AN: My turn again! Hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: We don't own Inuyasha.
Naraku
"You WHAT?" Naraku snarled down at the five idiot full-blooded demons bowing down in front of him, trembling in fear. "How the hell did you let some little hanyou escape you?"
The demons remained silent and moved lower so their heads were touching the floor, as if that would appease his anger.
"Please forgive us my lord. We will not fail you again." one of the demons said, his voice muffed by the tatami mats.
Naraku grimaced and rubbed his hand over his rapidly beating heart. Why the hell was all help incompetent these days? Dealing with fools like this made him want to take an Advil and stay in bed.
He sighed. Thank Kami for modern medicine and Western styled mattresses.
"Yes." Naraku agreed. "You will never fail me again."
The doors were slung open violently by the five demons who had come to take the former's place, and they attacked the ex-henchmen, the pounding in Naraku's head increasing with every scream and pathetic whimper.
He turned away and walked out of the room, waving his hand at a servant, "Get it cleaned up in there when their finished." he ordered, his attention more on finding the medicine cabinet.
He gritted his teeth in anger. He wasn't supposed to be this weak, this human still. He couldn't wait to send the Tashio brothers to hell for what they had done to him.
He passed by the window, refusing to look out. He had looked at the still smoking part of his mansion all morning, any more and he was going to get a migraine so bad he would black out.
Damn that Inuyasha. It wasn't enough that he had stolen the jewel after Naraku had spent five hundred fucking years trying to acquire it, he had to destroy a major wing of his home and force him to deal with the idiotic claims department at his insurance company to. With his free hand he started rubbing his chest again. Maybe he should just down the whole bottle of pills and knock off for a few hours.
Naraku randomly picked a door, hoping it would be the one leading him to his beloved Advil.
"Dad? Do you have headaches again?" his daughter Kagura asked as she rounded around the corner, coming towards him to place her cool fingertips against his forehead.
He batted her hands away, so annoyed he missed the flash of pain in her face. "What do you think?" he asked crossly.
She drew back, "I think I should get the doctor. He just returned home."
Naraku scowled at her, a huge wave of pain coming over him in a burst. Damn it, he didn't need his daughter telling him what to do.
"Help my father to his room." she ordered a passing servant, handing Naraku off into his care. "I'll go fetch the doctor."
Naraku mimicked her under his breath as she strode away, wanting to go hide in a dark corner and curl up into a ball.
The servant helped him to his room, Naraku so miserable he couldn't enjoy the opulence he had surrounded himself with like he normally would have done. The walls were black and covered in famous artworks especially commissioned by Naraku, the floors were a dark rare wood and because Naraku enjoyed the idea of constantly stepping down on Sesshomaru's ridiculous long white tail, the floor was covered in white fur rugs. The servant helped him to sit down on Naraku's pride and joy- his bed. The king sized Western mattress was the most expensive, softest bed on the market, and was replaced every three months because Naraku loved the brand-new mattress smell that wafted up from it.
The servant bowed to Naraku and went back to his duties, leaving him lovingly stroking the mattress as he waited for his daughter and doctor to arrive.
He didn't need to wait very long, a few minutes after the servant left, his doctor's stupid smiling face was the next one to come through, his daughter at his heels.
"Good afternoon Mr. Yamato. Beautiful weather today isn't it?" the doctor asked cheerfully, the dark clouds and rumbling in the sky escaping him as he set his medical bag down on the floor, humming slightly.
Naraku stared at him in disgust. "You've been on a date." he guessed sourly.
Hojo beamed. "And met the most wonderful girl imaginable!" he sighed dreamily, opening his bag with a snap. "What seems to be the problem today Mr. Yamato?"
"I have a headache and my heart is racing."
Hojo made a sound of understanding, that stupid, goofy grin still stuck on his face. Naraku stared at it, wishing there was a way to rip a smile off. Though he always could cut off Hojo's lips...
Hojo wrapped the blood pressure sleeve around Naraku's arm, beginning to pump it full of air.
"She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever met in my life. She's funny, smart and just so intelligent." his smile widened. "She's so amazing. I'm sure my mother will love her."
