STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY: Inuyasha and all other characters do not belong to me, unless otherwise stated. They belong to their rightful owner, Rumiko Takahashi. I do not profit from writing this. Other than the net, my soft copy, and my own hard copy, this fanfic is not reproduced elsewhere. No copyright infringement intended.

Title: In Pursuit of Happiness
Author: Gladiel
Series: Inuyasha
Genre: Romance, Humor
Pairing: Sesshoumaru x Kagome
Rating: M
Chapter Summary: Be careful when driving motorcycles. Some cats can be the cause of a ruined friendship. When an unwelcome sibling drops over and causes havoc, make use of him by sending him on an errand - but make sure that excuses for lost things can be convincing, especially when they most likely cost a fortune. But then again, idiots believe almost anything.

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
chapter ten
in-laws: part I



 Inuyasha lived for excitement. This, perhaps, was one of the things that made him different from his brother - something so significant that he would, at times, purposely choose that difference. It wasn't always for the sheer love of it, or the satisfaction he felt when his life wasn't a monotonous line of schedules and tasks that never changed. He wanted to be the radical one, the son less calm and the son less predictable. This was one of the reasons why he never attended prestigious schools that were flooded by spoiled brats or geniuses, like his half-brother. He went to a public school and was as notorious as the yakuza gangs around the downtown neighborhood.

And because of that radical difference, he met Higurashi Kagome first.

It's been ten years but high school life seemed as vivid as yesterday. High school was a stage in one's life that you would never forget simply because, usually, it is the best. It was a point of excitement and rashness in his life. Perhaps not nearly the pinnacle of it, but for someone who was merely a teenager, it was a height of enjoyment. He needn't be too serious about schoolwork; he only needed to pass and with things that money can buy, it wasn't that hard. He lived not at the main house but in an apartment rented by his father for him hence he had the freedom a boy of fifteen or sixteen would want. Too much freedom, now that he thought about it.

He grew to love the thrill of living as a perfect delinquent. He was different from his brother: he was stupid, he was impulsive, he was happy-go-lucky, ignorant, and without a care for the world but himself. Sesshoumaru was constrained by the laws of being an eldest son, an inheritor of a company, and the expectations of many important men and families around him. For Inuyasha, it was only his father who believed he had a spark of ability, of intelligence. But there was no pressure. Yes, Inuyasha never did well in his academics but he was, so to say, quite knowledgeable about the ways of the world. That is, of people below his family's rank, place in society, and social class.

And, of course, the world that Higurashi Kagome belonged to was that kind of world.

However, she was not quite the same as him nor the opposite of him. Higurashi Kagome was, in fact, when he first met her, nearly a mirror of his brother. It was as if they were the opposite poles of the same magnet. They were different but they were linked by the same metal. She was a very good student, albeit not perfect, but was trusted by her teachers, serious in her studies (though not the smartest), and good to her friends. He saw how she treated her brother once when he went to their school during one of the festivals and he became a witness to her sisterly qualities: warm, kind, and dependable. But unlike his older brother, Kagome had a spark of vivacity in her; an infectious sort of brightness wherein she believed about the goodness of life whilst Sesshoumaru was too cold and cynical to even consider it.

And because she had a sameness with his brother, however little, there was always something that both of them disagreed upon. She stood for justice and he loved to belittle the weak, to bully the spineless individuals that lived for his amusement, and she insisted being the protector of them all. It started with the Sango woman, he remembered, since she invariably became a target of one of his pranks but ever since that day, his relationship with Higurashi Kagome had always been strained, full of bickering and heated arguments, never a peace between them. It was the year when they had invented titles for the other: "Holy King of Bastards" and "Holy Queen of Bitches", as they had shouted at each other earlier.

Ironically, they grew into friends somewhere in their second year of high school. If not for an unfortunate incident wherein he accidentally killed her cat a few days before graduation, an incident in which he was sincerely sorry, she probably wouldn't have kept ill feelings against him throughout all those years. Gods, he knew how much that cat meant to her, but it wasn't his fault it jumped right in front of his motorbike when he paid her a visit in the past, was it? He could still remember the guilt and agony he felt then, just by watching her sob her heart out as she cradled the wreck of a cat her pet had become. He tried to make up for it but after they graduated and walked their separate paths, he was never given the chance.

