Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Well, my newly acquired writing partner MJ, (a rare purple chicken most generously given to me by Meijer Brand) and I have completed another chapter, or rather, I completed the chapter whilst MJ pecked at Bruce's eyes when he tried to interfere…. I knew a purple chicken would come in handy!

Chapter 14 – Sesshoumaru's Revenge

Sunday on the front page of the Times Sesshoumaru was confronted with a picture of himself holding Kagome in his arms under the banner title "Sesshoumaru Taisho, On the Prowl?"

"What the hell?" he bellowed. He read the story which mentioned how he had been to nearly two dozen clubs Friday night and early Saturday morning, drinking at each one, though never speaking to anyone till the last where he had asked a girl to dance and been turned down. The article speculated that this sudden and odd behavior could possibly be a sign that he was out looking for a woman. Why else would a guy go to 22 bars in one night? And not just any woman either, the article said. After all, many women of 'questionable repute' had propositioned the angelically handsome inuyoukai, but he had rejected all and only spoke to a woman whom the author was sure was not 'of that kind.' It detailed how he had saved her from a drunk, only to be jilted a minute later in favor of another 'tall and devilishly handsome youkai.' It further read 'Perhaps this lovely young lady was not aware of just who she was turning down. Then again, it may be that after ordering nearly two dozen drinks our favorite taiyoukai looses some of his charm."

"I was not drunk!" he snarled out loud. "I didn't even touch the majority of the drinks I ordered!"

Not only that, but the story continued on an inside page where they had pictures of him at every single bar and club, each showing him sitting either drinking or with one on hand. This was not good! He had always managed to avoid the press, knowing that keeping them at bay also meant keeping the raging hoard of hormonal groupies away as well. With this stupid article every girl, woman, and most likely a few men, were going to be after him to let them know they would be willing to go out with him since he was obviously out looking for something. 'But how did they get so many pictures? How is it that they were at every single place? Why did I not see them? They would have had to been concealed in some way…' And then suddenly, it hit him.

"Kagome!" he growled. Only she knew the order and name of each of their destinations. She had planned this whole thing! She'd set up some kind of media ambush and he'd been completely oblivious! The attention, hassle and headaches this whole episode was going to bring upon him seemed limitless. 'She will pay!' he swore to himself.

After having ordered Jaken to look after Rin for a while he used his demonic powers to get him to the Higurashi shrine in mere minutes. He wanted to melt the door, and rip the house apart until he could find Kagome and deal with her, but he would not disrespect Mia by doing so. Using every ounce of control he possessed he rang to doorbell instead.

When Mia answered with a smile on her face he didn't have time to say anything before she began. "Come in Sesshoumaru, but you're already too late." She gestured to a seat which he took, never letting his stoic mask fall. "Kagome has taken Shippou camping for the last week before school starts, after which I am afraid to say she will be staying in a condo in town. She had movers take her things yesterday and she's having me supervise the furnishing and decorating of the place while she's away. She gave me several catalogues with the kinds of things she liked, and has even ordered some, but I get to have the pleasure of putting everything together for her while she's away. It should turn out lovely, really. Tea?" She asked, extending a cup out to him. She could feel his anger, but it amused rather than frightened her. She knew it would happen like this…it had only been a question of when.

"Do you know what she has done?" he asked with apparent calm, but in reality he was still fighting the desire to shred things, particularly things which took the form of disrespectful young mikos. Especially the ones with long black hair, eyes that changed color, and a form which happened to fit perfectly in his arms as he… 'FOCUS TAISHO!'

"Yes, my dear Sesshoumaru-sama," Mia replied, not missing the ways his concentration seemed to leave momentarily. Pretending to ignore this uncharacteristic lapse she continued. "Kagome is quite the wily one when she wants to be, and I'm afraid she did not take kindly to you keeping Jakotsu at work when they had plans to go to a concert. So instead she went with Yamatsu Erri, a columnist for the Times and high school friend. I believe you are fully aware of the results from that," she chuckled.

"She did this because of a concert?" Sess asked incredulously.

"Oh yes, she didn't mind you thwarting those job interviews, she never intended on working for any of those people anyway," Mia smiled complacently.

