A.N. Mikazuki Tsuki here with Chapter Two of Simply Business! Wow thank you for such great reviews and comments. I will no doubt keep up with this story. Sorry about the lateness. I wanted to get this out last week but - Sigh- I am all Bio-ed out! Crime scene analysis and dissections (that were so conveniently located before lunch) left and right.
Disclaimer: I do not own this anime.
Summary: A cold and ruthless businessman? What are the odds he would fall for a simple pet store worker?
(Just a heads up) TSUKI will be my spacers and Sesshoumaru will be a human in this fiction. It works out better.
(TSUKI)
Simply Business
(TSUKI)
Chapter Two
(TSUKI)
Sesshoumaru parked neatly into his driveway. The throbbing headache from earlier still alive and well. Running a business really took its toll, but when you add dozens of calls and notes left by petty woman...It was truly maddening. But young, rich, and undoubtedly very good looking made Sesshoumaru basically every woman's dream.
If they also dreamed of a man wrapped up in a cold, indifferent shell.
Sesshoumaru was graced with natural platinum blond hair that flowed in silk like strands to his ankles. On possibly anyone else it could possibly be thought freakish, but on Sesshoumaru, it would be sin if anything else adorned his scalp. Each strand even seemed to beg and call out to be touched, but steeled, though striking amber eyes promised imminent death if you even considered it. A perfectly chiseled body of someone who knew a very good gym and a flawless face and smooth, though cool voice, he was the epitome of a Killing Perfection, ruthless and without a doubt, a looker.
Grabbing his briefcase and removing his keys from the ignition he got out of the car, with more grace than anyone could have ever thought could be performed with that action.
He was fully expecting to see his daughter staring out into the diminishing sun or doing her homework or even playing around with one of the kids from the near by orphanage, as she waited patiently for him as what he had been accustomed to.
What he was not expecting was the yipping dog that bounded on him, knocking him not so gently to the ground.
Tackling flying dogs— the best way to be greeted from a long day of work.
Nope, this day definitely had not gotten worse, no way, no how... Please note the heavy sarcasm.
He heard a gasp from Rin and the small girl rush to pull the dog off the business man. "Papa Sesshoumaru! I'm so sorry!"
The small girl looked worriedly at her father figure who sat up rigidly, sparks of anger seemingly bursting from his every pore as the dog sat happily in his lap. His face however displayed none of the rage boiling under his skin.
Sesshoumaru looked down at his Armani suit that was covered in small marks from the pup's small clawed paws. He closed his eyes, "Rin."
"Yes, Papa Sesshoumaru?"
"Tell me where you found this dog."
His voice was the not embodiment of the biting anger he felt, but cold indifference. Rin looked down at her shoes. Her voice was uneasy, "Rin did not find the puppy."
His first thought was relief. At least it had not been a stray, so there was no chance of anything infecting his daughter. Then he frowned in thought going over what the child had said.
With a sigh, Sesshoumaru softened his gaze, and calmed down somewhat. He knew that Rin would always revert to the third person whenever she became nervous. It was a habit she never did break but it always helped him to recognize her apprehension. Rin bent down to pet the whimpering dog and Sesshoumaru tried a new reproach.
"Then how did you come in possession of it?"
Rin bit her bottom lip, "Kagome-chan gave me Kagome."
Sesshoumaru still felt as if he was missing something for he was utterly confused. And he hated confusion of any kind.
"Explain."
Rin lowered her eyes from his. She was not afraid of Sesshoumaru per se, but she did fear what would or could happen to Kagome or the puppy she had given her. Rin could not however ignore a question asked. She murmured quickly, "Rin stopped by the pet store and the nice lady gave me a puppy."
Sesshoumaru stood, "I see. Where is this pet store?"
Rin continued to gaze nervously at the ground as she gave him directions to the store.
He just could not punish the girl. Some may say that he spoiled her, but he felt she deserved it. And since he could not punish her, the worker who had given her the dog would just have to do... Not that he minded that.
He handed Rin a key to the house and took the whimpering pup in his arms, "I need to have a word with this Kagome." He stressed the name with a frown. Sesshoumaru looked back at Rin, "You are to go inside and finish your homework in your room. There is something for you to eat in the fridge."
Rin nodded sadly turning to do as her father figure had said, "Yes, Papa Sesshoumaru."
A malicious glint entered his eyes as he got into his car, a determined tilt to his lips as he sped off.
