Kagome stared out of her window tiredly. The night two days prior weighed heavily on her mind. She had found this vampyr handsome, but he had done something she rarely forgave. He had taken her blood. She didn't look back when her office door opened.
"Kagome?"
"Yes Shippou?"
"I want to get your opinion on one of our cases."
"What is it?" Kagome turned away from the wall sized window to face her son. Behind him was another architect.
"Can I come in?" Kagome nodded. Shippou made a motion to the man behind him who vanished only to reappear again with a cart. Kagome watched as the cart was pushed towards her desk.
"Which case is this?"
"Masaki."
"What is it?"
"They want to revamp this side of the hotel." Shippou pointed to the side of his model. "But it would be idiotic and ruin the buildings design."
"Is there no possible way to design around it?"
"No."
"Send them to my office the next time they come. They know that we don't have to revamp anything if we don't see fit. It's part of the contract. See if you can make it work still. I want to consider both options." Shippou nodded and motioned to the man. The cart and its cargo vanished. Shippou turned back to face his mother.
"Come with me to the movies tonight?"
"Why would I do that?"
"You haven't gone anywhere since the play. You need to relax. If it bothers you so much, I'll hunt him down myself." Kagome chuckled and stood. She walked back to her window and then sat on the comfortable seat there.
"Don't tempt me so." She looked up at her son and smiled. "Take me out tonight Shippou. Wherever you wish." Shippou smiled even as relief crossed his features. "Now , close the door. I have something to discuss with you." Shippou frowned but did as she asked. He returned to his spot in the room uneasily.
"What is it?"
"The night of the play, did you send one of your little friends in here to get anything?"
"Little…friends? Oh the sprites?" Shippou shook his head. "No. I haven't seen them in a while either. I only visit them when there's something I need them to do. You know that."
"I had to make sure. On the night of the play, a sprite was in here. It went through my belongings."
"How do you know Mother? Pixie-dust?" Kagome shot her insolent son a glare.
"You know I lace everything in here with my power. When I came back it was broken. It told me what had come and gone." Shippou's eyes hardened.
"Did you preserve a scent?"
"Don't I always? Top drawer. Blue bottle." Shippou nodded stiffly as he moved to her desk. He pulled the bottle out of the drawer and stared at it. He uncorked it and all but devoured the ghostly contents of the bottle. He closed his eyes as its familiar scent tingled his nose. Kagome watched him from her place on her window seat, knowing the smell was something he had encountered before from the look on his face. She stayed silent, allowing him to concentrate. She gasped when his skin slowly began to low with its own light, making him so ethereal.
"That bastard!" Shippou's eyes snapped open. His leaf green eyes had darkened to an angry jade, a testament to how angry he was. "I'll kill him!"
"Shippou, stop it. You know I hate displays of power and as you call it, the creepy face." Shippou chuckled as the glow began to fade away. He stared at the floor for a second.
"I'll kill him for you Mother. No one spies on you, no one." There was a crunching sound as the glass bottle in his hand broke. Kagome snarled as she stood.
"Clean up your damn mess. You know better than this. We don't settle matters like these like animals. We are the hunter, he is the prey. He will feel fear before his death." Shippou's eyes stayed jade. He frowned at his mother.
"It wasn't just your vampire Mother. It was the other one. He was here as well." Kagome frowned as her heart jumped.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh yes. How could I forget the scent of the man who killed your family?" Shippou wished he could retract his statement seconds later as her power lashed out around her. He stared at her through the light as she forced her powers back under control. When it proved to be too much work, she simply shoved it into the building. Shippou closed his eyes as the feeling of her power rushed over him. He felt it seep down the floors, into people's offices and meeting rooms. There was a snap as the power faded out of existence, one of its duties done.
"You know that above all else, I will be the one to kill him. Don't fuck with me kitsune. If you end his life, don't show your face to me ever again. You'd be denying me something I want badly, and you know how I get when such things occur." Shippou's eyes fade back to their normal leaf green.
"I understand Mother." He sighed softly. "I take it you've warded the building?"
"My shields should have been up. I'm getting entirely too careless. I simply replaced what hasn't been there for a while." Kagome stretched and turned to stare out the window. "You know who in this building is not human. Take them the passes so that they don't get killed today trying to leave the building. They'll know the shields are up. I want to ensure that can't blame me for any odd deaths." Shippou nodded. Kagome smiled. "Now be a good son and carry out your orders." Shippou snorted as he walked over to her desk.