"So she did know I was watching through the security camera. She fed me those places to see if I'd make a move against her?" he asked the woman across from him. She nodded. "And she somehow set up photographers in 22 places and managed to keep their presence from me as well?" She nodded again. "It seems your younger daughter is more conniving than I have previously given her credit for," the cool youkai replied.

"Yes, be glad you got off so easily. She has not been so kind to others who have crossed her. I think she held back on you because she did set you up," Mia conjectured.

"I do not think you and I share the same appreciation of the situation. She has made a move that will disrupt the peace of my household for weeks to come. Surely this is not, 'getting off easily' as you chose to phrase it, Mia-san." His arms were folded tightly over his chest, showing the woman he was speaking with he had no intention of feeling grateful.

"The last person who inspired her wrath was a young man working for Michael Peters," Mia explained. "He was a field operative transfer who had come back from an extended mission and, not knowing Kagome's rank, insulted her and I believe made comments about how little girls should leave the real work to the big boys, along with several other crude remarks."

"What happened to him?" Sesshoumaru asked, knowing it would not be pleasant.

"He somehow ended up with a giant tattoo of a provocatively dressed drag-queen and the words 'I Love Bubba-Sue' on his chest, much to the horror of his girlfriend. In doing so Kagome never lied, cheated, or threatened anyone. She's just that good at making things turn out how she wants them too."

"Hn," Sess replied, easily imagining some cocky young field officer blushing sheepishly in the locker rooms as everyone would make fun of him for falling into some girl's trap. This tattoo would add insult to injury as it would put the field operative on desk duty for months while he underwent cosmetic surgery and possible healing treatments to remove it. No one who was supposed to blend in could have a mark like that on them, its uniqueness would make him too identifiable.

"I also think she held back on you because she likes Rin," Mia mentioned casually. "And since Rin is such a delightful girl, she finds it hard to believe you are one hundred percent evil."

"You find this amusing, don't you?" he asked appalled.

"More than even you can guess," she smiled as he made to leave. "Oh and Sesshoumaru, not that I would ever dream of advising you, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that looking for Kagome while she is out camping would be quite futile. I think it'd be best to wait till she returns and then catch her at parents' night or some such place."

"She has enrolled Shippou in the same school as Rin?" he asked. It would be amazing if she did, seeing as how he sent Rin to one of the most exclusive and expensive private school in the city. Someone without a job shouldn't be able to afford that, but then he remembered her racing and the 'wads of cash' she was coming home with. Yet that alone would not account for the fluctuations in her aura. What was that girl up to!

"Yes, she did. She told me to tell you she hopes to see you at the PTA meetings," Mia laughed aloud as the demon made his exit. She paused for a second, weighing something her mind. Then, deciding to act she called out "Sesshoumaru-sama, please come back for a moment." The demon raised his eyebrows in question but returned to his former position in the living room. "I usually have a strict policy of non-interference where my children are concerned, but I think at this time that I should break my own rule."

"What is it that you hope to accomplish by doing so?" the puzzled demon asked.

"I know, perhaps better than even you, what my daughter is, and knowing her as I do means I am also aware just how imperative it is she does train with you." Mia could see the smug look in his eyes despite his face remaining cool. "But forgive me, it will take too long for you to get her to agree with this and I fear what could happen in the interim so I'm going to give you a few hints. Should you chose to follow them is of course entirely up to you."

Sesshoumaru was slightly angered at the idea of someone presuming he could not get a young girl to do what he wanted, a human girl at that. Then again, the reason he was sitting in this living room was that said girl had just out maneuvered him, for the second time, and after a trusted friend had warned him on multiple occasions not to underestimate her. Perhaps listening to these hints could just go under the heading of 'conducting proper reconnaissance.' Yes, that worked. "Go ahead," he said aloud.

"You must engage Kagome on her own field. At this point trying to draw her onto yours will get you nowhere. Play her game for a few rounds and leave the physical fighting out of the equation for a time. Get to know her a bit better and I believe you will find one or two ways of making the next move."

Sesshoumaru nearly growled in frustration. "Getting to know Hando is not as easy as it should be since she and Peters seemed determined to keep so much of her history and abilities from me."

Mia nearly laughed. "True, Kagome is good at keeping things to herself, but you are speaking with her mother at the moment and I believe that I am a rather good source of information on the subject."

