STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY: Inuyasha and all its characters do not belong to me. They belong to their rightful owner, Rumiko Takahashi. This is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

Title: In Pursuit of Happiness
Author: Gladiel
Series: Inuyasha
Genre: Romance, Humor
Pairing: Sesshoumaru x Kagome
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's time to face the music.

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
chapter three
reality check


"Higurashi Kagome. April 4, 1978," Sesshoumaru paused before saying, "So the woman's twenty-seven," he said to himself. "Parents: divorced." He stopped reading out loud and skimmed through the papers. "A temple? How odd," he remarked as he came upon her address. Could that possibly have anything to do with her wish that he be an angel hours ago? Certainly, that was an unusual peculiarity in a woman—a twenty-seven year-old woman, at least. A normal person wouldn't wake up wishing she lost her virginity to an angel, would she? His experience with women told him that his perception of "normality" was the same with the world. She was obviously an exception.

Sesshoumaru recalled the striking gray-blue eyes that searched for answers from his own pair of infuriated ones. After she left he hoped he'd gain some recollections of what happened last night but it had been a few hours since and none allowed themselves to be known to him. All his memories of the night before stubbornly refused to be remembered and that fact irked him.

Sesshoumaru pushed back his chair and laid his back, the papers still on his right hand while his left arm rested on one of the chair's armrests. His gaze drifted on the white sheet of paper with perfectly black characters printed on it. He stayed unmoving for a few minutes, head bent in deep thought. His left arm moved as he raised his hand to rub his temples. It seemed like simply thinking that morning brought him a headache.

Jaken watched his boss sit wordlessly in front of the rich office desk. Something happened yesterday, he was sure. After his boss disappeared from the party, he anxiously replied to all the calls and questions by the company's guests and directors. He would never forget the feeling of being lost and in turmoil. It was as if he was helpless without the confidence brought about by his employer's presence.

He couldn't ask what happened. After receiving the call from his boss that morning, he almost couldn't believe the order he received. "Higurashi Kagome" was certainly a woman's name. He didn't read through the profile, as it was not his place to do so, but it was the first time that Sesshoumaru-sama asked him to look for a woman's profile. At least, someone not connected to business. He would have understood if she had connections with the car industry, their affiliates, or the employees, but such a name did not strike familiarity with his mind. Who then was this Higurashi Kagome exactly?

Jaken stood, distressed, as he watched his boss contemplate on a matter unknown to him. He couldn't take it anymore. The suspense was similar to watching a horror movie where he sat uncomfortably in the movie house's chair, waiting for disaster to strike an unfortunate victim. He took a deep breath before finally asking, "Is there something wrong, Sesshoumaru-sama? Did I bring you the wrong profile?" His voice was tinged with worry and stress as he fidgeted with a pen he held on his hand.

Slightly startled by the broken silence, Sesshoumaru blinked before giving a negative answer. "No, that's not it. The information you brought me is sufficient and precise." Sesshoumaru stood up, inserted the stapled papers back into the brown envelope that previously rested on the table, and headed towards the door.

"Jaken, we're going."

"Ah—ah, but Sesshoumaru-sama! You have just arrived!" he tried to reason as he rushed out of the room, following his boss who was already a few steps ahead of him.

"I have an urgent business at hand. Have Enju move my appointments and meetings from today to Tuesday."

Jaken was confused. What happened exactly that his boss had to move everything? "Tuesday is—is two days after today—"

"I am very much aware of that. If Tuesday would not be able to hold them all, have the others moved any time this week," he said coolly.

"Would it not be difficult for the—"

"Jaken, do it."

"Y—yes!" He nearly dropped his mobile at the sound of his employer's voice. With trembling fingers he dialed the said secretary's number. "Enju? Did you—? No, Sesshoumaru-sama is canceling all booked plans for today. He said to move everything to Tuesday or any day after. No, no! Yes, that would be all. Just do it!" Jaken barked before hanging up.

Jaken was still confused as to where his boss was going but he followed Sesshoumaru nonetheless.

