The Hunt for the Perfect Man: Chapter 7 - Sesshoumaru (part two)

This is still a tag-team performance brought to you by CharmedReality and BelleDayNight.

Disclaimer: We didn't create the characters. We just put them in compromising situations for our amusement.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

Two sets of amber eyes met across the short span of space, but the distance stretched beyond imagining.

One pair of eyes was expressionless, but far from vacant. They were intelligent, piercing eyes, carefully guarding their master's emotions and thoughts through a veil of stoicism.

The other set swirled with evident emotion from their place beyond a simple pane of glass. These eyes were not pleased. They threatened silently beneath thick, black lashes.

The stare was broken when a nearby door swung open, hinges squeaking just enough to be noticed. "Hello," Kagome called out with an enthusiastic smile. Her tone was tinged with a hint of nervousness as she fumbled with uncharacteristic clumsiness with her keys to lock her door.

This man was certainly perfect on paper. It was a little intimidating. And the last thing she wanted was for a prince to see her Ikea-fabulous apartment complete with her slip covered 70's style couch. Some fabric patterns should have been illegal.

"I hope I am dressed appropriately," she smiled as she walked slowly down her stairs, not trusting herself to avoid something embarrassing like tumbling down them. A broken neck would really put a damper on the evening.

"Indeed," he replied simply as he extended his arm for her to take.

The gesture took a moment to process. It was so...storybook-worthy or like something from a black and white movie. She rested her fingers on the crook of his arm and was soon swept up into the back of his stretch limousine!

Sesshoumaru gestured to the driver silently before casting one last look back at the window to the woman's neighboring apartment and then entering the vehicle behind her.

It was with much unnecessary emotion from Jaken that he had managed to arrange a different driver. He would not have the man's irritating, but loyal presence around Kagome after the nuisance he made of himself for such a simple assignment.

Her date was not a talker, and she found herself filling the quiet with idle banter. She was more than half way through a rather ill-advised depiction of what happens to a diner freezer when the circuit breaker is tripped and it goes unnoticed overnight. The more she realized how much she shouldn't be telling the story, the more descriptive she became until a pale hand was raised.

"I apologize for interrupting your...delightful tale, but we must depart now."

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry. I really should be talking about something more interesting or learning more about you, right? I mean, that is kind of what these dates are all about, isn't it?"

His eyebrow arched ever so slightly, but otherwise his countenance had yet to waver in the slightest. "Dates?"

"Through the agency. Oh, is this your first?"

"First and only."

She wasn't sure what to make of that, but before she had time to ponder her door was opened and a young girl, who didn't seem like she should have been old enough to be their driver, smiled brightly at her. "This way to the jet, ma'am. Rin has everything prepared," the girl announced in the third person causing Sesshoumaru to give her a disapproving look.

"The what?!" Kagome blurted out, unaware of anything past the word 'jet.'

"If you are a squeamish flyer we can adjust our plans, but the restaurant I have planned is not accessible by car."

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

Inuyasha was seething and practically foaming at the mouth in anger. The nerve of that stuck up icicle finding a way to screw over a part of his life. Was it so much to ask that Kagome be his source of entertainment? He didn't want to share her with an ungrateful prick who couldn't tell the difference between a scorching fire and freezer burn.

Did Sesshoumaru feel anything?

He swore he wasn't human. He always suspected he was some sort of robot sent to impersonate a human being. And what was with the Carey Grant arm offer? This was the twenty-first century. There was no such thing as chivalry. It was so…lame.

He went to his computer and started putting the skills that the government paid him the big bucks for to use. It would be a simple thing to hack into the dating service's database.

A few minutes of fingers flying across his keyboard later, he managed to open the deleted file of one Sesshoumaru "Mr Perfect" Youkai. Naturally, his profile didn't give his full name, but it would be hard for one not to recognize the bane of one's existence in all its gory details.

