Chapter 5: Afternoon tea

Sesshomaru let out a small sigh of relief after completing his paperwork. Applying for a Master's Degree in Business across the globe was a headache in itself. He took off his glasses and stretched his muscles. He checked the time; it was 3:43. He decided to text Kagome, just to see where she was.

[Kagome, where art thou?] sent 3:44pm

No response. She must be busy. He turned his attention to his mailbox. There was an e-mail from Totosai Jewelers.

TTS Jewelers [today at 9:47am]
to: S. Taisho

RE: M&S couple rings + gift

Dear Sesshomaru,

The couple's ring set you have requested on behalf of Miroku and his soon-to-be fiancee are now complete. Please come at your earliest convenience to pick them up.

Regards,
the TTS team

P.S. Master Totosai said your personal gift is also ready for pick-up. It looks gorgeous! :) -Rin

Sesshomaru smiled. Rin was always a character and had been working at Totosai's for quite some time now. She personally saw that Totosai Jewelers became a well known franchise throughout Japan and was just now becoming globally known. She always had an eye for beauty, even at a young age.

He checked his cellphone again. Still no reply from Kagome. Perhaps he could sneak out before she came back. He quickly changed from his sweats and tee shirt to slacks and a collared shirt. Grabbing his keys and leather jacket, he headed out towards Totosai's Jewelers.

The drive was short, but the winter storm seemed to be getting worse. He would have to make this quick. Making his way to the front entrance of the store, he noted that Rin was at the front desk as usual. She waved merrily and buzzed him in.

"Sesshomaru! It's so good to see you!" She practically ran around her receptionist desk and tackled him in a semi-professional hug.

He hugged her back, "It's good to see you too. How have you been?"

"Oh you know, the usual," She chatted as she beamed up at him, "Oh, would you like some tea? I'm so rude! I'm sorry."

"Tea would be nice, thank you." Sesshomaru stated.

Rin reached behind her desk and poured some hot water into a teapot and set it on a tray. "I'll make tea for Shippo too. He's in the back room with Miroku's rings. Oh, they're so pretty! You HAVE to see them!" and practically pushed Sesshomaru towards the hall while carrying the tray.

"How's Kagome doing?" Rin asked with a grin, "have you popped the question yet?"

"When the time is right." He replied as they continued down the hall.

"So it IS happening! Ha! Shippo owes me lunch!" She was practically skipping down the hall now. "Here we are!" she announced.

"I trust you will not tell her." he stated.

"When have I ever been anything but dishonest, Lord Sesshomaru? You'd smell my lies from a mile away if I ever did. I'm such a bad liar." She pondered, "your secret's safe with me." and winked at him as they arrived at the doorway. He cracked a grin. She hadn't changed one bit since she was a child.

"Shippo? I have tea! Oh and Sesshomaru's here!" She peeked around the door excitedly. Shippo jumped at the sudden interruption and immediately blushed a the sight of Rin.

"Oh. Hi. Rin." He froze, then glanced at Sesshomaru. Clearing his head, he stood and bowed, "Lord Sesshomaru."

"Shippo." Sesshomaru acknowledged politely.

"Oh Shippo, you've outdone yourself," Rin gushed while peering over Shippo's shoulder, "Master Totosai has really been training you, hasn't he? Sesshomaru, these ones are Miroku and Sango's rings!" She didn't notice Shippo's demeanor shifting dangerously to nervous, flushed state. She set down the tray on the table and began to obliviously pour tea. Sesshomaru glanced at the two with curiosity. He will have to interrogate the two of them later. Especially Shippo.

The rings were just as Miroku had specified, Sesshomaru noted. The set were made of gold, much resembling Miroku's staff in colour and detailing. Sango's engagement ring had a large round cut diamond between two smaller sapphires. Sesshomaru wasn't much for words to begin with, but Shippo had indeed outdone all his previous work. Perhaps he wouldn't be so hard on him later.

Shippo smiled, embarassed, "It was really all Miroku's ideas. I just made it all happen, I guess." He shared a glance with Rin as she handed him his tea. This time, she blushed a bit.

"Sesshomaru, Master Totosai left this package for you. He said to open it to check if anything was damaged during shipping." He handed Sesshomaru an envelope. Rin was almost bursting with excitement.

"Totosai HIMSELF made it! It's absolutely gorgeous!" Rin exclaimed.

Sesshomaru carefully opened the wrapped package. He had asked Totosai to make something for his Kagome in the tradition of the Taisho's. This was to be a promise, of sorts. He pulled out a silver necklace with a pendant. Surrounding the center of the pendant was an ivory carving of an inu youkai among golden amber diamonds, resembling the infamous Taisho's eye colour. The center of the pendant, however, was missing. Sesshomaru could feel an aura of magic on the pendant; a trace of Totosai's famous method of creating his pieces of art.

"Is that were the Shikon no tama is going to be?" Rin piped up.

"Yes." Sesshomaru replied. Totosai had done an excellent job. According to the Taisho's ancestoral tradition, and no pun intended, an inu's gift to their future mate is essentially a bone. In this case, the ivory pendant was a small piece of his rib. He had it surgically removed months ago in preparation for Kagome's gift, although only Totosai knows of the ivory's origins.

The office phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.

"Oh! Excuse me!" Rin rushed out the door down the hall back to her front desk and hollered, "Sorry! I'll be right back!"

He checked his watch. It read 5:30pm, he should really head back home. He put away the necklace and the rings into his jacket.

"Shippo, a pleasure seeing you again. We should do lunch sometime." He stood and shook Shippo's hand farewell.

"Y..yes! Of course! Thank you." Shippo stuttered, "Thank you for coming. I hope Miroku likes it."

"I'm sure he will." Sesshomaru smiled and inclined his head goodbye. He headed down the hall to Rin's chattering over the phone. She waved an apologetic goodbye and mouthed, "Let me know how it goes." and winked at him. He glared back jokingly and smirked.

Sesshomaru barely made it through the highway traffic because of the blizzard. There was still not one text from Kagome. Turning into a side street, he was relieved when he saw her car in front of his apartment building. Getting out of his car, he looked up at Sango's apartment window on the fifth floor and caught a glimpse of Kagome's aura. He'll have to sneak Sango's ring to Miroku another time.

"Hi Kagome," Sesshomaru called on his phone, "I just got back." He draped his jacket over the dining room chair to dry.

"Hi Maru, I'm at Sango's." Kagome giggled, then squealed as Sango motioned dog ears above her head, "I'm NOT going to tell him!" she laughed at Sango.

"I'll be here," Sesshomaru sighed lightly, "are we still on for movie night? You might as well stay over again. The storm's getting worse."

"Yup, I'll be up soon." Kagome chirped.

"Okay, see you soon." Sesshomaru hung up. He sighed tiredly and went to figure out dinner and a movie. Hurray chick-flick date nights.