Naraku grunted, feeling almost sorry for the kid. The woman probably couldn't stand him.
"We had coffee today, our second date. She had to leave early, she wasn't feeling well. She complained about her head, so maybe I'll get her a scalp massager. I gave her a pair of bamboo sandals because she complained about her feet our last date. Do you think she would like a herbal remedy that cures yeast infections?"
Naraku gritted his teeth, reminding himself Hojo had graduated at the top of his class, and he was naive enough not to notice what went on around here, making him the perfect candidate to be his live-in doctor.
He was just so dumb.
Hojo frowned down at Naraku, "Your blood pressure is up again Mr. Yamato. Have you been following that diet I gave you?"
Naraku glared at him. "I am not a rabbit." he snapped back.
"Rabbit's don't actually eat much lettuce. Mostly carrots and dry food." Hojo answered calmly back. "You need to change your diet and relax a bit more if you want to be healthy Mr. Yamato.
Let me give you something for your head ache and take a nap for a few hours. Doctor's orders."
When Hojo turned away to search through his bag, Naraku glared at his daughter, wanting her to get Hojo off his back. He didn't have a few hours; he needed to figure out a way to get that jewel back!
Kagura glared back, unwilling to help him. Naraku grunted and gave up. Fine, if she wanted to be the one with all the headaches, she could be the one to come up with a plan. He was going to go hide in bed then.
Hojo handed him two pills, Naraku half-expecting him to pat his head like a child.
Naraku glowered mentally at the thought. Just wait until he had the jewel...He would never need to deal with these human matters again.
Hojo smiled brightly as Naraku swallowed the pills, "Have a good rest Mr.Yamato."
Naraku grunted again as he crawled under his 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets.
"Sleep well dad." Kagura murmured softly to her father, getting no reply in return.
She and Hojo left Naraku's room, Hojo heading off to his own room to contemplate what to get his date, while Kagura strode towards her father's war room.
Kagome
"Ok, I don't care about the demon you're chasing after Sango, I want to hear more about Kag's mystery man." Ayame interrupted Sango during a particularly gory description, her mouth full of pizza as she stared at Kagome imploringly.
Kagome sighed, picking at her pizza. "I only sat next to him for a few minutes. His cheekbones are amazing though. And his lips look like they should belong to some fallen angel's. And I remember he had the most beautiful golden eyes." Kagome sighed.
"Lot of details for someone who only sat next to him for a few minutes." Sango teased.
"And that kiss?" Ayame prodded.
A reluctant smile tugged at Kagome's lips, "I told you, I have nothing to complain about." Kagome scowled suddenly, touching her lips. "Though with my luck, he probably had mono or something." she muttered.
Sango immediately brightened. "You should get Hojo to look at it then!"
"I already told you, I don't want to see Hojo again. What is it with you setting me up with such wimps all the time?" Kagome demanded.
Sango's mouth fell open, "I do not set you with wimps all the time!"
"You set me up with that loser who had to call his mother in the middle of dinner ten times to ask her permission for what to talk to me about." Kagome started to tick them off in her fingers. "Then there was that guy who burst into tears when I turned him down for a second date. Oh, and the one who spent two hours recording every single safety and hotline number into his cell phone before going to the park with me."
"He had a real fear of getting sick." Sango defended. "And the suicide hotline number could have come in handy."
"Because by the end of the evening I wanted to kill myself!"
"What about the one who took you on a date to the nursing home to meet his grandmother?"
Ayame asked, enjoying herself.
"And that's just from freshmen year! And it's gotten worse lately."
Sango sighed, "I just want to make sure you'll be with someone kind, gentle, undemanding...if something ever happened to me."
Kagome's eye's snapped up to Sango. "Don't talk like that. You're fine. We're fine. Nothing is going to happen. It's complete b.s."
Ayame's ears perked up, confused by what they were talking about. Was Sango sick? Worried about her job?
Sango shook her head, "Your probably right." she said, not looking convinced. "But I still want to make sure senior year doesn't happen all over again."