"When have I ever been a good son?" Kagome stayed quiet until Shippou was nearing her office door.
"Shippou?" Shippou opened the door and stopped to listen to her. "Don't deny you're Mommy's pwecious wittle baby!!!" Blushing red, Shippou slammed the office door shut. The secretary snickered.
"Pwecious, huh?"
"Shut up." Shippou tossed a pass to the blue haired man. "Just shut up."
"What made her pull the shields out of the hiatus?" Shippou's green eyes flickered and the man ducked his head submisseivley.
"Remember to wear your pass. Only this one will work and not the old one. That one most likely needs to be retuned to Kagome. You know how they start collecting power after a while. Bring your old one in tomorrow." Shippou walked past the desk, and continued down the hall to the elevators.
"Is she very angry right now?"
"Nah, she's mellower. Tell her to be home at a decent time tonight. I have the movies to drag her to." The secretary nodded.
"As you wish." Shippou pressed the elevator button and was gratified with an instant ding as it slid open. Most employees always sent it up to the top floor. It was an unspoken rule. He stepped in and pressed the button for the ninth floor. That was where his office sat, overlooking the rooms of the other architects. He stopped at the office that sat next to his and knocked on the door.
"Unless you have my freaking coffee, which I don't smell, get the hell away from my door!!!" Shippou chuckled and opened the door. The voice's owner sat with their back turned to the door, working on a model building "Didn't you hear me?"
"Rika."
"Shippou!" The blonde woman turned quickly in her seat. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while. Well, personally, I see you in the office but never have you come visit me." Shippou rolled his eyes as he tossed a pass to the woman. She caught the delicate bracelet and looked up at him.
"What?"
"I knew you loved me!" Rika moved to hurl herself at the man she had a huge crush on, only to be crushed.
"Kagome warded the building. Unless you want to be dead, I suggest you wear it." Shippou turned to leave the room. "Oh, Rika?"
"Yes?"
"You and I will never be. Nice model by the way. Tsuki project right?"
"Yes Shippou."
"Hmm. Build up the east wing. It's deplorable." Shippou closed the door behind him and smirked when he heard the demon woman burst into tears. Rika Minamina had been a pain in his ass since she had been hired. She had worked for a tabloid magazine as a part time job when she had begun working for them and had thoroughly slammed his mother in the papers. He considered ever word he uttered in her direction revenge for calling his darling mother a 'money grubbing whore' who was seen constantly 'out with yet another married man!' He hated the woman and yet had to let her work in the building. Mother's orders. Something about making her sweat. Shippou grinned as he walked around his office. It was placed in the center of the room and more than half of it was made with glass. He stopped at another office and all but kicked the door open.
"What?"
"Pass."
"Hn." The white haired man never looked up from his drawings. "Kagome got mad at some demon again?"
"Why ever would you say such a thing?" Shippou tossed the pass onto the man's desk.
"What?"
"It's him Su. Don't let your guard down. But be warned, if someone else does him in, she'll kill them." Bankoutsu shrugged.
"I told her he was a worthless pile of crap from the beginning. She let him into her bed, her life and when she refused him, he retaliated. I have no pity for her."
"She'll be glad to know you still care for her after all these years, Ban." Bankoutsu snorted.
"She could care less. Tell her the Northern Tribe's tribal home sketch is almost complete. I'll need her to approve it."
"You know for a heartless mercenary, you're really good at drawing." Bankoutsu flicked the fox off.
"Kiss my ass, bitch."
"I'm sorry, repeat that?"
"You heard me. Go deliver the rest of the passes before someone gets dead." The white haired mercenary reached over to his desk and pulled on the delicately made bracelet. "I so want to see Kido's reaction to this little beauty." Shippou smiled as he shut the door behind him. He heard Bankoutsu's soft chuckle and new the man was envisioning the expression on the bear youkai's face. He frowned as he thought of what had brought the man truly back to life.
"I'll kill you!" The raven haired man chuckled.
"You my dear? You are nothing without your kit." He motioned to the adolescent boy who was attempting to crawl over to his mother. "You can't do anything without your precious demon boy, can you?" Shippou watched in horror as the man drove his fist into his mother's face.