He observed her now, ten years later after. Judging from her appearance, she looked quite young – younger than her age, but still lined with the hardships of life. Their outbursts earlier had flushed her cheeks, though, that it made her seem full of life.

All these things ran through his head as he heard the drowning voice of his brother, who explained in little detail how he met her, his one-time enemy and one-time friend. Inuyasha wasn't paying much attention, but he heard the words "China", "Guangzhou", "friends", "married because of father." He pieced together all these information, tied them in weak knots, and in shock was only able to ask, "You're married each other?"

"See what shouting does to one's hearing?" Kagome muttered.

"Haven't you been listening?" Sesshoumaru replied in annoyance, clearly displeased by Inuyasha's lack of attention. "Yes, we did."

"But how could you marry her?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief.

"What is wrong with me?" Kagome stood, indignant.

"Why did you marry him?" Inuyasha now threw the question at her.

"You could at least offer your congratulations," his brother said coolly.

"Congratulations," Inuyasha said in a dry tone. "Now it isn't a wonder that father rushed home in rage. He called me and asked if I had seen you recently and I said no." Inuyasha was too much in a state of shock to laugh. He never thought he'd see Higurashi Kagome again, but to meet her after ten years married to his brother…

"No, that can't be right. You sadists are kidding me. That's a good one, Sesshoumaru," he continued. "Quite weird for a first joke, but you threw me off there. I fell of hard, I couldn't even laugh."

The two of them looked at him as if he suddenly lost his sanity. "He wasn't kidding, Inuyasha," Kagome said, angry. Why was it so hard to believe that she's his wife? That they were married? She knew she was physically lacking, that probably they didn't seem compatible, but that wasn't a sound basis for a marriage. A business deal was more of a sturdy ground for a relationship between the two of them, since it wasn't as if they were doing it for the physical and er, pleasurable benefits. But, well of course, Inuyasha wasn't aware of that. But friendship and companionship's good, too, as was their alibi.

"From your reactions earlier, I presume you knew each other?" Sesshoumaru broke Inuyasha's laughter and he noticed Kagome glaring towards the direction of his brother. "How?"

Kagome's voice was hard. "Just from high school."

Inuyasha nodded slowly, guilt still eating him because of the accident that happened years ago. "We just knew each other."

"Classmates, actually."

Sesshoumaru knew that the two people in front of him weren't telling him something important – something that caused his brother uneasiness and his wife distress.

"And?" he continued to ask, determined to get the truth of the story.

"Your brother was an excellent delinquent," Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Ah, yes, he was part of one of the rowdy gangs in the city," Sesshoumaru affirmed.

Inuyasha seemed shocked. "How—"

"I knew, brother."

"Oh yeah. I nearly forgot you lived in that horribly messy apartment," Kagome said.

"First my hair and now my apartment?" Inuyasha replied fiercely. "Why do you live to criticize me, wench?"

Sesshoumaru paid close attention to their bickering. So, she's been to his apartment back in high school? How deep did their relationship run?

"Ugh," Kagome said with a wave of her hand, "Your long hair's so…out of style."

"Sesshoumaru's wearing the same long sort of hair," Inuyasha retorted, folding his arms over his chest.

"You don't understand! It fits him, not you," Kagome said with a 'tsk' while shaking her head.

Inuyasha turned his chair around in a huff.

"Am I to assume the two of you were friends?" Sesshoumaru asked after observing the two.

"NO!" they denied furiously at the same time.

"Friend? Him? He's a damn murderer!" the woman practically screamed.

Inuyasha stood up, slamming his palms on the table. "Damn it, Kagome, that was ten years ago! It was an accident, for gods' sake! It wasn't as if I meant to kill your cat!"

Sesshoumaru was finally getting a clearer picture. So, a cat was involved. A dead cat, by the looks of it. However, he let the movie roll and sat back like a part of the audience, watching and listening intently at the unfolding drama.