He noticed that the profile was deleted shortly after Kagome had discovered the match. It must have been Sesshoumaru's mother that set it up. It was just like that meddlesome socialite to do such a thing. It was almost funny, but not funny ha-ha. More just, funny in the way that it happened to Sesshoumaru and not him.

Picking up his cell phone, Inuyasha scrolled through until he reached Miroku's number on the contact list. He might have told Kagome he'd not seen his old college friend since the old days of university life, but that wasn't exactly the truth.

They worked together every day, even though they never actually saw one another in person. Who'd have thought that two college roommates who ran the circuit of pirating music and movies online though a complicated web of almost trackless routes would end up being offered jobs as hackers by the government?

Naturally, if they'd been really good their tracks wouldn't have been discovered, but that was neither here nor there.

Slipping his blue tooth over his ear, Inuyasha called up his comrade in arms.

"This better be a booty call from some beautiful woman with loose morals."

"Sorry to disappoint," Inuyasha said. "Get on Buffy, I want you to do something for me."

"Buffy? The sultry, emo vampire layer? Did you wear a hole through your DVD again?"

"Your computer, you numb nut," Inuyasha growled.

"You always spoil my fun." There was a long sigh. "All right, she's booting up. Now, why did you interrupt my perfectly boring and dateless night? You know if it weren't for your little stunt the other night I'd be enjoying some ---"

"If you finish that sentence I will kill you."

Miroku cleared his throat. "So what did you want me to do that you can't?"

"This is a two-man job, and I can't handle it all with just Faith."

"She giving you troubles again? I'm telling you she's got a Trojan in her."

"Could you get your mind out of the gutter for just one minute?"

"But it likes to live there so much," Miroku whined. "Fine, fine, I'll get serious. What do you want me to do?"

"Sesshoumaru Youkai. I want you to look up his latest activities regarding credit card and debit card purchases. Anything involving recent cash flow."

"You want me to look up "Mr. Perfect"? Why?" There was laughter coming from Miroku's end of the phone. "This is priceless. Your neighbor has a date with him?"

"Are you hacking into the dating service database?"

"Of course, I can read you like an open book and you're just all shades of jealous."

"Just look into it. I've got something else to work on." Inuyasha began digging deeper into the database for the dating service and infiltrating the mechanism used to sort through compatibility. Perhaps, he could help Kagome find her next couple of dates. It shouldn't take much to sour her to the idea of online dating even if she had proven unusually resilient so far.

Miroku whistled. "Oh, you're not going to like this," he warned. "Remember, you asked for it. He's taking her on a private plane and they're going to a remote island and…"

"And what?"

"Looks like he left a message for you. A popup just appeared on my screen saying 'You're still second rate. Don't worry—your little neighbor will always remember the name Youkai when thinking of all things orgasmic. Sesshoumaru Youkai.'"

Inuyasha ground his teeth, jaw aching from the tense muscles.

"You still there?" Miroku asked, a nervous edge to his voice.

"He is so dead." Inuyasha forgot about the dating service for the time being and went straight to Sesshoumaru's bank accounts. We'll see how he likes it when all his assets are frozen.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

"Holy shiiiii...I can't believe this," Kagome finished, catching herself...somewhat. "I thought the airplane ride was impressive, but this restaurant is amazing. Is that an ice sculpture? And a harpsichordist?! And it looks like everything is lined in gold." Her wide eyes took in the sheer scope of the room with its detailed tapestries and ornate wall carvings.

Turning back to her date, she blushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sesshoumaru, I must sound like a ridiculous tourist. I hope you aren't too embarrassed, but I couldn't blame you if you were."

"Think nothing of it," her tall escort replied evenly. "And your deduction is correct. Much of the interior has been lined in paint with flecks of gold mixed in to it."

Under normal circumstances, he would find her enthusiasm grating. Still, his involvement with Rin had taught him the valuable lesson of listening only when necessary. Besides, he had to admit an almost youthful excitement at the thought of his younger brother, using his mediocre skills to find the message he left for him.