Kagome picked violently at her pizza at the reminder. High school senior year. The worst year of her life. It was bad, he was bad, and she had been a fool but she was over it. Really.
The only thing she was still hung up about was possibly being the one who had put her best friend's life in danger.
Kagome shook the memories away. She knew it wasn't true, that it could never happen but the what-ifs still kept her up at night.
Ayame continued to stare at the two girls, wondering if she should ask what was going on. She and Kag and Sango had been friends for four years, but she knew the two girls went back even further then that. From what she understood, Kagome and Sango had been friends from a very early age and were practically sisters. They had also gone through some rough times, but they never said much about what had happened in their past. Even having known them for so long there was still so much Ayame didn't know about the two of them. Was this something she should keep her nose out of?
Kagome's cell phone alarm went off, breaking the awkward silence. She stuffed the last bit of pizza into her mouth, "I gotta go to the temple. Are you working late Sango?"
Sango nodded, "Don't wait up; this one looks like a bitch. If I die, the guys will let you know in the morning."
Kagome rolled her eyes as she got up and brushed the crumbs off her shirt. "Gee thanks. Lilies at your wake?"
"Sure. Put some of those little crepe things out to." Sango told her, only half joking.
Kagome pulled her coat on, smartly snapping the buttons shut. "Have fun Sango. Thanks again
Ayame, send me the bill later for the necklace."
Ayame shook her head, "Nope. No charge. Consider it an early Christmas gift. I'll call you later tomorrow once I get the word out about the jewel. I'll do some more research tonight too; there's gotta be something I missed. It's just not like me not to know a gemstone." Ayame muttered, annoyed at herself.
Kagome nodded in understanding. "Ok, thanks again for the pizza."
Ayame saluted her with a slice. "My pleasure."
Kagome left Sango and Ayame spread out lazily across her bed, hoping they wouldn't leave any crumbs for her to clean up later as she headed out the door, frowning slightly. Sango was really starting to worry her. She was almost becoming fanatical with this search for a boyfriend for
Kagome. Kag knew most of it was out of concern about her still holding onto the bastard from high school, but she was getting a little weird about it.
A shiver raced down Kagome's spine. Sango didn't actually believe in that silly little curse, did she? Kagome had been sure they had put that fear to rest years ago...
Kagome shook her head firmly. No, Sango was only being a little more overprotective then usual.
She had been 'taking care' of Kag since they were kids. She probably was just reluctant to let go now that they were both adults. That must be it.
"Good afternoon Miss. Kagome." a voice at her feet stopped Kag in her path.
Kagome looked down and grinned, unable to believe she had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed Sennin. "Hello Sennin! How are you?"
The old man's gnarled hands paused in handling the perfect white blossoms before sorting them again in order to attract the most possible attention. "Very well. And yourself?"
Kagome sighed as she crouched down next to his blanket, looking over today's flowers. "Could be better, could be worse kind of a day." she remarked, studying a beautiful white rose.
His dark eyes looked at her from under his bushy white eyebrows. "Something about you today is different." he said slowly.
Kagome glanced up quickly. "Not that I can think of. I haven't even had a manicure in forever."
Sennin shook his head, his white beard quivering. "The white miko and the silver dog will join forces. The spider will gain more power. All will be fought over a pebble."
Kagome stiffed a groan, not needing this right now. Sennin really was a nice man. He just believed he was a wizard who could see the future. He had been'predicating' events to come for years
now. They never made much sense. "Good to know. I'll give you a shout out if I come across the dog, the miko, or the spider." Kagome said patiently, handing a five over and taking a fistful of blossoms.
Sennin grabbed her sleeve. "Hold the laughing beauty safe. Trust only a handful of those with red eyes." he told her urgently. "Do not forget the past so quickly."
Kagome gently took her arm out of his grasp. "Thank you for telling me Sennin." she said gently. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."
Sennin watched as Kagome walked away, sliding a white flower into one of the button holes of her coat. "It has begun." he decided, hoping the wind would carry his words to their ears.
AN: Review pretty, pretty please. CPH needs the encouragement!!