-The Next Morning-
As Miroku strode confidently into the main lobby of Durst and Sung, his tan trench coat billowed behind him, showing off the black silk suit custom sewn to his figure. Seeing a certain lovely employee talking to a guard at the security desk, Miroku's pace slowed as he neared Sango. She was wearing one of his favorite outfits—a silky white blouse with a black pinstriped skirt. The black hose she wore accented the shape of her legs, and her black shoes had high, thick heels with a strap over the ankle. He could see thin, dangly earrings hanging from her perfect earlobes, and her luscious black hair was in a loose ponytail tied below her shoulders. Hearing the tone of her voice, though, she seemed to be upset about something. What's this now?
"What do you mean, you don't know? You haven't tried to call him? He hasn't been to work for a week! You don't think he'd just quit, do you?" Sango vehemently said, trying to keep her voice down to a civil level. Miroku stopped behind her, not yet alerting her to his presence. The security guard currently manning the desk replied,
"We called him five times on Thursday, five times on Friday, and a couple of times on Monday. Today when I called, the operator said the line was no longer in use. Miss Taijiya, I'm sorry, but Kohaku seems to have disappeared. Maybe he's in jail or something...did you try calling the police?" The guard seemed almost apathetic about Sango's situation, which got Miroku a mite more than piqued. Sango slapped her hand down on the counter.
"He would have called me if he were! Or at least his lawyer would have if it were that kind of trouble. He just wouldn't drop everything like that! ...Look, did he say where he was going Wednesday night?" Sango asked, her voice now sounding defeated. The guard scratched his head as he leaned back in his chair. He looked to his right as if accessing his memory, but his mouth grimaced as his memory escaped him.
"I don't know, to say the truth. I'm sorry I couldn't help," he apologized. Miroku saw Sango's shoulders sag, and he set his briefcase down against his leg as he reached up to squeeze her shoulders. Sango gasped in surprise and turned around, revealing to Miroku the tears in her eyes. Miroku asked what was the matter, although he already knew most of the story.
"Kohaku didn't show up to work on Thursday, and he never called me. I don't know where he is! My brother could be dead in some alley, and I can't find him!" Sango quickly whispered, glancing around to see if anyone was watching the tears squeeze out of her eyes. Miroku leaned down again to pick up his briefcase and held her elbow with his other hand.
"Let's go to your office and we'll call a few people. If you still can't get a hold of him, we'll go to the district police station and fill out a missing person's report, okay?" Tugging on her elbow, Miroku got Sango to nod as she hurriedly wiped away a few stray tears. He temporarily let go of her arm as they walked to the elevator and pulled a white handkerchief out of his breast pocket, handing it to Sango. At the elevator, the two of them and four other people rode up, and Miroku kept his hand in the small of Sango's back as she dabbed at her eyes. At the fourteenth floor, he and Sango stepped off, briskly walking to the personnel office. Inside, Sango opened up the backroom's door, locating a phone on the desk on the left wall where she had set up Rin's laptop the Monday before. Miroku set down his briefcase in the rolling office chair next to the desk, and shrugged off his trench coat, laying it over the edge of the chair.
"Are you going to try his apartment number again?" Sango asked, her voice still a bit shaky. Miroku pulled out a Palm Navigator and looked up at Sango, taking a moment to wipe a tear off of her cheek.
"Yes, but if it really is disconnected, I'm going to call the main desk of his building to see if they know anything." Nodding, Sango rolled another office chair over to the desk and sat down as Miroku tapped on the screen of the Palm Navigator a few times. Reaching for the phone, he asked Sango for Kohaku's number, and then dialed it. Hearing Miroku sigh after the automated operator reply turned on, Sango took a deep breath to calm herself down. Miroku then consulted his Navigator and dialed another number.
"Yes, I wanted to ask about a tenant in your building...we're trying to call him, but it seems that he may have moved...yes...Taijiya Kohaku...Thank you," Miroku said, setting his briefcase down on the floor and sitting in the office chair. He watched a spot on the floor while he listened, and Sango saw his eyebrows shoot up once before they slowly sank back down...Miroku, what's the person saying?! Sango was extremely edgy and on the verge of shaking the crap out of the CEO. "Uhm, just a moment, please." Miroku covered up the mouthpiece of the phone and looked at Sango.
"Well, what is it?" Sango whispered almost violently.
"The lady says that Kohaku moved out of his apartment very early Thursday morning, left most of his furniture for the next tenant, and a message to his sister, which they weren't supposed to give to anyone else. She'll give you the message, she says, if you answer a question Kohaku wrote on the front to make sure it was you," Miroku explained, and Sango hastily swiped the phone from him.
"Yes? Yes, this is Sango..." She listened to the question carefully, biting on her thumbnail. "That happened at the Fourth of July picnic we had last year...that's right, isn't it?" Listening intently, Sango took in her brother's message. "Okay, thank you very much...No, no, I'm sure he's fine...Yes, thank you...Good-bye." Hanging up the phone, Sango took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but the tears were making paths down her cheeks anyway.
"Sango? What was the message?" Miroku quietly asked, taking her hands into his. Sango hiccupped a few times, but finally managed to relax. Miroku handed her the handkerchief again, and she dabbed at the wetness on her cheeks.
"He said that I shouldn't look for him because I might get into trouble, but that he would be able to call me again once things settled down. He said not to worry, and that he loved me," Sango croaked out, covering her eyes with the handkerchief. Miroku rolled Sango's chair towards his, tucking her knees between his thighs as he leaned forward to hug her. Smoothing his hand over her hair, Miroku tried to say comforting things, but Sango only continued to cry. A few minutes went by, and Sango finally pulled the handkerchief away from her eyes to wrap her arms around Miroku's waist.
