Chapter 21: Happy Birthday

Sometime after pretending to ignore Sesshomaru I managed to fall asleep. I awake feeling well rested in knowing that I awoke somewhere safe, but the memories of last night are a bitter taste at the back of my mouth. I raise my body to glance at the digital clock on the nightstand. It is half past 1600 hours; I have managed to sleep all day long. Almost immediately I feel some restraint at my waist, and I get pulled back down to the bed. I turn to the culprit and come face-to-face with a sleeping instructor. He is fully dressed in grey slacks and a white button up dress shirt with a navy blue tie hanging loosely around his neck. "I thought that he was taking the day off," I muse to myself. "He's dressed up." Tentatively, I reach over to run my fingers down his cheek; his skin is nearly baby bottom soft. My gesture is rewarded with a small groan and being pulled tighter to his body. I feel embarrassed, but I cannot help but bask in the feeling of being wanted. I silently watch my rock as he sleeps, and I account each soft breath and every flutter of his eyelids.

All too soon his grip around my waist slackens, and I take this opportunity to slip out of the bed. I grimace at the grimy clothes I don, and (out of desperation, I swear) I make my way to his walk-in closet. I snatch a black button-up shirt and continue through the closet to end up in his bathroom. I slide the door shut, turn on the shower, and strip. The hot water feels amazing, and when I am ready I peek at my selection of soaps to use. "I'm going to smell like one sexy man after this," I muse lathering up then rinsing off. I laugh to myself as I try to imagine what Sesshomaru thought of when he showered at my place. In his deep voice: "I'm going to smell so pretty. Great." I laugh at that thought as I dry myself with his towel.

I slip on his shirt before neatly folding my clothes and setting them aside. "I'll have to find a bag for them later. Ugh… My mouth feels so gross." I feel like a snooper, but I am only going through his cabinets to find floss or mouthwash. "Let's see… Toothbrush, toothpaste… I should just use his. Ew, no. Floss! Bingo. Mouthwash? No, that's cologne. That would've been bad," I run through the list in my head and notice the bottle of cologne. With interest, I pick it up and read the label: Chrome by Azarro. I sniff the nozzle and immediately am engulfed by nostalgia. I feel like I am floating deeper into a safe zone and everything will be okay. I spray a little bit of it on the collar of his shirt so that I can carry the scent with me. Soon, I find mouthwash underneath the sink in a large bottle. I happily clean my mouth out before leaving the bathroom.

Sesshomaru is still asleep where I left him except he changed positions. Now he is on his back with his head turned slightly to the side. I wonder over to the side of the bed where he is laying and lean over him. In all of the stories I have heard there is always a scene where the protagonist is watching someone sleep, and they note how peaceful and beautiful they look. I reach out again to trail my fingers down the side of his face when his hand flies up and grabs mine. He slowly opens his eyes to look at me and offers me his usual barely there smile.

"I see that you've rested well and showered. You're also wearing my favorite shirt."

"Favorite, really? I never see you wear it."

"I only wear it on special occasions."

"Oops, sorry. I don't have anything clean to wear though."

"I went out and picked up a few things for you," he says getting up.

Sesshomaru strides over to two bags sitting on a chair. One is white with gold colored lettering and the other is a plain black. He hands me the white one first. I take it with a smile and sit on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you," I say pulling the gold tissue paper away from the top. My eyes open wide in shock at the garment I pull out: a gorgeous blue gown with a sweat-heart top and sheer straps. "Umm, Sesshomaru… Isn't this enormously too formal?"

"You do not like it?"

"I like it, but like I said…"

"It is appropriate for what I have planned tonight."

"Tonight? What is going on tonight?"

"You'll find out. We have to leave soon, and we're both not ready yet," he says grabbing the black bag from the chair. "I'll leave you to get ready here. I will wait for you in the living room."

I wait until the door closes behind him to stand up from the bed. I also find that there is something else in the white bag; matching strappy heels to go with the dress. I slip out of his dress shirt—briefly inhaling the collar where I sprayed his cologne—and slip in the dress. He does not have a body length mirror in his room, so I just go by my reflection in his windows. The dress fits me well and comfortably hugs all of my curves. The straps fall on the edge of my shoulder, and I find that there is a side split that stops mid-thigh on my left leg. I put the heels on and head out.

