"Did you carry out the task set for you?" Sesshoumaru asked his half-brother.
The hanyou turned at the taiyoukai that had barged in his office without knocking while he sorted through registration forms for his new bojutsu class. "That's a hell of a way to greet your brother."
"Half-brother."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and did the thing that he knew would annoy his half-brother the most, he ignored him.
"I asked if you carried-" Sesshoumaru began again through gritted teeth but Inuyasha cut him off with an impatient wave.
"Yeah yeah it was all taken care of. Why the hell you asked ME to deliver fucking flowers for you when you could've gotten the company to deliver them is beyond me though." He muttered, knowing Sesshoumaru's superior hearing would make the words clearly audible.
"It is enough that you did so." He turned, heavy braid swinging. "In two weeks time I shall require your services again."
"Any particular reason you're sendin gifts to a human girl on the full and new moons?" Inuyasha asked casually.
Sesshoumaru stilled and cursed his half-brother's not completely nonexistent reasoning skills. It had taken him nearly five hundred years to develop a brain that half-worked and now that he had it he used it to be annoying. Even someone who was belatedly introduced into youkai culture as Inuyasha was could grasp the meaning of gifts presented to a member of the opposite sex based on the phases of the moon.
The instinct to send tokens was so deeply ingrained in Sesshoumaru that he hadn't even realized he was using the moon to dictate his actions. Now that his idiot half-brother pointed it out he inwardly winced at the implications. As he was marked with his royal bloodline through the blue moon on his forehead his greatest instincts were ruled by the moon. His instincts were strongest at the full moon and weakest at the new moon, compelling him to show off his prowess as a worthy male at the full and seek reassurance of his pack at the new. That he had chosen to express those instincts through gifts to his predestined mate at those particular times showed just how strong the inherent bond was.
He considered telling Inuyasha the real reason behind his actions but didn't relish the thought of disclosing his motives. The fact that he had to court his soul mate not only from a distance but through an intermediary grated on the taiyoukai though, he reasoned, he only had to keep her interest on a mystery suitor long enough to remain single until her graduation. By using his brother he insured that faint traces of inu youki would be on the gifts. He was leaving just enough hints for her to be intrigued without having any evidence linking her professor to them.
Not that I want her to be intrigued. He reminded himself. I do not desire the female… I just do not want her to desire anyone else either.
Belatedly he realized that he had waited too long to answer Inuyasha, who was looking at him with real interest now, strong eyebrows raised so high they disappeared in his bangs. "She is… interesting."
Inuyasha pushed back his chair and stood, squaring off with Sesshoumaru. "As I recall the last thing you found interesting was world conquest."
Cool golden eyes met alarmed widened ones. "Your point?"
"My point is that you finding something interesting is usually not good for anyone else involved, namely me."
Sesshoumaru sifted through the scents his half-brother was exuding and the fluctuations in his aura, eyebrow lifting slightly. "You are concerned."
"For her!" Inuyasha ran a hand through his hair with an exasperated snort. "I mean, hell Sesshoumaru, she's human for kami's sake! Why the hell would a taiyoukai as powerful as you be doting on a fucking human like she's your fucking mat-" He cut himself off, eyes widening as they swung up to meet the carefully disinterested gaze of the taiyoukai. "Holy shit." He finally whispered before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
"What?" Sesshoumaru growled snappishly.
"You're… fucking… mate… is… fucking… human!"
Sesshoumaru decided not to mention yet that she was also a miko. It would only add to the hanyou's amusement.
The irony of the arrangement was not lost on him. While everything from the way his mother raised him to his father's betrayal taught him to distrust and dislike the human race, his every instinct screamed in protest at every moment of his life wasted without her company. The fact that the human miko was his student didn't matter to his inner beast, all it wanted was to feel her sweet flesh pressed against him and her scent to permeate his life.
"Enough." He finally growled, a command from alpha to beta.
Inuyasha immediately sobered as his instincts—diluted as they were—kicked in.
"So what's the hold up eh?" Inuyasha slumped back against his desk. "Why're you havin' me play cupid?"
"She is a student." He admitted, subconscious pride in the fact that his mate was well-educated making him share. "She is my student."
"An egg head huh? Well good for you." Inuyasha turned back to his papers. "I'll play along until she graduates, then you're on your own."
"Hn." Sesshoumaru turned to leave again and was nearly walked into by a young man heading to Inuyasha's office.
"Professor Saiga!" The human exclaimed and Sesshoumaru blinked down at him, recognizing his scent and aura.
"Murasaki." Sesshoumaru nodded shortly.
"Are you here for the bojutsu class? Or are you two related?" Miroku asked, eyes settling on Inuyasha. His gaze unfocused slightly as Sesshoumaru felt his reiki rise and probe the two other occupants. Before he could dismember him for his impertinence—or get him suspended from class—he pulled back with a frown. "Damn I could have sworn it was you."
"What?" Sesshoumaru snapped irritably.
"Nothing! Apologies Professor Saiga, see you in class!" Miroku waved and turned.
The wave of scent that hit Sesshoumaru's olfactory senses made his eyes bleed crimson. The houshi himself smelled like terragon underneath the scents of city and human but in addition to that was the scent of at least two women on his skin, one of whom smelled of sunlight. If he only had brief contact with the woman who was meant to be his mate, Sesshoumaru would have assumed that they were friends, as they seemed to be, but the houshi smelled as though he had engaged in sexual activity despite the shower that still clung to his skin.
Strong arms wrapped around Sesshoumaru's wrists as Miroku turned at the influx of his youki and Sesshoumaru was whisked out of the room before the probing human's violet eyes could land on him.
"Release this Sesshoumaru AT ONCE." He growled dangerously.
"Uh, no. That's one of my students yer getting ready to filet for no reason." Inuyasha growled back.
"He touched her. He was-"
"He is her roommate." Inuyasha cut in. "She's his emergency contact if you want to see his paperwork. Or better yet, go see if she smells like sex."
Sesshoumaru calmed down enough to listen to his half-brother's words and a speculative light lit his eyes. "Hmm. I may do that."