Chapter Sixteen: Ultimatum

Love withers with predictability; its very essence is surprise and amazement. To make love a prisoner of the mundane is to take its passion and lose it forever.

-Leo Buscaglia

Kagome frowned a little after Sephiroth, but that horrible spell that had been on her twice now, making her shiver and feel fear, was at least gone. "At least I didn't grope him anymore...he must think I'm a mental case spell or no spell."

She pushed that aside for now, listening to the people in the next room.

"Whoa, Sephiroth without his sword or armor...strange things are happening to the world." She heard a man with a average, if purposefully set in tone to be mischievous, taunting. "Here Rufus said you wouldn't be affected like others had been but look at you...wandering out to greet possible enemies without anything."

"You presume I'd need a sword to take care of you Reno." Sephiroth's voice was deeper, and it held a tone of threat that she immediately picked up, the same sort of tone she'd felt through his chest when she'd first been kid-napped by him. "I'm not giving you the girl, and as Rufus wants to toss about threats, I'll join in. You put anything in my apartment trying to effect me negatively again and next time I'll have my sword and be inclined to use it."

"If that's kidding it must not be that much different than the real thing for him."

She heard something hit the ground in a small thump, probably whatever Sephiroth had drug out of here, it appeared to be a box with a large orb inside but she'd only had a glance and it hadn't been a clearheaded one.

"Come on man." Reno seemed to give up the joking attitude just a little. "If we don't take her back it'll be our hides this time. Just be nice and let us hand the girl over. I don't think being the golden boy is going to help you this time, Rufus is more serious than I've seen him in a long time about this one."

It was quiet for a while and she wondered if maybe they'd left then Sephiroth spoke again. "Tell Rufus, if he wants to discuss it, to at least do it in person. I'm busy and if you or he or anyone cares to try to take the girl from me, they can do so after they've felt the Masamune. Get out of my apartment before I change my mind and stain my carpet with your blood. The stains are such a pain to get out I've resisted until now."

"Hey now, no need to get...Rude wait, stop pushing, I was going to..." What protests she heard were broken and then she heard the door close. Listening still but jumping when her door opened without having heard a single footstep from Sephiroth along the way.

She blushed a little again, it was hard not to look at him when he was barely dressed like that, and completely unfair considering how amazing he was even just to look at. She turned away to keep herself from giving into that particular temptation. "Those are people that you work for? Or with...the people that are giving you commands."

"Requests would be a better way of putting it." He replied, raising a brow at her turning away and then smirking a bit. "And they aren't commanding me at the moment. We've had a sudden falling out."

"Oh." Kagome knew it was awkward not to look at him but given her behavior over the past couple weeks she didn't want to press her luck. Instead she tried her question again. "Can you take me home then?"

"I'll consider it, but for now I would still prefer to wait." He replied, having returned after his moment of pride enjoying that she was attracted to him to searching for any other devices Rude or Reno could have planted here. "I'm curious however, what exactly can you do? You do have some sort of powers correct?"

"I guess." She sat on the edge of the bed, having a hard time looking at him to make conversation without letting her eyes wander as he bent or stretched to look through drawers or the closet. "I can sense things, like when people use powers and the like, I can still feel distantly some of the spells of my friends, but it's so far away I can't really pick out specific details. The Professor thinks I might have more but I haven't been able to tap into it yet."

"Nothing wrong with just enjoying something nice on the eyes Kagome." She told herself, it was hard not to stare with someone so gorgeous and half-naked for her visions consumption standing right in front of her.

"Hmm." The sound coming as he seemed to finish his search at the same time she wasn't sure if it was to her or to the room. It was only when he kept talking she realized it was for her. "There are ways of drawing out someone's power..." He considered her a long moment before shaking his head negatively. "...but I doubt you'd be interested in it. You still seem too green for that."

"Um..." She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer but asked the question anyway. "What does that usually involve?"

"Making someone uncomfortable, on a level they wouldn't normally deal with. But fear obviously doesn't matter or you would have reacted to the spell the two times you fell under it's sway. That's the most common way of drawing it out, you however, are very obviously not a common girl." He commented in such a way she knew it was a compliment and she blushed as he met her eyes knowingly after she'd finished a glance along his chest.

He'd watched her checking him out this time. She looked away from him to check the clock and cleared her throat. "God it's only 11AM. How am I suppose to survive a day of this?"

"It's all right." He commented before she could apologize again. "I don't mind if you look at me, most women appreciate my body, you are not alone."