My steps slow to a halt when I see Sesshomaru sitting and waiting for me. He is as awed to see me as I am to see him. Whoever said that suits are to women as lingerie are to men is spot on. I feel like a princess seeing her prince for a first time and cannot stop the goofy smile on my face as he makes his way towards me. He takes my hand and, with the black bag in his other hand, leads me out of his penthouse to the elevators. In the tiny room I look at our reflections in the mirrors. I look so different in this gown; I look more mature and womanly. He does not look like a teacher anymore but a movie star on the red carpet. He is formally dressed in black dress pants and a black jacket. His undershirt is a dark red with black buttons, and he leaves the top two undone allowing me a peek at his chiseled chest. I feel his hand on my waist and he pulls me closer to him. I look up in time to meet his gaze before he turns his eyes forward.

"You are stunning, Sakura," he tells me before the elevator doors open.

We make our way across the lobby and out the doors. His car is already waiting in the front for us. We get in and he drives towards the harbor.

"Now are you going to tell me what is going on?"

"It's a surprise that will not be spoiled after what I went through to orchestrate it under short notice," he says with a mischievous grin. "You will find out soon."

Eventually we get to the piers where Sesshomaru parks in front of a large building that houses a restaurant among other things. I move to unbuckle my seatbelt, but he stops me from hitting the button.

"Wait," he says and places his fingers on my chin to keep me from looking outside. "Put this on."

He hands me a purple blindfold. After narrowing my eyes at him I reluctantly put the blindfold on. I hear him get out then after a moment the passenger side door opens. He unbuckles my seatbelt and takes both of my hands to help me out of his car. I wrap my arm around his and let him lead me to our mysterious destination. I feel a breeze hit when we enter the building. From the sound our shoes make on the floor I deduce that it is made out of marble. I hear what sounds like the dining area of a restaurant to my left. I also hear people say things like: "Look at the couple that just stepped in." "They're so cute." "Oh, that was us when we were young." "Momma, why is the lady blindfolded?" "Because that man is trying to surprise her, Momiji."

"Momiji? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Ah, Sesshomaru-sama. We have been expecting you."

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes, please follow me."

The clamor of the restaurant fades away as we walk. Another breeze hits and leaves me shivering. We are outside again, and as much as I appreciate the gown I would have also liked a coat. As if he could hear my grumbling thoughts, I feel Sesshomaru place his jacket on my shoulders.

"Be careful," he tells me and I roll my eyes under my blindfold.

"Says the man who has me blindfolded."

I hear a chuckle before stepping onto flooring that feels slightly wobbly.

"You are all clear, Sesshomaru-sama! I hope that the both of you enjoy your evening."

I hear our attendant walk away and Sesshomaru leads me again. We are in a room now. I can feel the warmth surround me and one last chilly breeze as a door is shut. I am lead once again to a chair. He helps me to sit down and I place my hands on the table in front of me.

"Can I take this blindfold off now?"

"Yes, now you can."

I pull the wretched thing off and blink a few times before my eyes adjust to the light.

"Oh my gosh!" the words fall from my mouth as I look around. The room we are in is dimly lit, and there is a candlelight dinner before me. To my left are windows that give us a perfect view of the ocean and the sunset.

"Surprise," Sesshomaru softly says to me. "Happy belated birthday."

I am rendered speechless. He smirks at my reaction and gets up. He grabs a bottle from the ice bucket next to our table and opens it. He pours the clear bubbly liquid into two glasses and hands me one.

"Umm…"

"It's alright. Tonight we are celebrating. You were born. You are alive. And in spite of all that you have been through, you are here—with me."

We clink our glasses and take a sip of the champagne.

"So this is what you did all day while I was sleeping?" I ask picking my chopsticks up.

"This, picking up clothes for you, and picking up your birthday present."

"You really didn't have to do all of this. My birthday already passed."

"And you didn't celebrate it."

I shrug.

"Sakura, birthdays are important. It's important to celebrate the day you came into this world. It's important to celebrate that you are still here. After last night—"

"It won't happen again," I interrupt him. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather not talk about that especially tonight when you want us to be celebrating."

"Sakura…"

"You're right, Sesshomaru. Birthdays are important, and I'm so happy with everything you have done for me today and this far. Really, thank you. Thanks for being here with me," I say grabbing his hand and apologetically rubbing his fingers with my thumb. "Can we talk about something else?"

He nods and reaches under his seat pulling out the black bag from before.

"This is for you. Open it now," he commands with a small smile.

I reach into the bag and pull out a box; a box to a Samsung Galaxy S5.