-----------------------------------------

"Um…excuse me!" A man stood outside of the shrine, quite unsure about what he was doing at the present moment. He tilted his head to the left and his dark-brown tresses followed the movement. He wore a simple brown shirt with white text that said 'Banana Republic'. His pants were beige and ironed, nothing baggy but they were impeccably neat. "Is anyone home?" he called out again.

A face that held a boyish grin soon opened the front door. It was a young teenage boy with messy dark hair and black eyes that winkled with mischief. "Ah, Houjou-nii!" The boy recognized the man that stood by the shrine, a plastic bag with packaged goods on one hand.

"Is your Kagome-nee inside?" Houjou asked.

Souta frowned. "Oh, she's not here yet but…do you need anything?"

Houjou's shoulders slumped but his face was an open-book of disappointment. Souta knew Houjou had a crush on his sister and he wasn't blind to the fact that his sister had never thought of the man other than a friend. Souta shook his head. Houjou had been trying to win his sister's affection for many years now and he still couldn't see any signs of giving up. Souta was sure that one day, reality would bite him quite badly and shake him from the dream of having a couple-like relationship with Kagome.

"Ah, nothing really. I was just going to return these DVDs…" Houjou's voice trailed as his glance shifted to the plastic bag on his hand.

"Well, if that's it then I'll take those and give them to Kagome-nee when she returns," Souta offered as he lifted his hand to take the package.

Houjou nodded in gratitude and gave it to him. "Do you know when your sister will be back?" he inquired.

Souta shrugged. "Not really. She didn't come home last night but she'd probably be coming home today. Kagome-nee always cooked on weekends."

An anguished frown flashed on Houjou's face when Souta mentioned his sister's absence the night before. "A—ah, I see…"

Souta realized his volunteered information was not exactly good news for the older man and tried to console him a bit, albeit quite teasingly. "Don't worry, she's still a virgin. I'm sure of it. Kagome-nee had never been interested in men."

Houjou nodded. He wasn't sure if Souta's statement brought reassurance or disappointment.

-----------------------------------------

"Well?" Sango asked.

"Well?" Kagome repeated.

"Well?" Sango asked again, slowly.

"Well what?"

The two women were now climbing up the hundreds of steps to the shrine. Kagome, who was used to it having climbed up and down from it daily, was marching upwards as if it was any thirty-step staircase. Meanwhile, Sango lagged a little behind, finding torture in each step she made.

"We came, we saw, we conquered. You're married, we're a hundred and fifty percent sure, and we're walking, or rather climbing, to your house."

"I'm not." Kagome kept her head strained upward. "I'm happily single and marriage-free. I'm a hundred-percent normal adult!"

"You aren't single! Face it Kago-chan! I thought we went to the office to prove you were married."

Kagome faltered. "Don't call me Kago-chan! I'm trying to live life believing I'm not so the least you could do is to cooperate with me."

"Kagome, you know, that really isn't healthy."

"Until I am officially divorced, I'm going to dream being single," she pushed stubbornly.

"As your friend, it is my unfortunate duty to tell you that something always goes wrong when you're in dreamland. Illusion Island, if that's what you prefer to call it."

"Don't worry! I'm sure this time's different," Kagome said with feigned confidence. "It wasn't as if marrying a stranger was the worst mistake I ever did in my life."

"I sure hope so," Sango muttered under her breath. She pulled her right leg and forced herself to complete the last step of the steep plane to the shrine. "And to think I almost forgot why we used to always hang out at my house," she managed to say in sudden realization, taking in air in huge amounts. "I'm," she breathed in and out, "definitely not fit. I hear the elevator singing sweet nothings."

"These steps are my everyday-reminder that some people like me aren't always lucky in life," Kagome said proudly as she stretched her arms and rubbed her legs.

"I can't believe you're saying that."

"You just don't know that I'm—" Kagome stopped and paused to look at her, "apparently jobless, unemployed, without financial stability, deprived of satisfaction and contentment, buried with stress and worry, and completely destitute."

"Destitute? Now that's going a little to far. How'd it happen?"

