I want to thank everyone that reviewed on previous chapters. Keep them coming they keep me going.