"Yes you did!" Kagome's face was red with anger. She wasn't hysterical but it seemed nearly so. "Buyo was the only one I had of father! And you killed him!"

"Don't even start treating me like a murderer!" Inuyasha snapped back at her. "You stubborn wench! Didn't I say I was sorry? I was godamn sorry!"

"Let's end it here, okay?" Kagome snapped frigidly. She was seeing the whole scene again. She was chasing after her cat, running down the dusty steps of the shrine. She stopped to see Inuyasha frozen, standing next to his motorcycle, staring at something. Her attention drifted towards a heap of flattened fur and bones and she knew at an instant what had happened.

Kagome sat down in silence and finished her tea without interruption. Sesshoumaru thought it unwise to join the conversation and kept his voice from saying anything.

"Damn you, say something, Kagome," Inuyasha almost pleaded in frustration.

"I knew you were sorry," she said in a low tone. Without giving Inuyasha a chance to say anything, she turned to Sesshoumaru, saying, "I'm going to take to prepare some salad for the both of you." She stood up, turned left, and disappeared. Wordlessly, she left the two brothers. Both sat in stony silence that, for a moment, drowned their curiosity regarding the life of the other.

"You killed her cat?" Sesshoumaru broke the silence first.

"Don't even push it, Sesshoumaru. She adored that cat," Inuyasha snapped.

"If it was given by her father, then I could imagine why she hated you," he remarked calmly.

Trust Sesshoumaru to come out unruffled after witnessing a scene, Inuyasha thought. "So it's true, huh? If she told you about her father, then it means you really are friends," Inuyasha sighed. "If you're friends with that woman then it's possible that you married her, I suppose," he continued to no one in particular.

What was their relationship, exactly? Sesshoumaru asked himself. It seemed as if they were friends and enemies at the same time. He felt disconcerted at the fact that Inuyasha knew more about the Higurashi woman than he did. He didn't even know he she had a cat whilst Inuyasha did, and that annoyed him. Then again, he and Kagome of them didn't exactly talk about themselves.

"What's an idiot like you musing about?" Sesshoumaru asked after a short pause, casual with his insults.

"That you and her had set this up. Kagome likes those kinds of things. She doesn't often show it, but she likes to pretend things happen," he said in an angry tone, as if that trait of hers was something to be obliterated.

Sesshoumaru felt again the spark of irritation at Inuyasha's apparent insight, merely because it was true. She even proposed that they add a midnight rendezvous in the middle of their fabricated story, just to 'spice things up', as she said. If she didn't accept the fact that it was out of his character, then she would've probably pushed it. "How perceptive of you," he said coldly.

Inuyasha shrugged. "It was ten years ago. I've no idea if she's still the same but knowing her, she still has an 'Illusion Island'."

"'Illusion Island'?"

"A state of hers when she tries to believe something that isn't real, or something goes terribly wrong with her life that she feels she's imagining things. It was her best friend named Sango, I think, who happened to mention something about it."

Sango. Sesshoumaru had already met her. Keeping his irritation to himself, Sesshoumaru decided to use Inuyasha for something more useful than interrogating him about his personal life. "Are you busy?"

"No. I was just dropping by because of curiosity," he shrugged. "Keh, and I thought she was the cleaner woman."

Sesshoumaru could almost imagine the conversation of the two over the phone. Dismissing the thought, he went direct to the point. "I need you to run an errand."

"Like I have a choice to say no," Inuyasha grumbled, laying his back against the chair. "What is it? If it costs money, you're paying," Inuyasha regarded his brother with distrust.

"No, you just need to get a pair of rings from a jewelry shop." Sesshoumaru took a piece of paper from his pocket. "That's the address and the receipt."

"What's this? Did you and she have a shotgun wedding or something?" Inyuasha read the receipt before eyeing Sesshoumaru's left hand. "You're not wearing wedding rings."

"She lost them in heaven-knows-where," Sesshoumaru lied smoothly.

"You serious?"

He looked intently at Inuyasha. "Did I ever kid about anything?"

After a moment of thinking, an attempt to recall something, Inuyasha shook his head. "No. Point taken, dear brother. Sounds like some disaster Kagome's prone to, anyway."