(TSUKI)
Windows down, a car sped in a rushed manner from the neighborhood that she had previously been in. Raven hair whipping about, Kagome grinned as she pulled up into a spot closer to Chibi Pets than the one she had been in just twenty minutes ago. "That was lucky! Usually it's so hard to find a parking spot."
Getting out of the car, she stretched her limbs, a goofy smile in place. She looked up at the sky, her smile dissipating, and groaned "Perfect day to choose to rain! I don't have an umbrella or anything..." It was not that she hated the rain, it was quite the opposite, but she did not like getting caught in the rain unprepared. 'I have a jacket, but that is not enough to ward off too much.'
The sky had decided to darken and no doubt there would be a heavy down pour in maybe a matter of minutes.
"That, or some one up there is just really, really pissed." She gave a small laugh before running off to Chibi Pets.
Hojou would seriously kill her if she did not get back before he did.
Well... not really but she still had to get back to the front station. Koharu was not very good with using the register.
She shuddered remembering how Koharu tried to get change simply for a dollar only to have the register all but blow up.
Picking up her steps even more, she made it into the store in record time. She gave a sigh of relief when she noted that everything was in perfect order.
'I guess nothing can put a damper of this day.'
Her grin was bright enough to light the whole store...
Kohaku smiled taking notice of the cheerful girl, "Why so happy Kagome-chan?"
Kagome shook her head still simpering brightly, "No reason, Koharu." The girl gave her a dramatic sigh, "Oh come on, spill! Did Houjo finally ask you out?"
Kagome rolled her eyes but before she could respond, a hunched over old woman who had obviously seen better days with graying hair and wrinkled skin, and an eye patch, entered the shop. She was holding three bags of cleaning supplies. The two girls went over to help the old woman, greeting her in the process. "Kaede- sama! Glad your back."
Koharu smiled and said softly, becoming quite shy at the sight of her employer, and politely said, "It's been incredibly quiet without you or the other workers."
Koharu was shy by nature unless she got to know the person and despite her long employ at Chibi Pets, she was still warming up to her boss. Kagome however went to school with the girl.
Kaede returned the warm greetings and led the three to the back room, "Yes, it seems to be a very slow day. Must be the rain, not many like to go out when it is about to pour."
The woman began unpacking her purchases before continuing, "You girls can probably take the day off and I'll see you both tomorrow. I will dismiss the others when they come in from their break. With the rain, I am sure it would not hurt business to close up early."
Koharu gave the woman a shy, though grateful bow and collected her things. With a last wave she left.
Kagome gave the old woman a hug, "Thank you Kaede-sama. And before I forget, one of the puppies is now with the Taisho family to see if they will want to keep her. I filled out the special forms and signed in my name because there was no parent present. You can take the money from my pay," she gave a grin.
Kaede smiled, "Alright, I will take care of it. Now off with you. I'm sure you have much more important things to do, such as calling your brother for one..."she said pointedly giving a sad smile, "I'm sure he and you mother have been worried about you over- stressing yourself."
Kagome blushed. She was a known crammer, and so there were some times when she just lost her self in her work. Her family was bound to be worried, and maybe right so. With a small smile, she agreed, "Okay, Kaede-sama, I'll make sure to do that."
She grabbed her bag and jacket, when suddenly a crack of thunder sounded in the background, she groaned at the immediate sound of pounding rain, "Bye Kaede-sama!"
Kaede called out, "Good bye, Kagome, drive safe!"
With her jacket over her head and her bag on her back she ran into the freezing down pour, with a loud squeal. The wind whipping about harshly, flung off her jacket.
Muttering a curse under her breath, she chased after it, becoming soaked to the bone in the process. She did not see the light material fall in front of a tall man.
Wiping her hair angrily out of her face, she blinked as suddenly the object of her desire was placed in her face.
She cocked her head to the side in confusion as she gently took it. "Thanks," she looked up to see cold amber eyes. 'He looks so familiar...'
Where had she seen those eyes before?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a whimper. "What...?"
A dog?
She looked down and saw, a soaked to the bone pup in the man's arms, "Are you crazy!"
She was no hard core animal activist, but this was terrible.
The man only stared blankly at her, and Kagome angrily pulled off her backpack. Digging through it, she pulled out a blanket, and gently took the dog from him and wrapped the shivering animal in the hideous bright pink and orange fabric.