Reaching their table, he extracted her chair for her. Normally, he would allow their host to perform this function, but tonight was special. He would send this woman home smiling.

So far the minor adjustments to his behavior seemed to be having the desired effect. Her cheeks had once again returned to the ruddy hue he associated with her feeling embarrassingly pleased by something.

It was not...unflattering to her complexion.

Taking his own seat, he ordered an expensive bottle of pinot noir from the sommelier. His mother had always referred to it as the most romantic of the wines. It seemed likely, however, that the selection had gone over his date's head. Nevertheless, he trusted she would enjoy the choice. It was sophisticated with an edge of sweetness, which was a combination she already seemed to respond to well.

"Please, tell me more about yourself," he asked congenially. He paid only enough attention to her response to know she was covering subjects he had already researched and that she had not yet recovered from her tendency to ramble. Instead, he focused on the language of her body—the flash of her throat as she drew breathes between long-winded sentences, the way her fingers were absently sliding over the dull edge of her knife, and the fluttering of impossibly long eyelashes over her large, dark eyes. She was not an unpleasant subject to study.

His half-brother had always had little tact and social grace. It was not a fate they shared. But even a fool can stumble across the occasional worthwhile interest.

"I'm not that interesting," Kagome said.

Sesshoumaru suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at her automatic self-defeating statement.

"I'm a part-time student at the university and I work at a restaurant in order to pay the bills not covered by my scholarship. If I could go to school fulltime I'd have graduated last year."

"Do your parents not provide financial support?"

Kagome shook her head. "They do their best to contribute, but it's not much. It's fine, I'm learning a more valuable lesson by having to earn my education. My little brother is still in high school so I'd rather they make sure he was being taken care of more so than me."

Ah, she had a good work ethic. Sesshoumaru's level of respect for her rose marginally. The waiter arrived with their wine. He sampled it and approved it before the waiter filled two glasses.

He lifted his glass and gestured for Kaoru to do the same. "To sharing a good meal and a pleasant evening," he saluted.

"Cheers," Kagome said clicking her glass against his. She took a sip and then burst into giggles. "I hardly ever drink," she confessed before taking a much heavier draught of the wine. "It tastes very sweet."

"Yes, it does," Sesshoumaru agreed. The cell phone in his pocket began to buzz and he took it out to read the text message. It was from Jaken. Apparently someone had just attempted to freeze his accounts. Little brother must have received his message.

"What about you? I know you're a successful business man, but how'd you start out? Are you close to your family?"

Sesshoumaru sipped his wine as he chose his words. Should he reveal his relationship with Inuyasha? It would spoil some of his fun if he were to reveal all the rabbits under his hat. "My father was a powerful business man and my mother came from a very wealthy family. She helped him establish himself as a world renowned force in the international market. Unfortunately, their marriage dissolved when I was in college and father married someone shortly afterwards. My new step-mother gave birth six months later, proving to me the cause of my parents' failed marriage."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Kagome said quietly.

"It hardly matters now. My image of father was shattered. I'd idolized him and then to see him humbled by something as mundane as infidelity was a disappointment."

They ate in silence for a few moments as a quartet of violinists approached their table to serenade them in Mozart. The sound soothed Sesshoumaru's residual resentment and by the time the music had ended to a round of applause by the entire restaurant he felt ready to continue with his tale.

"I graduated and started working for my father in a vice-president capacity, but I'd see the picture of him with his new family sitting on his desk. There was no picture of my mother or I. To be replaced with such ease motivated me to surpass my father. So, I quit and with a small loan from my mother and with the use of some careful investments I'd made during college I started my own company."

"The Bakusaiga Corporation?"

"That's correct. You paid attention to my biography."

A blush stole across Kagome's cheeks. "Well you were so handsome and I wanted to learn as much about you as possible so that I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself on our date." She looked away coyly. "I guess that didn't work."