The demon smirked. Finally he was going to make some progress. "Ah yes, thank you for pointing that out. I do have some questions I would like answered…"

For the next hour Mia answered a few of his questions and provided information she thought he would need. Although he was no where near satisfied, and she had refused to explain some of what he was most interested in, he had at least finally learned the secret behind her ring scar and name. Understanding, and an unexpected amount of pity rose for the girl. Truth be told, the story angered him, and more than anything else had that morning. That a miko, and even worse a Gaean miko, could be manipulated and betrayed in such a manner was infuriating to the taiyoukai. Had he been involved he would not have given Stanton such a quick and painless death, and he wondered how Hando could be so contained.

He also learned how devoutly attached she was to Shippou. When she adopted the kit she had taken it upon herself to see that he was trained in self defense as well, and the two spent countless hours together working on building his skills and even fighting as a team. Mia even hinted at Peters coming off badly in a situation where he'd challenged the two of them.

There was still a lot to do and learn, but he felt more confident of his eventual success than he had this morning. When he realized he would get nothing more from Mia he made to leave. "Good day, Higurashi-san," he intoned. As he walked away he began to try and think of a new plan. He had about 10 days until the parent's night at the school, and Mia had admitted, among other things, that Kagome was fond of Rin. 'Well who isn't' he thought to himself. Rin was a being of sheer joy and happiness. Everyone loved Rin, even that ridiculous toad Jaken, though he refused to admit it. So perhaps he could use this knowledge to his advantage. But how? He would not exploit his ward, so he'd just have to figure something else out. Perhaps he could orchestrate another meeting before the night at their children's school. Yes, perhaps a neutral family dinner, or at the very least a seemingly neutral one. Just then his cell rang. It was Peters.

"I told you not to underestimate her Sesshoumaru," the American stated, his voice dripping with smugness. "You told her how much you hated reporters didn't you? I warned you to watch what you said didn't I?" He was really trying to rub it in.

A brief flash back of Kagome's first day entered his mind.

-Flashback-

"I will acknowledge that I find the press despicable, and I will also take this opportunity to warn you that when I am near you, or when we are required to be in each other's company for family functions, I had better not find any reporters or photographers about by your invitation. Doing so would be grounds for suspension or perhaps dismissal."

"I would never dream of it sir," she responded comfortably, though she still had that glint in her eye.

-End Flashback-

'Damn! I handed her that one on a silver platter!' he fumed. Sounds of Peters singing "I told you so," broke into his thoughts. "Shut up!" the demon barked back as his anger and sense of retribution from earlier in the morning returned full force.

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Kagome and Shippou stood loaded down with camping gear as they stared open mouthed at their new home.

"Wow," mumbled Kagome. The apartment looked like it could have been in one of those better living catalogues. The style was a kind of modern art deco, with simple and elegant furniture, crown molding, dark hardwood flooring, and walls done in rich, but not overpowering colors. The entryway was in an open area between the kitchen, which sported windowed cabinetry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and the dining room. The former included a nine piece dining set made of glass and iron with a matching chandelier and standing candelabras, all of which had beautiful vine and leaf embellishments and patterns. Through an archway was the living room area that boasted Italian leather sofas, built-in sconces and a huge flatscreen TV with a surround sound home theater system. Through four sets of French doors a balcony stretched from one side of the room around to corner of the building to the other, with hanging baskets of flowers and potted plants.

"Totally," responded Shippou. "Grandma did an awesome job!"

"No kidding," Kagome said, nearly breathless. She was really glad she had decided to splurge and have her mother get nice things. She'd wanted to make a beautiful home for her and Shippou, and had put herself out on a limb to do it. Sure it meant giving up something else she had been wanting for nearly two years but she could wait a little while longer. She'd had Shippou's tuition for the next three years put aside, her motorcycles, a fun but not too fancy car already bought and paid for, and fifty thousand dollars set aside which she always maintained. The latter wasn't a large fortune but it was enough to cover her should anything horrible or unexpected happen. Right now she'd only have living expenses to pay so it wouldn't be hard to save if things kept up at their current rate. Maybe later tonight she'd get online and take a look at the prize she had sacrificed for her new home, that is if her mother had already had a service set up for her, which she didn't doubt. "Hey kid," she said to her kit, changing her line of thought, "let's check out our bedrooms!"

"Yeah!"