"I tried to defend an employee. Got fired in the process," Kagome answered dully.

"I've been telling you ever since you got into that fight in high school that one day your sense of justice will bring you big trouble."

"I appreciate the reminder but until I find a job, I am destitute. How will I send my brother to college with zero yen a month? My bills, the food, everything! And there's the stupid debt," Kagome groaned.

"How long have you been paying that anyway?"

"Five months. But it seemed like years to me. If only my stupid father didn't disappear. Mama's not here either."

"As you said, some people aren't lucky."

"Shut up."

"You know those pleasure-giving guys that become really rich by being all handsome and sexy for all those popular, rich women? Why not become one? A female one?"

"Shut up. If there's any other family weirder than mine then I'd love to meet them."

Sango laughed. "Don't forget to introduce me, 'kay?"

They stopped their conversation the moment they spotted Kagome's younger brother sitting down eyes closed on the steps of the shrine itself. He was wearing his earphones and as Kagome approached him, she heard the faint sounds of rock music from them.

"Poke him," Sango mouthed to Kagome.

Kagome grinned and her eyes twinkled wickedly. She reached out forward, bent down, and pinched her brother's nose with all the force her fingers could bring. "I'm-home!"

Souta's eyes snapped open accompanied by an execration. "Shit!" Blazing eyes glared at Kagome but upon realizing it was his sister he only said, "Can you greet people 'I'm home' normally?"

Kagome sighed dramatically. "I've given up being normal ten years ago. It's too tedious trying to be one."

What did I do to deserve such a sister?

And as if she possessed telepathic powers, Kagome said to him, "You didn't do anything, dear. It's in the genes."

Souta sat up properly and greeted Sango before asking, "What're you guys doing here?"

"I live here," Kagome pointed out.

"She needs to cook," Sango said instead.

"Oh," Souta nodded in understanding.

"I don't need to cook!" Kagome protested. "Especially now that my lovely brother knows how to already, he'll be doing the cooking from this day onwards."

"Yup. She needs to," Sango and Souta said in unison.

If anything, Souta was sure about the one big thing that eased his sister's stress. Sure, she cooked common dishes, many of which were imperfect even, but it calmed her down nonetheless.

"Ah!" Souta said as he suddenly remembered something. "Kagome-nee, Houjou-nii came by earlier."

"He probably went to return the DVDs," Kagome explained voluntarily. Sango shot her friend a teasing glance that forced Kagome to say, "I am not interested."

"They're inside," continued Souta.

"Did he need anything else?"

"No, but where exactly were you yesterday?" her brother inquired. "I told Houjou-nii that you spent the night someplace else."

"He has to give up after that one," said Sango knowingly.

"I assured him Kagome-nee was still a virgin and isn't interested in men though."

"Souta!" Kagome cried in disbelief. If she wrote a book on 'What Little Brothers Secretly Shared with Strangers,' it would be on that list.

"What? It's the truth anyway," the younger man shrugged.

Sango grinned, "Maybe not anymore. It appears that your sister isn't interested in the opposite sex only when she isn't drunk."

After understanding the underlying meaning of the first sentence, Souta's eyes widened. "Are you kidding?"

"I'm hungry. Let's go inside. I want to eat something," Kagome said, hoping to stir away from the topic of the conversation. She did not like it's probable destination.

"Okay," Souta replied slowly. "So she really did do it," he said to himself, but loud enough for Kagome to hear.

His sister glared at him after catching the phrase. "What're you talking about?" she demanded.

"Nothing, nothing."

"C'mon Souta-kun," Sango said as she pushed him towards the back of the main shrine. "Your sister needs a full stomach before her divorce."

"EH?"

-----------------------------------------

"My sister's married?"

Brows wrinkled together and eyes closed, Kagome nodded.

"No party, no invitations, no ring…" For a moment Souta's mouth was left suspended in the open air before a laugh resounded from his lips. "Kagome-nee! You're the best!"

Kagome frowned. She expected sympathy, not laughter. It seemed that for her little brother, her situation was a fictional comedy.