"MOTHER!!" The petite woman flew back, slamming into the wall of the hut. Shippou screamed in rage as the man picked up his mother's body.
"I'll enjoy drinking her blood child. Every last drop. And then I will come for you."
"MOTHER!!! WAKE UP!!!" Shippou blanked the pain out of his mind. Where were they? Mitsu was supposed to be here already. Sojiro was supposed to set up the barrier. "Damn you! I'll rip out your throat!" The man chuckled as he opened his mouth.
"It's a pity you know. I won't be able to drink her blood. I've already made a glutton of myself this night. That delightful little pretend slayer and her brother the monk. How glorious it was to feast on them as they screamed in pain.
"No! Not true!" Shippou pushed himself to his knees as the man grinned, fangs glinting in the moonlight.
"No? Don't believe me? Too bad." Kagome's eyes snapped open then. She looked at Shippou and he understood.
"You're lying! You're kind always lies! Ever since you showed up after the death of Naraku. You breed is filthy race that deserves no trust!" The man snarled, his eyes flaring a crystalline gold.
"I was going to save this bitch for a later day. But now, to show my contempt, I'll just slit her throat!" Shippou let out a hoarse cry as the man's head snapped down to his mother's neck. He needn't have worried. There was a flare of energy as her nigh uncontrollable powers came to swallow the man. Then they continued down into the earth around thm, filling it with power. There was a scream of pain and then it went quiet. Their combined pants filled the night as Kagome crawled to her son and him to his mother.
"Twenty years Shippou. Twenty years and we still haven't wiped them out. Their filth is disgusting and cloys the night." She collapsed next to him.
"Twenty years Mother, and we have not yet avenged the death of people near to us."
"We'll kill them for killing Sango and Miroku, this I promise you. The vampyr who killed them will die by my hands and no one else's." Pale blue eyes that weren't as light as they could be found his. "Do you understand that Shippou? He's mine to kill." Shippou nodded.
"Understood." He watched the smile that spread over his mother's face.
"Thank you." Then she collapsed, unable to bear the strain her powers still bore on her body. Shippou tried to catch her and succeeded, lowering her to the ground.
"This I promise you." Kagome smiled and curled into her son's side as they settled down for the night.
"We'll bury them tomorrow, with their parents."
"Go to sleep Mother."
"Where the hell am I!?" Shippou's head snapped up, eyes darkening to jade as an unfamiliar smell appeared. He stared at the white haired man who stumbled into the clearing, eyes widening when it hit a familiar mark.
"Bankoutsu…"
"So I am. Who the hell are you!?" The man's green blue eyes widened when they found the petite form of the miko. "Inuyasha's wench…and a kitsune?" The mercenary frowned and then understood. "How long have I been gone? Why have you disturbed my grave?" Shippou's eyes widened in horror as he understood. So intent had they been on cornering this monster that they had lost track of their surroundings…and they had returned a murderer from his grave.
Shippou frowned and shook his head. Bankoutsu was a vampire that Kagome kept on a leash. Unlike his counterparts however, he did not sustain himself with blood, but rather power. It kept the mercenary on a short leash because only his mother could sustain him on tidbits of power for weeks on end. He'd need to drain a human to get what he wanted from them, leaving them dry for as long as a month. He blinked when he found that he was outside of Kido's room. He fingered the last pass in his hand. All the demons that worked in the building were either under his direct command or his mothers. Grinning manically, he slammed open Kido's door only to snarl in anger. There was a shriek as some woman dove under the demon's desk.
"Shippou-sama!"
"Get your things out of this room at once. You are fired. I have told you time and again to not bring your sluts to work!" There was a sharp gasp from under the table and then Shippou's nose caught up. "Oh, Yuri. I didn't know you were coming by today." Kido's wife came out from under the desk.
"You're cheating on me!!" Shippou smiled brightly as he left the room.
"Well, there goes Kido." Shippou grinned at Bankoutsu.
"Do what you do best." Bankoutsu nodded and stood in front of the door. He breathed in deeply and Shippou saw the fog drift under the door. It was absorbed into the man who had called it.
"Is that enough?"
"Keep going until your hair is black. Absorb most of it from the bear." Bankoutsu nodded and Shippou left him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kagome giggled softly as Shiipou told her about Kido and his wife.
"Ban said to tell you that he wouldn't need much next week. I don't get it though. He barely takes much when he's hungry."