"You've not made a fool of yourself. You've been quite amusing," he assured her.

She decided to take that as a compliment. "What's your relationship with your father now? And your half-sister or brother?"

"I'd learned a valuable lesson from the whole ordeal. Never place someone on a pedestal for one. My mother is content. I don't talk to father unless I see him at a business function. I suppose my step-mother is a nice woman, but I'd rather not get to know her."

"And the child?"

He thought about Inuyasha. He possessed the good qualities of his father tempered by his mother's good heart. It was once painful to see Inuyasha for he had mirrored their father in so many ways. Inuyasha was too similar to the father Sesshoumaru knew growing up. Thankfully, he wasn't the bitter disappointment that their father turned out to be.

"Half-brother, and he has turned out all right, though I would never tell him such."

"Maybe you should. Siblings have a special bond, even half-brothers."

"Perhaps," he agreed noncommittally.

Dinner went by surprisingly well and he was thankful that in spite of her inexperience with alcohol she possessed enough restraint to stop drinking before she made herself drunk.

"What else do you have planned?"

"Patience," Sesshoumaru said helping her slip into her jacket. "The moon is full so I thought we might enjoy the night sky."

"I do like star-gazing," Kagome said with a grin. "Especially with a handsome man and walking along the beach."

He offered his arm and she looped hers through it. "Then you should enjoy what I have in store."

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

"Blocked!?! What do you mean by blocked?" Inuyasha scowled at his computer screen as it once again delivered the bad news. He'd tried everything to tap into Sesshoumaru's accounts, but nothing was working.

The man was an icicle, but his accounts refused the frostbite.

An amused voice piped up over his wireless. "Are you doing that thing where you talk to your computer even though I'm still on the line?"

"Are you doing that thing where you make jokes without being helpful in the slightest?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who interrupted my fun evening in of cheetos and Baywatch reruns." Miroku smirked on his end before adding, "She's your girlfriend, not mine. You saw to that."

"Kagome is NOT my girlfriend. She's barely a friend and the girl part is up for debate," he countered a little too defensively.

"Well, whatever or whoever she is, it looks like she is going to have a long evening without any financial disruptions." Miroku had given up trying to break through Sesshoumaru's private security systems. They were denser than anything the government had to throw at him. Instead, he was scrolling through the various profiles on the dating site taking down e-mail addresses for later. "There are some real winners on this site."

Inuyasha's coffee cup took the brunt of his frustrations as it sailed across the room. But his cohort was right. He wouldn't be getting past Sesshoumaru's defenses tonight. That didn't mean he couldn't return to plan A.

The dark haired man began looking through the various profiles on the online dating site as the dark stain began to set in his tan carpeting.

Kagome's future assignments just needed a little tweaking. After all, she was his neighbor and he needed to look out for her.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

Time flies while you're having fun and Kagome refused to look at her watch. She didn't want the night to end. And she knew if she looked at that traitorous hour hand it would tell her she had stayed out far too late with a man she had only met earlier that night.

If her watch was a little chattier it might also scold her for getting on a jet with a perfect stranger or letting him fix an arm around her waist as they walked down a secluded beach under a starlit sky.

There had been something like a whimper of disappointment from her when he had finally suggested they return to the plane. She cursed herself for sounding like a petulant child while she was on the arm of someone who had to be famous. Those looks, those resources, and that intelligence were too rich to be bottled up on a no name. Of course, she'd never heard of Sesshoumaru Youkai before seeing his bio, but as her neighbor was fond of pointing out, she didn't get out much. Like he really had room to talk.

Already back in the limo, en route to her apartment, she found herself chattering away once again. Clearly the man wanted to know everything about waiting tables. Who wouldn't want to know the way she'd mark down certain things on the tickets to remind her which order went with which customer? Poofy hair had a tuna melt, brown shirt had a strawberry milkshake, and bad comb-over wanted his dressing on the side.