She grumbled to her brain, giving herself a good mental kick in the pants. "Great, give the ego man a even bigger boost, like he needs it. You are just under a lot of stress and are reacting poorly to it, that's all."

"Can we watch a movie or something?" She managed to ask while keeping her eyes on his eyes and none of the rest of the visually appealing parts.

"If you like. I want to dress...some of the DVD's I have are here." He tapped a drawer before vanishing back into the bathroom.

She was glad to busy herself with something else, flipping through his wide selection curiously. Mostly action things but several comical ones she wouldn't have taken him as the sort for. Though it was wide enough it made her wonder how much time he spent outside of this small apartment. She pondered a couple romances but then pushed by, she didn't want that at the moment, her life was already the redheaded step child of romantic comedy. She instead picked out Kung-Fu panda, it was goofy enough and she liked it the one time she'd seen it before.

She carried the case with it toward the outside room, opening the DVD player to put it in and eyeing the row of remote's with hesitation. What one went to what she wasn't sure of and she didn't want to randomly push buttons, that never lead to anything good.

Though she found herself nearly leaping from her skin yet again when he leaned down next to her to pick up the correct one. He had the armorlike coat and shoulderpads back on and the impossibly long sword in sheath in the hand that didn't pick up the remote. "What is wrong with you?"

"You are too quiet! Don't do that!" She frowned at him having snuck up on her again. "I bet he's not even trying!"

"Would you prefer I stomp about like an oaf?" He asked, moving silently back to the couch and starting the tv before moving a switch at the bottom of the remote that seemed to control the DVD player then. "Are you ready?"

"Yes...I suppose." She nodded warily and took a seat next to him on the small love seat, it wasn't as if there was room to really sit somewhere else unless she wanted the floor, which seemed insulting so she took the open space next to him.

He watched her a long moment, making her swallow before he started the movie, raising a brow at it and as the movie progressed she found herself watching him as much as it. He seemed completely unimpressed with it, never laughed when it was funny, and only seemed to hold the vaguest amount of interest during the battle scenes.

It'd reached the point of the panda being beaten by the training field by the time she decided to ask. "You don't like it but you own it, why?"

"I didn't buy it." He pointed out immediately, as if worried she'd think otherwise. "Reno left it and several other movies in that case. I barely touch it, seems I'm justified."

"It's funny though!" She laughed at his attitude more than the movie. "It's a good movie, but if you don't like it you can pick something else instead, you watch a lot of them right?"

"I do, though I generally do so alone." He replied. "We can watch this."

"Not much point if you won't like it, gimme the remote." She reached over him to grab at it, frowning as he moved it out of her reach after dropping the blade he'd been holding the entire time to the carpet. He moved it further as she reached more. "Hey, come on, I'm trying to be nice so you aren't suffering the movie anymore for my sake."

"Shouldn't you be wanting to make me suffer for holding you here." He pointed out with an amused smile as she waved her arm ineffectually after his. His lips arching a bit more upward when she slipped and fell into his lap from her precarious leaning position. Her blush more than making up for the half hour he spent watching the pitiful film. She frowned though and reached forward more until he held his arm out further, grinning at her efforts as she reached all the way over him, one of her hands balancing her on his hip.

"Gimme the remote." She insisted, tugging on his sleeve ineffectually. "Gimme."

"I think I'm much more enjoying your struggle for it." He commented with the smile still in place. "I can watch a movie anytime, and this is far more entertaining."

She huffed in annoyance, blinking and blushing more as she realized just how much she'd leaned over him to reach for the remote, starting to move away but pausing as she felt his other arm curl around her. He was beautiful despite his great strength and she found herself trapped in those electric jade eyes and not quite willing to try to pull away. She could smell the musky soap and aftershave on his body and she found herself lingering longer than she should.

He pulled her closer before she had much time to think about it and she found herself absorbed in a demandingly powerful embrace. It wasn't as gentle as Ghaeleon or as obsessed as Lezard, but instead seemed to pull her into it and make her chase the demands as they were made. Her lips parting for his seeking tongue as she let out an almost purr when he curled his fingers into her hair and adjusted her head with more gentleness than she expected to make it easier on them both to breath. Her body easily moved on top of him after they'd continued kissing, she wasn't even certain how long they'd been at it when he broke from her slightly sore lip and began trailing kisses along her chin to her ear.

She found herself distracted tracing the perfect muscles of his chest, her eyes closed but easily able to picture it as her body tingled in response to the attention of his lips. She knew this wasn't right somehow, but it was certainly better than arguing over what movie to watch. The remote argument long forgotten as it hit the floor, freeing his second hand to rub her shoulder and caress her body along the side until his fingers were barely teasing her belly under her shirt. His teeth grazing the lobe of her ear.