Inuyasha's casual mention of Kagome vexed Sesshoumaru. "Then go. Make sure you get back within an hour."

"For someone who's asking a favor, you sure are demanding," Inuyasha muttered.

"I'm the eldest," Sesshoumaru said simply, as if the single line explained everything.

"Fuck you."

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 "What? You kicked him out already?" Kagome asked as she scanned the living room. It didn't take too long for her to return from the kitchen with the vegetable salad.

"I sent him to get the rings we ordered," Sesshoumaru answered, eyeing her face for any odd expressions.

"And…? What did you tell him?" Kagome put the tray down on the coffee table.

"You lost the original pair," he said emotionlessly.

"How classic," Kagome replied wryly. She sank to the soft whiteness of the sofa and stretched her arms and legs. "You should have told me earlier you were sending him away."

But it didn't seem timely to have you around any minute longer, Sesshoumaru reasoned silently. Instead, he reached out for the salad to have a bite himself.

"I prepared two dressings. Caesar Salad dressing or Thousand Island?" Kagome offered.

"Caesar."

Kagome handed him the small plate with the salad dressing. "What do you think your father will do when he comes to see us?" Kagome asked after a few seconds of reflection.

"Yell. He would treat us coldly at first, most likely, but his temper will get the better of him. My father has a very loud voice and at uncalled situations it becomes embarrassing," he grunted.

Kagome twisted to her right and stared at Sesshoumaru. "Are you serious?"

"Inuyasha received some of his traits from my father's side of the family," he explained dryly.

Kagome leaned forward to grab another lettuce leaf. "So that's how it'll be, huh?"

Sesshoumaru stayed in silence with his back against the sofa. He didn't tell her that it could be much worse. He knew his father, after all, and what he was capable of doing. But, no, Sesshoumaru felt he'd like Kagome. That was already an advantage. She had this friendly way with people when she's herself. Unlike him, she was warm and affectionate – two characteristics that could endear her to his father, if not at once, in the future. And somehow he knew that the Higurashi woman would persist getting along with his father even if his father did not welcome her invitation of friendship. Although, to be honest, sometimes her friendship seems a tad too forced on the other party.

Sitting beside Sesshoumaru at the living room somehow helped tranquility settle in Kagome. She's been worked up with the past with Inuyasha – things she didn't really want to remember, and despite Sesshoumaru's cold demeanor, some of his calm was rubbing into her. Maybe the visit of his father won't be too bad. She understood why he's mad. But if she could make it seem like she really loved Sesshoumaru, maybe his father would come around.

Kagome closed her eyes. Maybe she should ask Sango to get some good-luck charms from the temple. One for helpless cases, just in case.

She shook her head. No, she should have more confidence in Sesshoumaru and herself. Besides, if all went well, Sesshoumaru promised her a bonus – in monetary form, of course. Souta's birthday is in two months and she wanted to give him a little surprise. Now that their debt was taken care of (Sesshoumaru paid it without her knowing and, though she was enraged by his actions, what was done was done so instead, she swore she'd pay him back.), she could spare more cash for her brother.

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 "They can't be serious…" Inuyasha muttered to himself while he fingered the rings inside the small, velvet boxes he put in his pocket. He lifted his free hand and ran it through his hair. "I don't understand how those idiots could get married. They're the least compatible pair in the face of this planet and—"

"Ow!" a woman's voice cried at the impact of her body against Inuyasha's. "Watch it, you bastard—" she started to say, but suddenly stopped and walked a few steps backwards, eyes wide. "EH? I—I remember that face!" she announced triumphantly, "I know you!"

"Ha?" Inuyasha eyebrows furrowed as he observed more closely and tried to recognize the woman that stared at him with surprise. Black hair – longer than that from ten years ago and curled a bit at the lower ends, but the face still had the same lines and the eyes were still the same mocha brown. "S…Sa…ngo?" he asked uneasily, backing away by a few steps. If he could remember the details right, the woman in front of him could deliver a rather strong punch.

"Oh, good lords, I'm hardly surprised an idiot like you walks around without looking!"

