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: M
Chapter Summary: You should know better than to speculate about the gender preferences of your husband with your best friend.

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
chapter seven
allegations



"Well, we got into the society pages," Kagome said before taking a bite out of the golden piece of bread, fresh out of the toaster. She reached out for the bread knife, slid it against the pale yellow butter, and spread it on the bread before skimming the newsprint paper.

"Mr. Sanaka remarks at the unmatchable talent of Kiryu Isami," Kagome started to read, "a young and beautiful actress who recently played Marie Antoinette at the Umiboshi Theatre Group's version of The Rose of Versailles. And…eh! We have a picture here… It says, 'Yokoba Sesshoumaru appears with wife in the dinner party hosted by Mr. Sakara of Daito Corp.'"

Sesshoumaru made no remark and instead satisfied himself by eating his breakfast undisturbed.

Kagome paused a moment to look at him. "Alright, the dress was partly my fault but if there's one bitch out there that would murder to ravish you, it would be her." Kagome could not forget the menacing glare Medusa gave her. If looks could kill, she probably needed a hoard of bodyguards to keep that salient woman away. After failing to receive some sort of reply, she continued, "Do you know her? She was wearing a marine blue gown with a couple of glittering diamonds that formed a lovely flower pattern. She's a bit tall, too, and not the least bit likable."

"Hideki Kagura. A close relation of Hideki Naraku, I believe," was the impassive response. "She's one of those unpleasant women."

"So let me guess. She beds important men to help her cousin, if that's her relationship with this Naraku guy."

"Possibly."

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. "You don't seem too wary about it."

"Should I?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"I am not fickle enough to fall into the clutches of a woman like her," he said, confidence unruffled.

"Okay, okay! Don't be too hot about it! I just thought that hey, you're a man. You're human, believe it or not! For all your robot-like qualities, there's still such a thing as instinct. Wild animal instinct. I just thought I'd give a fair warning!"

"The warning goes unneeded."

"I was only trying to help! Why do you always brush me away?" She stood up, grabbed the toast, and stormed to her room. From his seat, he watched her disappear before the door opened again. But she was then dressed to go outside, hair swept in a ponytail and clad in smart casual. "I'm going outside."

"Do I have to stop you?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes! No! Of course not!" Defiant eyes met his squarely.

No, the woman wasn't going to back down. The prognostications from her personality, his previous encounters with her, and even the little mishap three nights ago spelled out that much. The recollection of the kiss they shared distracted him and left him perturbed in his impending solitude.

"You have Chinese at two," he said coldly, before she marched out the door.

"Chinese. How could I forget?" She raised her head before giving him a firm and dramatic "Good bye!" in passable Mandarin.

As soon as he heard the door slam, without wincing in the process, he picked up his phone and pressed, '5'.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?" came the other line.

"Follow her, Jaken."


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When Jaken was promoted as Sesshoumaru's man-of-everything, never did he imagine that he would someday baby-sit his employer's wife. He never predicted he'd be walking around, a suspicious character among the crowd, wearing a formal business suit and tailing after an insane woman. He never understood why she and Sesshoumaru-sama disagreed on nearly everything (except for keeping the marriage for various reasons, much to his horror) and why his boss put up with her. Sesshoumaru-sama could easily dismiss the woman with a wave of his hand and Jaken would be free of these grudged duties.

He hated the heat. He hated walking around without the progeny of the air conditioner around him. The car was out of the question; he was already conspicuous as it is. Why Sesshoumaru-sama wanted the woman followed was not place to ask or know but Jaken couldn't help to be bothered that getting a degree abroad merely landed him to a nanny's duty.

He saw the woman – Higurashi - enter the coffee shop. Alarmed by the prospect of losing her (and most likely his job), he followed suit after a minute. He sat on a table on the opposite side of the room from where she was sitting. A waitress greeted him and, anxious to get rid of her, he ordered, "Whatever it is they specialize." The woman looked at him weirdly before nodding. "Er, whatever you say, sir."

Opening the newspaper he brought with him, he glanced at Kagome's table from time to time. She was obviously meeting someone, he thought. For a moment, an overdose of imagination made him inclined to believe that his master's wife was meeting another man. He scolded himself for thinking as thus, since Sesshoumaru-sama would never marry a woman like that! Never! Penniless with no name to bring with her, yes, but his master has eyes on trustworthy men. He would never have chosen Jaken if he didn't think him capable of doing anything.

The café bell rang as another person entered. It was a woman. She strolled straight to Kagome's table, much to Jaken's relief. He saw them order but no matter how much he strained his ears, he couldn't hear their discussion. In fear of being found out, he fought the temptation to situate himself at a closer distance and instead stayed at his table until Kagome saw it fit to leave.


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"Alright, Kagome, speak," Sango leaned forward. "What happened? I was starting to worry after my brain finally registered and implanted the fact that you no longer live with Souta!"

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "You make it sound as if I can't live on my own," she remarked in disbelief before taking a sip from the mocha frapucchino resting innocently at the table.

"Kagome, I know you're my best friend but we're more like sisters so it's my duty to tell you the truth. Yes. Without Souta to remind you to eat, breath, sleep, and stay alive – I'm nearly worried to hell."

"That's sweet, Sango."

"Sarcasm, sarcasm. Since when did you learn that?"

"Sesshoumaru delights in them."

Sango ooh-ed. "You're on a first-name basis?"

"No," Kagome started slowly. "Actually, he'd rather be called 'Sesshoumaru-sama' but omitting the '-sama' part makes me intentionally rude to him."

Sango looked at her with skepticism. "Right."