She shuddered a little as his hands slipped higher, teasing over her nipple through the fabric of her bra. It was brazen but any protest was broken by his lips closing over hers again and she found thoughts of resistance quickly fading away.

Then the door was blown completely off it's hinges and she was behind Sephiroth so quickly she hadn't even had the chance to look at what had happened. She was wondering if her luck wasn't a blessing and a curse these days as she made sure her shirt was straight while glancing at the still smoking hallway. Feeling her abdomen turn a somersault as Sephiroth spoke, thinking the interruption more a curse for that split second.

"Rufus, do you think I'll allow you to get away with that." His deep baritone rever berating through her and making it a little hard to focus.

"Not about what you think." Rufus commented as the blonde stepped inside after Rude, Reno slinking in behind him. He held up a suitcase and tossed it to the floor. "Two million yen, as we agreed. I'm picking up the target in person as you requested. Unless you plan on breaking a contract...which I thought you did for no one."

"Things change." Sephiroth stated cooly, sword point following Rufus and blocking him from walking closer to Kagome. "You can keep the money. Consider this contract canceled as a result of your underlings attempting to trap my living quarters. Though I do expect you to pay for the damages."
"Yes." Rufus smiled at him pushing some blonde bangs back out of his face, though they fell immediately back to where they'd been. "I thought you might say that...but then, if you think about it...you'd of never known if she wasn't here and you weren't looking after her. Which, I might add, is completely out of character for you. You don't think she's using some spell on you? Really? Is it that good that it even dupes the great Sephiroth?"

"Or perhaps I simply should have waited until you were done with her. It's been sometime sense you laid with a woman according to my sources." Rufus added crudely. "I don't particularly care if you want to have your way with her after the others have had a chance to look her over."

"Not happening Rufus. Even if what you say is true, your reactions are incredibly stupid. As I said, the contract is over." He pulled Kagome closer to him with his hand that wasn't on the Masamune. "Perhaps it's time I jumped ship."

"Well. I thought it would come to this." He touched his collar and she could hear the slight static that accompanied a radio transmitter. "Plan A continues."

Kagome looked to the window as she noticed a humming sound, blinking at seeing a helicopter with two guns on it's bottom pointed at the glass windows of the balcony. She frowned a little and glanced back to Sephiroth.

"See." Rufus said with a nonchalant shrug. "I don't care if we have to kill her here or she comes with us, but even you aren't going to protect her from the amount of firepower that can come into this place with my command. Besides, you should have known, I always get what I want Sephiroth. Even if it's from you and your lone wolf persona."

"Kagome." Sephiroth leaned his head down to whisper to her as Rufus continued his speech. "Do you trust me?"

"Bad time to ask that...but I guess..." She commented, it seemed better than telling him no if he had a plan. He was the strongest magician she'd yet seen after all. She wasn't even sure what happened at first after she asked her question.

She knew she'd been moved, and it seemed as if all sorts of magic exploded around in her in quick succession, first some sort of magic to make him faster, as if he needed it, then lightning curled from his hand backward to crash into the helicopter making it arch off course as bullets lit into the side of the building and likely destroyed the other occupants and their possessions. In a single swing of the blade he cut two of the three men inside, grazing Rude, causing a more serious wound to Reno and only barely missing Rufus before he leapt out the window with her, more lightning arching into the already out of control helicopter before she couldn't see them anymore.

"You could have warned me." Kagome frowned. "What about those other people?"

She wasn't even sure her question reached him but from the rumble of a laugh in his chest she assumed so. "I am the only person living on the higher floors at the moment. There shouldn't be any outright casualties, they'll bring the copter under control before that happens."

"So now what? They obviously aren't happy with you and want me." She didn't want to ask why he'd decided to protect her but it was seeming more and more likely that Sesshomaru's story had been true, that something had cursed her somehow and it was effecting those around her.

"I'm going to get a bit away and then you'll call your friends and we'll see if something can't be worked out a bit sooner. If he wants you alive now then something must have changed." Sephiroth reasoned, landing them several miles from where they'd started and giving her the change for the public phone. "Be quick though, you'd be surprised how far that little weasel's grasp reaches."

End Chapter

So, a bit of Rufus, that cruel bastard hehe. Sephiroth being all awesome and such, some fluff/rawr times. All together I'd say a pretty full chapter.

-Aura