"Happy birthday," Sesshomaru says once again. "You don't have a phone and you may as well not have an email address. But with this I can reach you, and you can reach me too. Whenever you need me."

"Thank you, Sesshomaru. But I really don't want it to be easy for others to get a hold of me."

"Then don't tell them you have this. It can be just between you and me so that you can call me whenever you want to talk or if you need help and I'm not with you."

"Thank you," I say again holding back my happy tears. We finish dinner and Sesshomaru leads me to another part of the yacht. Thankfully, this boat was built so that a trek over the seas can be enjoyed while indoors when it is cold out. The next room is at the back of the boat. A large window dominates the opposite wall from where we enter, and in front of that is a loveseat that is wide enough for us to recline on. He turns the lights off so that we can see a better view of the lit up pier and then takes a seat next to me on the couch.

"Is this your yacht?" I ask him.

"No, I am just renting it for the rest of the week."

"Rest of the week?" I asked shocked.

"You and I both need a break. I have discussed this with your therapist, and she called the school to excuse you for the rest of the week. I told Kokubunji-sama that I am needed in Tokyo to take care of some family affairs."

"Sensai, are you playing hooky from work?" I playfully accuse.

"I am, and you are an accomplice now," he smirks and begins playing with my hair.

"What did you tell Yuzuki-sama?"

"I told her that you've been showing signs of exhaustion, likely brought on by your participation in the Cultural Festival, and that you should have ample time to recover before returning to school. She was quick to agree."

"Thank you, having time off does sound amazing right now."

"Indeed. You are very talented by the way. I did not know you could sing."

"I haven't in a long time. I miss it, and I miss my instruments."

"Why don't you pick it up again?"

"Hmm, I might. We'll see," I say and pause for a moment. "So, tell me more about your family."

"You seem to be very interested in my family."

"I just want to know more about you. Your family is a good start."

"And I want to know more about you. How about we make a deal: I'll tell you everything you want to know if you tell me everything I want to know."

"Sounds like a deal. You said that all of your family is in Tokyo. Do you ever visit them or do they come to visit you?"

"I went back to see them for the New Year's Celebration last year. Since then it has been nothing but a few phone calls here and there."

"Will you go back to see them this year?"

"It's up in the air. They might actually want to come down here to Osaka."

"They?"

"My father, step-mother, Inuyasha and his fiancé. How are you feeling right now?"

"I feel fine."

"Your parents' passing has an immense effect on you."

"I was very close with them," I timidly begin. "My grandparents passed before I was born, and mama and papa both didn't have any siblings. They were all I had, and I was all alone."

Sesshomaru's arms tighten around my waist, "I see. That is very unfortunate, but what of your friends?"

"I've had many friends growing up and many of them are now strangers. My little family was the only lasting thing in my life that I counted on lasting for as long as I lived…" It's getting a little difficult to talk about it, but we had a deal. "They were the only people I had faith in staying with me after so many had left. I was defeated after the accident. They were my parents and I was their daughter; I loved them as much as I could. I trusted them, and I felt safe and sound with them. But, they were the first ones to ever truly break my heart."

"Shhh… I'm sorry I asked," he says while whipping away my tears.

"You want to know what's worse than getting your heart broken? Trying to put it back together. I feel like I'm trying to fix a glass panel without gloves. I keep pricking, cutting, and stabbing myself," I wail and pull my knees to my chest causing the split to open and reveal my legs. "Maybe that's why I don't want to 'get better'. It hurts to try; I just hurt myself even more. I bleed even more, and if I'm not careful I break even more. I don't even know what to do anymore."

"Sakura, it will be okay," he says while rubbing my back. "Anything that is worth having is worth the struggle."

Hi guys!

Well, life happened and sorry I'm late. ;/ I'm sure you're all use to (and irritated by) my tardiness by now. Any who, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and can forgive me! So, to be honest I'm not sure when I'll update next because of two reasons: 1) I cut my hours at work, so I should have more time to write, but we'll see. 2) I haven't a clue on how to cross this bridge. The bridge? Oh, I'm really tempted to have some intimacy between Sakura and Sesshomaru next (bom-chicka-wow-wow), but do you guys want me to write out a scene or leave it to your imagination? Hmm, I don't really want this story to be smutty, but if I really think about it I can try and make it more decent. On the other hand wouldn't it be sweet if they waited longer?

Let me know! For real guys. I want to x all the y's right now (insert meme here), I need a push in one direction. Review, private message, or telepathically send me your thoughts (haha!)!

Until next time...