"Believe me, will you? The devil incarnate – don't give me that look because that's what he is – calls me 'Higurashi'. I think it was established that everyone calls him 'Sesshoumaru-sama' because his father is the 'Yokoba-sama'."

"Sure; if you say so. But why did you call me here?"

"I just need to vent out my rants."

Sango sliced a small part of the cake with her fork before asking, "So…aside from the disagreements, how is your married life?"

Kagome shrugged. "Pretty much the same. He's indifferent to everything to the point of driving me nuts. Lots of women lust after him, you know? I saw the hoard when we were invited to this formal dinner a few days ago."

Sango grinned. "I'm not surprised. He does look hot, you have to admit."

"Hmm…."

"What? Don't tell me you never thought of him without the word 'sexy' popping in involuntarily into your brain!"

"He is attractive, I won't deny that. But it's as if I've seen him somewhere before…I just can't place where."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's the hair. You don't always see men with nearly silver-like hair these days."

"Do you think it's a genetic error?"

"Probably."

Sango looked disturbed and Kagome noticed this with alarm. "Oh, gods, I've been talking about me, me, me, that I forgot about you! How are you and Miroku?"

Sango smiled. "Just dandy."

"Dandy? All you can say is dandy?"

"The sex is great?" Sango ventured with a laugh.

Kagome joined her. "I was waiting to hear that. For all I care about sex after marriage, I believe you and Miroku are made for each other. How come I don't hear wedding bells ringing?"

"Marriage is a different issue. He's always offering in that joking way, but I just need time to think about it."

Kagome nodded, still smiling albeit a tad mischievously.

"Look, Kagome, I can't help but ask…did anything happen to you?"

"Huh?"

"You know, when a man and a woman lives under the same roof?"

Kagome blushed in embarrassment. "Of course not!" She reached for the white table napkin and wiped her fingers on it before crumpling it and bringing it onto her lap. She played with the frail paper. "We're not really a couple, remember?"

Sango was not satisfied. "But you're a man and a woman! Won't at least nature work?"

Kagome shook her head. She feared confessing the little event that happened in the car but since it was Sango…of course Sango would understand. "Just a kiss," she said finally.

"A kiss? Nothing more?"

Kagome was nearly fed up with Sango's pushing. "Of course nothing more! What did you expect? What were you possibly waiting for me to say?"

"And he wasn't even…aroused with that kiss?"

Kagome glared. "How should I know? Do I have past experiences to compare it with?"

Sango sighed and sat back against the chair. "I was thinking that since this is a marriage of convenience you have, you might be spending some more intimate nights of convenience with him as well. I mean, he's a man."

"I can't believe you thought that would happen!" Kagome replied, nearly indignant. "He even told me he wouldn't fall for a sexy seductress and I'm hardly more tempting."

Sango was unconvinced. "Why do you sound bitter about it?"

"I don't! I just didn't expect you to think of any relationship between me and the devil incarnate."

Sango contemplated on the facts that were presented to her. "He wasn't interested with any woman?" she asked suddenly.

"None that I know of," Kagome replied in a more calm and imperturbable manner.

"Did it ever occur to you that he's you know…"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked in failing to catch the gist of the conversation. She reached for her frapucchino again and sipped.

Sango lowered her voice. "That you know; he's a homo."

Upon hearing the words, Kagome lurched forward, coughing. "Damn you Sango!" she remarked in between coughs. "That almost killed me!"

"Sorry," Sango replied sincerely. "But you know, it just fits everything. Why he hadn't married before, even if his father was already forcing him; why all these women never attracted him, or why he never even tried to do something with you. See?"

"So you're saying he's gay?"

"Most likely. You know what they say about beautiful men. It's either they're taken or they're gay."

"They say that?"

"Yes," Sango said with emphasis, as if it was an inborn knowledge. "And he isn't taken – before you, of course. So that leaves us to the fact that he is gay."

"But, Sango, he did it with me," Kagome pointed out.

"Kagome, dear, Didn't you explain to me that he was saying his father threatened him? When you're drunk, you do things and sometimes you become impulsive. You make impetuous decisions under the influence of alcohol. Sanity has no control over you. In fact, sometimes it ceases to exist. You married him that night when, if you were in a more stable and normal state of mind, you never would. You wouldn't even think it, much less imagine it happening."

Kagome stayed silent.

"You'd imagine it?" Sango asked, incredulous.

"Well, I did think he was a god at first," Kagome faltered.

"But of course, you didn't expect it to happen for real, right?"

"That's right!" Kagome followed suit.

She thought about Sango's suggestions for a moment. It really did fit like a puzzle. No wonder he was so calm about the Kagura woman! And he was infuriated at her for kissing him. Sure, they did do it once - but they were both inebriated at that particular time. For all she knew, he was experiencing patriarchal pressure under the demands of his father. Who wouldn't want a grandson from the eldest brother?

Kagome was convinced that Sango's verdict was somehow probably unmistakable.

"Gods, if that's true, I just hope you opens up to me. Do I look like I'm the type of person who has a prejudice against homos?"

"Oh, lords, no. Of course not."

Kagome was relieved. "I'd at least like to be friends. After all, we're in this sticky situation together."

"Well, you're not exactly the easiest person to live with."

Kagome frowned. There was one thing that disturbed her to no end, now that this sudden truth had been revealed.

"Sango?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think Sesshoumaru and Jaken…?"

to be continued…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Har, hope you liked the way this chapter turned out. :) Sesshoumaru's gay? Haha! Oh, the chaos!

I can't promise anyone when the next update will be but I can reassure you that I haven't forgotten about this pet project. Again, thanks for those who have reviewed and are reading this fic thus far. :) I'm really glad that most of you are enjoying it.

Please review!

Last edited: April 16, 2007