She was still talking about it as he helped her out of the car and as he walked her up the steps. For a minute she desperately thought she might have to shove something in her mouth to get her to stop, but not surprisingly Sesshoumaru had a more elegant method of silencing her.

"Kagome," he said simply and when she tilted her face up toward him, he drew her closer and closed the distance between their lips.

Reflexively, her arms encircled his neck as she stood on the tips of her toes for better access to the much taller man. She wasn't thinking about the time slipping away. She wasn't noticing about the public nature of their private exchange. And she didn't hear the low growl coming from next door although she could feel Sesshoumaru smiling into their kiss.

After what seemed like a lifetime, but still not long enough, Kagome settled back to the flats of her feet as Sesshoumaru straightened up. She tried to speak, but there was only a happy smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye as she watched the man's long hair stream over his broad shoulders.

"Isn't it a little late to be gallivanting around, young lady?" Inyasha's eyes were fixed on his brother even as his words were meant for his neighbor.

"Inuyasha," she managed after a moment. Still dumbstruck, she wasn't prepared to show him the irritation he deserved for interrupting what had already proved to be the best date, not only of her time with the service, but ever. "This is Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru smirked at his half-brother. "And you must be the over-bearing neighbor, Inuyasha." His arm slipped casually across Kagome's shoulder as he moved to stand next to her facing the neighboring door.

"I never said that!" Kagome said quickly. Inuyasha certainly didn't deserve her defending his poor behavior but he also didn't deserve to think she'd been talking ill of him to her date—which she hadn't—at least she didn't think she had.

Both men stared at her expectantly. How long had she been having her internal monologue? She cleared her throat nervously. "I didn't say that, really."

Sesshoumaru squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. "No, you didn't say that. You would never speak ill of someone no matter how much they might deserve it. The observation was made all on my own." He gently positioned Kagome so that they were facing her door and angled away from Inuyasha. "How about some tea?"

"What? You're inviting yourself to her apartment? I don't recall her asking you to tea!"

"I ask that you mind your own business, Kagome's neighbor."

"The name is Inuyasha."

"Yes, I am aware that your parents named you 'female dog demon' and offer my condolences." Sesshoumaru glanced over his shoulder. "I didn't wish to insult you by calling you such a name."

"Kagome, you can't let him into your place!" Inuyasha said grabbing hold of her elbow in a crushing embrace that would surely leave bruises.

"You're hurting me, Inuyasha."

He didn't seem to hear, he was too busy glaring at his brother. "What do you know about this guy? Trust me, I know more about him than you do."

"Oh?" Sesshoumaru asked reaching for Inuyasha's wrist and gripping it, forcing it to release Kagome's arm.

"He eats children!" Inuyasha proclaimed, grasping for something that might deter her. It was possible, he should have worked on a better reason when he was busy brooding earlier. "You can't let him inside!"

"Honestly, Inuyasha. Mind your own business. And stop saying such ridiculous things."

Sesshoumaru sighed with exaggeration. "I'm afraid it's true. But, whether or not I eat children is hardly the point." He kissed Kagome's temple and then stepped back. "However, I do have better things to do than deal with children. And clearly my estranged, half-brother has feelings for you. I've some meetings in the morning. I'll call you later, Kagome."

Inuyasha and Kagome both stood gaping at the retreating figure.

Kagome was processing the fact that the family Sesshoumaru had described was in fact her neighbor. And was then further confused by the ending of the date. Did that mean it was over? Would there be a second date? …And did he really eat children?

Meanwhile, Inuyasha blinked stupidly at the ice prince. Why would he let him win so easily? Surely he was plotting something further. Something sinister. Sesshoumaru never gave up.

"So, good night then," Kagome said unlocking her door.

"Uh, yeah, same to you." Inuyasha watched as she slipped into her apartment. It seemed he got what he wanted, but why did the victory feel so tainted?

TBC