"Che, more trouble," he remarked off-handedly.

Sango glared at him. "Was I the one who was staring of into space while walking? Nooo. It was someone named King of Bastards."

"Hey! That's the second time today, you bitch! Does anyone even remember I was given a name?"

Sango looked at him haughtily. "A dog's name, you mean," she snickered. "And your language's as colorful as ever," she said, crossing her arms. "What are you doing at this fancy part of town?" she asked without letting him say anything in defense, and dragged him at the rightmost side of the sidewalk to allow people to pass by.

He shrugged. "Are you still in contact with Higurashi Kagome?"

She gave him an expression that said, "Are you kidding me? Of course."

Inuyasha let out a sigh. Why did I even ask? "The woman married my brother."

"Yokoba Sesshoumaru? You're his…? But—you can't be…" Sango was speechless. That couldn't be true, right? Sango tried to grasp a possible explanation. Inuyasha was the man Kagome hated the most and he's become her brother-in-law? "You're lying!"

"As much as I want that accusation to have some truth in it, there isn't. Sorry to disappoint you," he replied with sarcasm.

"But you don't even have the same last name!"

"Heh," he grunted at her with triumph, "That's because I use my mother's last name."

Sango's face was an open book of disbelief. "But—"

"As a matter of fact, I already met the Holy Queen of Bitches."

"You still remember that name?" Sango muttered.

"Keh, what gave you the right to ask that? You called me the King of Bastards first. See how much you remember it, too. Makes me think you forgot my name but not my 'title'," Inuyasha lifted his eyebrow.

"You said you met her?" Sango regarded him with suspicion. "What did you do?"

"Why am I always the culprit? I rang the doorbell. She lashed out on me first. I was sent here by my half-brother to fetch their newly ordered rings. Did she happen to tell you how she lost the damned things? Don't they cost a million?" Inuyasha shook his head with frustration while making sure he still had in possession the subject of their conversation. "That girl is so freakishly careless sometimes."

"Wha…?" So he doesn't know the truth? Sango thought to herself. And they gave him a story on the wedding rings being lost when they never existed in the first place?

"Sesshoumaru sent me to get the new rings they ordered. My father probably worried him, that idiot."

Sango tried not to falter. "Kagome mentioned something about Sesshoumaru skinning her alive for the lost rings, but I can't really remember much on how it happened," she went with the lie.

Inuyasha's eyes glinted with haughtiness. "The old hag's aging. Tsk, tsk. The memory gap's getting into you" he snickered.

"INUYASHA, YOU ARE DEAD, YOU HEAR? YOU ARE GOING TO BE DEAD WHEN I GET MY FISTS ON THAT UGLY FACE OF YOURS! Who were you calling a hag? And I wasn't just a hag; I was an old hag, huh? And MEMORY GAP? Try saying that again!"

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 "There are two rings for you," Sesshoumaru explained. "One for the engagement and the other for the wedding."

Kagome nodded as she put them on her fingers. She stood up from the edge of the bed and rubbed her palms on the lower half of her dress. It was crinkled silk, peach in color, and simple in style.

"Wouldn't it be weird if your father returned home and saw me wearing a dress?" While it doesn't matter what you wear since either way your aura basically just flows naturally with elegance, Kagome added to herself, sulking in silence.

"He knows he's expected. He called Inuyasha because he knew he'd tell me," Sesshoumaru said as a matter-of-factly. "Don't dwell on it," he added coolly.

"Easy for you to say…" Kagome bit her lips.

As Sesshoumaru left the room, Kagome heard the doorbell ring. Both knew it meant one thing.

"Oh fuck," she said, before hurrying to walk behind Sesshoumaru to greet his father.

to be continued…



AUTHOR'S NOTE: Heh, it seems my updates are monthly. Regardless of the distance between the times the chapters are posted, I'm still thankful for all the reviews and encouragements my readers send. :) I never thought that Kagome could be annoying in some of the chapters, but I'm glad that the story redeemed itself with the later ones. I hope that this chapter was equally satisfying.

As always, reviews are very much welcome. :)

Last edited: December 9, 2006