"He takes as much as he can Shippou darling.." Sudden gun shots had Kagome cursing. It was then she felt it. "Shi…."
"What?"
"Vampyr."
"Which one?" Blue eyes flickered with amusement.
"The one I thought was cute."
"Do you wish to see him?" Kagome smiled softly.
"Should I?"
"No. Let's go. We can see a movie some other time." Shippou grabbed his mothers hand and spun her around before they continued back the way they came. Kagome stopped suddenly.
"Mother?" There was a warning shift of her eyes. Shippou tore his eyes off her still form and his eyes met amber.
"Shippou. Kagome."
"Higurashi to you." Kagome met Shido's eyes.
"So he's your son?"
"How can a man his age be my son? We just like role-playing." Kagome's eyes glinted with mischief. "I especially love being able to spank him when he's naughty." She shivered. "It's so arousing."
"That's disgusting!" Caribbean blue eyes left amber to meet brown.
"Don't knock it if you haven't tried it." Riho frowned.
"Why would I want to?"
"Dunno. Ask Shido if he wants you to act a helpless damsel when he sleeps with you."
"Mr. Shido would never ask something so vulgar!"
"He definetly won't now." Shippou murmured into Kagome's hair.
"Shh, darling." Riho finally got a good look at the man with the woman.
"It's you!" Shippou frowned.
"Do I know you?" Riho blushed.
"No. I just saw you on the street one day. You were with her and…never mind." Riho shook her head. She reached over for Shido's arm only to realize he had left her side.
"May I speak with you Kagome? Please?"
"Alone?" Shido frowned but nodded.
"Shippou, keep Riho occupied while I speak with Shido." Shippou sighed.
"I shall wait with her in hopes of seeing your beautiful face tonight." Kagome smiled as she pulled Shido away from his date and down the way, turning when she hit an alley.
"What's up?"
"I wanted to apologize for my lack of control. Something about you calls to me and I am helpless to it. Forgive me?" Kagome stared at the vampire for a long time. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
"Will you do it again?"
"I can't promise you I won't. But I will try not to." She nodded and her eyes took on a speculative gleam.
"Your sprite, did you send her to my office building by any chance?" Shido frowned. "Don't lie to me now."
"I did. I was frustrated that I couldn't figure out what you are. It annoys me. I apologize for that as well." Kagome nodded. Shido gasped when she punched him.
"Now I forgive you. Don't ever do that again. There are reasons why I am listed as human, reasons tht you will not interfere with. I can see that you aren't as bad as your brethren, but shall you ever do something such as bite me ever again. Especially after I warn you off. I will kill you." Kagome turned on her heel to march out of the alley. She was pulled off balance.
"Kagome?"
"What?"
"Can I kiss you?"
"No. I hardly know you Shido. You don't know me. Why would you think I would give you a kiss?"
"Hope?" Kagome chuckled.
"Hope is for fools who know no better." With that said, Kagome left the alley behind, returning to the arms of her son. Shido soon returned. As she walked off, Kagome paused.
"Shido?"
"Hmm?"
"Next Saturday, I want to go out. I hope you can make it."
"Are you asking me out Kagome?"
"Nah. I'm ordering it." She continued on her way after throwing him a brilliant smile. Dazed by his good fortune, Shido absently continued down the sidewalk before he remembered the girl.
"Riho? Are you coming?" The brunette girl frowned and clutched her new pendant. Surely Shido liked her. He had to. He couldn't leave her for some whore.
Kagome looked over her shoulder.
"Was that wise Mother?"
"Hell no. It was idiotic of me." Shippou chuckled.
"So why do it?" Kagome grinned and then ran down the strip. She waited until he made it to her before answering.
"Maybe he's worth giving a chance. Besides," Kagome lowered her eyes to the ground. "I miss having someone other than you in my life." Shippou snorted.
"That hurt. Really." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and dragged her closer. "Let's go home." They walked in peace back to the car.
"Shippou?"
"Hmmm?"
"Tomorrow, I'm dropping in on his job. I want to see what he does. Besides, turnabout is fair play." Shippou chuckled.
"We have only the Tsuki case tomorrow and they fall under my jurisdiction. Take the day off. Oh! Find me someone to replace Kido. I meant it when I said he was fired." Kagome laughed.
"As you wish my darling."