She blushed, 'Please don't ask why I have the blanket,' she repeated like a mantra then remembering her anger, she glared at him, "What are you thinking! The poor thing could catch a cold!"
Sesshoumaru retook the dog irritably, "I do not have time for this, woman."
Kagome looked up at the darkening sky, and wiping water off her face said firmly, onc4e again taking the dog carefully in her possession. "Well, now, you do."
Sesshoumaru growled, as the seemingly insane girl dragged him to her car. When he just stood outside the car after she unlocked it, she yelled over to him "You two are going home and that dog is getting warm. I'm sure wherever you are going will not want a pneumonic pup on hand."
Sesshoumaru glared at the woman and the dog, but she did have a point. He glanced at the bright red vest that came into view, 'Chibi Pets?' he mused getting in the car. She would undoubtedly know more about dogs than he, and their store, as she said, would not want to take back a deathly sick pup. And as he glanced into the pet store, and noticed it was completely empty, decided the girl he wanted would not be in there either.
He did not know how right he was.
A sopping bundle of gaudy fabric was placed in his arms and the heat was blasted, half for the sake of the two soaked to the bone pair and half for the shivering pup, stirred him from his thoughts.
The man gave her a cold look, and she just smiled innocently, "I'm the driver, you're the passenger with no responsibilities what so ever. Who's better suited to hold an animal?"
He sniffed disdainfully, "I'm beginning to think that you are incredibly insane." Kagome gave an angry grunt and pulled out of the parking space, muttering, "I know you are incredibly mean."
"What was that?"
"I said, Since I don't know where you live, can I have directions?"
Deciding to ignore her earlier comment at the shivering of the dog, and he simply gave her a shortcut to his home the two reached the house with in record time.
Kagome vaguely thought that the house looked familiar, but it was hard to tell with the sudden blanket of dark and the whirl of mist and heavy pouring down of rain.
Quickly redoing her stringy hair into a sloppy pony tail, it having fallen out, she took the puppy and ran to the hooded porch, while with an incredulous huff saw the man that now could be safely labeled a prick, taking his sweet time.
When they finally got inside, he led the two into the living room. Kagome gently checked out the dog. "Can you get her some towels, please?" and noting a fireplace with fresh wood she went at the task of making a fire.
The man soon returned, in a new set of clothes, less formal this time with a black polo and a simple pair of pants. He held a bundle of towels along with a pair of slacks and a pajama top. At her curious look he just tossed the clothes at her, "Here. There's a bathroom upstairs you can change in."
As Kagome took them she was able to finally get a good look at him. Her breath caught in her throat.
He was gorgeous.
Amber eyes that were intensified by the glow of the fireplace, a perfectly angled face, and silk like platinum blond hair but most importantly she got a look at his smirk. With a dark blush on her cheeks as she took the garments with a soft 'thank you'.
She returned moments later to find a 'goldening' puppy by the fire. The dog looked very familiar.
'Kagome?' Was the pup the Rin-chan's?
Pushing up the large shirt that kept falling off her shoulder, she held her wet work vest, top, and bottom in her arms. Luckily her undergarments had remained dry.
"Is there anywhere I can put these to dry?"
The man looked up at her entrance, "Are you so trusting that you could go home with a man you don't even know just to tend to their dog?"
His tone sounded mocking and Kagome blushed feeling suddenly uneasy, "Well n-no. I just- well she looked so familiar..." she pointed toward the Kagome, "And I don't think any bad person would bother to keep a dog."
Sesshoumaru snorted, "Yet you still don't bother to get my name and will go on the fact that I have a dog as a safe thing?"
Rolling her eyes, Kagome sat next to the sleeping dog, "Well then, what's your name?"
"Sesshoumaru."
Kagome's eyes lighted with recognition. "Are you by any chance, Rin-chan's father?"
Sesshoumaru's widened a bit wondering how she knew him. They narrowed as he frowned having quickly pieced things together, "You are Kagome."
The girl blinked, "Yes, how'd you know?" At the glare of the man in front of her, she had a very bad feeling that she had done something wrong...
(TSUKI)
A.N. Poor Kagome! Trapped in a room with the ever ruthless Sesshoumaru. It took him a while though to find out it was Kagome lol and next chapter we see the fireworks. Thanks again for the boat load of reviews! I never expected this to do so well. Also as my Delightfully Disastrous reviewers know, I do reviewer responses, but I have not been feeling too well and so they will be posted next chapter.