They dropped their gear in a hall storage closet and went to inspect their rooms. Shippou's was done in forest greens with rustic looking pine wood furniture and a window that had a view of the park below. All of his toys and clothes were already there and put away, but she knew everything would be strewn around the now spotless room before he went to bed.

Kagome's room was a bright Mediterranean blue with white furniture. Vases of purple flowers along with elegant mirrors and silver lamps gave the room a fresh feminine feel. Attached to the room was a private balcony, a large walk in closet and her own private bath. She crossed her fingers before flicking on the lights hoping that her mother had…YES! The bathroom was a vivid shade of crimson with black and white fixtures and not only a spacious shower that had four heads but a large whirlpool tub as well. It was exactly what she had wanted.

The apartment also had a large bathroom for Shippou and any guests, various storage closets, and a study which did hold a computer with internet access, along with a small library. Among the books lining the floor-to-ceiling built in shelves were those on biology and anatomy, psychology, medicine, alchemy, history, legends, motor vehicles, and oddly enough, a large collection on music, composers and actual sheet music. Strangely the study/den was fairly large, but everything was kept to one side leaving a large open space. Kagome smiled knowing why her mother had left it like that, and became even more excited to look online later.

Back in the kitchen they saw that their fridge and cupboards were already well stocked. Everything was so perfect, and wonderful! She picked a nearby phone to call her mother and thank her. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought about how much time and effort her mother must have spent to get this whole place done in a week.

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The conversation with her mother was both satisfying and horrifying at the same time. She was happy to hear her mother's voice after being gone all week, and gladly took down the number of her answering service and passwords, but she had been shocked to learn that her mother had let Sesshoumaru help with the process of finishing her home. Her excuse had been that he had come to pay a visit and found her helplessly engrossed in order forms and catalogues, and so he had offered some help contacting reputable workers and storehouses, and she simply couldn't refuse. She also informed Kagome of a previously unscheduled dinner with the demon she'd have to attend the next day.

It made Kagome nervous to know the demon lord would have so much knowledge about her home, but it was really beautiful and done just to her tastes so she couldn't complain. Besides, it was awfully big of him to help her after she'd been so subversive to him with that whole newspaper business. Then again he was going to be family. She sighed, she wasn't sure what to make of Sesshoumaru. For the past two weeks, before her birthday and then while camping, she had been honing her skills. Skills which although the taiyoukai knew nothing of, she was sure he would be able to help her develop. She knew she'd have to cave eventually, but for the moment she was doing fine, and she had no intentions of trusting her kind of abilities to one she still knew so little of despite the family connections. She needed to get to know him better before she let him see what she could do. Then again, at the wedding some of those 'skills' she'd been practicing were going to be thrown out in the open anyway. She'd really expected him to track her down out in the woods and at least have a good shouting match with her, but he'd never come. His lack of retaliation bothered her. It seemed too…too easy. Briefly her thoughts flickered back to the night of her birthday, and the way his arm felt as it held her back against him. 'Aargh! No Kagome, bad! No thinking of lethal, domineering control freaks like that!' she inwardly chided herself. But truth be told, his purpose had not been to dominate in the moment he held her. Her ring scar had actually settled down whilst she was in his firm, strong… 'ACK! NOOO!'

After hanging up with her mother she called her answering service to make sure it was working, though she highly doubted she'd have any messages yet. The only people who knew her new number were her family, and they'd known where she was and had her cell number. That being the case, she was floored when the automated voice informed her she had 97 messages. "There must be some kind of mistake," she said aloud. She pressed 1 to listen to her new messages.

"Hey, um, this is Taki and I was just calling in response to your add. You must be a very bad, bad girl. But it's all good since I'm such a goody-two-shoes that I'm sure you'll love to, ah, give me some of your demands. This is my number, call me…"

That was odd and disturbing. She deleted the message and listened to the next.

"Hey baby, this is Koji and I just have to tell you I think that whole dominatrix thing is way cool Kags, call me at this number and I'll let you have your way, anytime."