He sobered up quickly before bending forward to pat his sister on the back. "Sorry, it was just unbelievable. I can't wait till Houjou-nii hears about this!"

"DON'T! Everything's a secret! A secret, a secret!" Kagome nearly shouted.

Souta pouted and muttered, "Kill-joy."

"If you were in my place, I'd like to see how you'd take it if I just announced to everyone your situation. 'Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Souta marries a stranger; what a stupid twit!'"

"If I'm going to make a profit out of that story then sure, count me in! We can tell the world, if you'd like."

Kagome sighed, fanning her hand. "Nevermind. You're too weird to have sense knocked into you."

"At least you and your brother have something in common," Sango tried to comfort her. "You're both on the odd side of the country's population, to put it lightly."

"Thanks," Kagome said dryly.

"Is he gay?" her brother asked.

"I...don't think so."

"Well, he did it with you. Either he's just drunk or he's bi." Sango offered a possible situation.

"So you're going to divorce the guy?" asked her brother.

"Of course! Sure, I'm probably insane, but I'm not that crazy!"

"What if he was a serial killer?" Souta teased.

"Then so much the better!" she replied sardonically. "Money just landed on our doorstep. I'd turn him in and we'd get some super-big prize money to sustain our needs for the time being!"

"You know where he is? What's the guys name anyway?"

"Yokoba Sesshoumaru. I know where he is—at least, I have a vague recollection of it."

"You're going to look for him?"

"We're going to find him. Look, find; there's a difference."

The sound of their literal doorbell interrupted the conversation of the three.

"You get it," Kagome said to Souta even before the younger boy could say anything.

Knowing it was a lost cause he stood up and obeyed.

-----------------------------------------

The shrine was as he imagined it to be: greenery was abundant and the place seemed unchanged from how it was decades ago. It was an old shrine and only minor indications of modernization. Despite the fact that he was standing at a place in Tokyo, trees were everywhere that it nearly gave the image of a forest mountain. The torii, two brown wooden pillars connected by an arc, seemed to lure him inside. It was an unpopular shrine and he assumed the people who visit it are normally those who live in the area. The komainu looked fierce in their stone-gray color, lion-like dogs with exposed fangs, but the lifeless statues lacked the essence that brought out fear. Tall trees lined the left and right sides of the shrine while a looming ancient tree stood out from the rest of them.

He walked towards the back of the shrine where he guessed the woman must have taken residence. Behind him, Jaken followed with loyal attentiveness and tired legs accompanied by fatigued lungs. The smaller man still couldn't understand the point of the 'urgent' business, as his boss described it, but he couldn't ask Sesshoumaru-sama directly. He wondered if his employer was going to make an offer or worship in the shrine but after going past the haiden, he understood it must be something else.

Sesshoumaru stood outside what he assumed to be the woman's home. He couldn't see any signs of a modern doorbell and what he saw as its substitute was a hanging bronze bell at the right side of the house at the back. A tan rope hung from above and, with its use obvious to the naked eye, he pulled it.

A few seconds passed before he heard the sound of running footsteps. That someone slid open the door and he was greeted by a teenage boy with ruffled hair and curious crow-colored eyes.

"Who are you?" the boy asked him bluntly.

"I'm looking for Higurashi Kagome."



to be continued…

TERMS:

1. Kagome-nee / Houjou-nii - they are shortened names for 'Kagome onee-chan' and 'Houjou onii-san'.

2. torii - the 'gate' of shinto shrines which has two vertical pillars with two horizontal crossbeams.

3. komainu - mythical lionlike dogs that serve as guardian figures of which one has its mouth open in a roar.

4. haiden - the oratory or hall of worship in the shrine where offerings are made and rituals carried out. In a typical shrine visit, worshippers stand in front of the haiden, clap their hands and tug a rope attached to a bell to announce their arrival to the kami. They then put their palms together in front of their chin, make a short prayer and put money offering into a slatted wooden box.

(defenitions of terms 2-4 are from japan-zone dot com / omnibus / shrine dot shtml)

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Last edited: April 16, 2007