"Okay that was creepy! That guy actually knew my name," Kagome mumbled, blushing a bit. After a few more messages it became apparent to her that she was supposed to have put some kind of personal add out in the paper last Tuesday and all these voicemails were responses! She deleted all of them, steaming with anger by the end. Marching into her study she looked up the paper's website and soon found 'her' ad. It read:

"Highly demanding SF, 22, seeks sissy mama's boy type who has no opinions and will let me have my way. In return I'll use every inch of my stubborn, narcissistic but still VERY sexy, five-five, tempestuous frame to make sure it's worth your while. Call Kags at…"

'WHO IN THE WORLD!' she mentally bellowed. 'Would Inuyasha do this? No, no it's my turn to do something to him in our prank war since he left that fish to rot in my tennis shoe. So if it's not Inu, then…' She paused briefly as realization hit her. "SESSHOUMARU!" She screeched so loudly that even though Shippou had the volume on his video games up he still came running, fearing his mother was experiencing a painful death.

"Mommy what it is? Are you hurt? Are you being attacked?" The panic and worry in his voice made Kagome settle down, but when she answered he could tell that someone was going to be dead soon, or desperately wish they were.

"No dear, no one is being attacked or hurt…yet." Her could feel her aura flaring, but not in the good way. Deciding it was best to stay out of her way he quickly went back to his room after muttering something like, "Don'tworryIstillloveyoubutI'mgonnagoplaynow," very quickly so as not to bring her attention to focus on him.

She gazed about the room in fury, but when her eye rested on the large empty space, panic swept over her. Quickly she typed in the address of a website and waited for it to load. If Sess had been here helping her mother then she might have mentioned why the study was set up in a seemingly weird way. If he knew that there was something she wanted, would he be willing to spend $24,000 just to spite her and buy it out form under her? When the page came up she scrolled down until her eyes landed on the picture of what she was looking for. It had the world 'SOLD' placed over it in big red letters.

This time when she screamed Shippou merely put on his pajamas and went to bed. He knew that if she was that mad then it'd be best to not even be in her line of sight till morning.

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A/N: Okay guys, before I get to the flattery and the spoilers we need to have a little chat. Not that this really matters, but here we go…

Begin technical discussion…At the time of my posting 14, chapter 13 got 32.43 percentfewer reviews that chapter 12, which in turn got 7.5 percent fewer reviews that chapter 11, that translates into a whopping 40.54 percent decrease in the review responses over the last two chapters. However, to be fair chapter 11 was the second most highly reviewed chapter of the story, and if you average the overall review rate there is only a -8.71 percentdifference in chapter 13. How do I know this you ask? Simple, I have a sub-clinical obsessive fascination about organization and data tracking, (hey I'm a psyc major who has had to do one too many research papers, okay?). Now, there are various confounding variables such as time between postings, chapter length, and the amount of humor vs. drama in the chapter which do not allow me personally to make any kind of reliable correlations as I did not keep track of those things. Come to think of it, I haven't done standard deviation or statistical significance calculations either. (Ha! See? I'm not as bad as I could be. Although, analyzing the response rate as a function chapter length wouldn't be hard to do at all….ACK! No! Bad Dlareme!) So, this is where you come in. End technical discussion…

Now, would anyone care to put their two cents in as to why I'm getting fewer reviews? I'm not trying to be a crazed author freaking out about unimportant issues, but I'd like to know if this is just a fluke, typical fluctuation, or if there is something I need to improve on because people aren't reviewing due to a decrease in the quality of the story, (this last part being the bit where feedback would be helpful). Bleh, what a long note so far! I hate to do it to you guys but inquiring minds want to know. But yes, on to the flattery and spoilers.

Many thank to you my amazing, awe-inspiring and even at times anxiety-relieving readers/revewiers! Special thanks to Meijer Brand, Kage Otome and addicted2reviews who have reviewed every single chapter thus far, and also all you other repeat reviewers. Don't think I don't notice your support because I know exactly who has reviewed which chapters and I realize a bunch of you have done more than half. And some of you guys like Kakashisninjadogs and Sesshoumaru's Queen crack me up with your notes. I feel the love! Enough blabber, on to the spoilers!

Chapter 14: Sesshoumaru 3, Kagome 4

- Since this conversation about two weeks before she had been reassured, and yet thoughtful at the same time. Reassured, thoughtful, but more importantly, determined.-

- The veiled reference of how she had set him up with false jobs reminded him that he had his own card up his sleeve, and he wanted to lay it on the table to see her reaction.-

- Kikyou and her mother knew that if it was a simple question about the school then Kagome would not have needed a private audience with Sesshoumaru. Suddenly, realization hit him like a bus. Kikyou and Mia caught on too, though in a less painful manner.-