"Do you want to talk to the police anyway?" Miroku asked, hearing that Sango was close to being done crying. He felt Sango shake her head in the negative against his shoulder. "Why not? Afraid something will happen to Kohaku?" She nodded her head in the positive, sniffing once and then letting out a tired breath. Waiting another minute, Miroku's left arm was draped around Sango's back while the other was draped around her shoulders. Feeling her pull back from him, Miroku took his arms away and held her shoulders in his palms. Sango's eyes were a bit red, but she looked calmer. Sango looked to her left and reached for a tissue, blowing her nose daintily. Miroku continued to attempt to comfort her, his hands on her knees.
"Mr. Houshi," Sango said as she tossed the tissue into a garbage can. "Where do you think you're putting your hands?" Miroku's shoulders slumped, and he pulled his arms back as he leaned away from Sango.
"What are you going to do then?" Miroku said, looking at the phone without seeing it. Sango suddenly felt bad for reprimanding Miroku. Sure, his hands were on my knees, but it wasn't like he was pushing them apart...his mind probably wasn't even on that at the moment. We have kissed after all...he's allowed a little bit of intimacy, isn't he? Why am I so...skittish around him? I'm 24-years-old and...still untouched by a man. Isn't that a bad thing by the time a girl gets to my age? Sango squeezed one of Miroku's knees, which were still sandwiched around Sango's knees. Miroku tiredly looked at her, inwardly surprised that her complexion had already returned to normal.
"I...I think I know what I'm going to do. Thank you, Miroku, for helping me," Sango said, smiling softly. He really had been there for her when she had been in the midst of a crisis—and she had thought of his help as his way of copping a feel. Well, there was definitely a reward in store for him, and Sango turned to see if the door to her office was closed.
"Well, I should be on my way, I suppose," Miroku said, starting to get up. Sango, seeing her door still open, whipped her head around and seized Miroku's shoulders, sitting him back down.
"Stay right there, just a second..." Sango said, standing up. She walked quickly to the door, shutting it and turning the lock silently. Flipping on the desk lamp, Miroku turned questioning eyes to her.
"What's this about? A secret plan or something?" he joked, setting his elbows on his knees. Sango grabbed two more tissues and knelt in front of Miroku's chair. Miroku's eyebrows came together in confusion, but Sango ignored his expression and pushed his chest back.
"Sit closer to the edge of the chair," Sango said softly, unbuckling his belt and searching for the button to his slacks. Miroku's mouth was wide open in disbelief.
"S—Sango...you don't have to," he hoarsely said, though Sango dryly noted that he did scoot further out on the chair. She looked up into his eyes as she pulled the zipper down over a quickly growing bulge.
"Think of it as a taste of what's to come for you in the future," she said, snaking her hand into his pants to find the opening to his boxers. Miroku made a noise that was half-groan, half-gasp from the back of his throat upon hearing her and feeling her hand find the arousal inside his clothing. His hands were gripping the arms of the office chair as if the world were about to explode. Sango carefully revealed his arousal, having never seen one this close. She knew what to do, just not how...I guess he'll have to let me know if I'm not doing this right. Taking a quick peek at Miroku, he was watching her with glazed eyes, and his jaw was clenched tightly.
She bent her head then, and took the head of his arousal into her mouth, pulling her lips over the tip. A pained sound reverberated inside Miroku's mouth, and Sango glanced up worriedly.
"It's g-good, keep going," Miroku said thickly. Sango breathed a sigh of relief and did the same thing again, which got Miroku making that same noise. Okay, so that's the noise I want... Experimenting with her tongue and lips, Sango managed to get that sound pretty loud.
Miroku was in heaven. The girl he had been chasing for a year and a half was finally opening up to him, and then she springs this on him. He couldn't remember ever being this excited sexually, and was only holding himself back because he wanted to prolong the moment. It was getting fairly difficult, though, and Miroku felt his control slipping away.
"Uhhn...Sango," Miroku groaned, his hand riding the back of her head. Sango could hear Miroku's heavy breathing, and guessed that he was going to climax soon. Placing her lips as far down his length as she could go, Sango tightened her mouth, sucking gently as she pulled up. That's when she heard Miroku gasp. His seed emptied into her mouth, and Sango reached down to find the tissues she had placed on her lap. Releasing him from her mouth, Sango discreetly used the tissues before looking up at Miroku. Sango saw that his head had rolled back over the edge of the chair, and he was taking deep breaths.
"It was okay, right?" Sango quietly asked, sitting back on her heels. Miroku brought his head back up, looking incredulous. God, Sango...you can't know how badly I've wanted you to do just that.
"It was more than okay, Sango," he said, reaching down to adjust his clothing properly. "I...I haven't felt that good in a long time," he finally admitted. Deciding to go a bit further, Miroku added, "I haven't felt that good in eighteen months, to be exact." Sango's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. He hasn't dated another woman since he met me...he hasn't even had a one-night fling. Her mouth slowly closed again, and Miroku leaned forward to hold her face in his hands.
"I'm glad," Sango sighed, feeling her chest tighten. Miroku set his forehead against hers, and Sango held his wrists loosely.
"Does this mean we can finally go steady?" he teased, which drew a bubble of laughter out of Sango. Agreeing with him, Sango closed her eyes and brushed her thumbs against the backs of his hands. To seal their new relationship, Miroku pressed a chaste kiss to Sango's lips.
-Floor Seventy-One-
Jaken began to sort through Mr. Sesshou's mail, throwing out the junk mail. His shoulders stiffened when Mr. Sesshou and Ms. Tsubaki, who annoyingly insisted that he call her Rin, walked into the office a few minutes after eight. Hmph! They think I don't notice! It's not like I haven't seen the change in Mr. Sesshou...and it's not like their office walls are soundproof. Disgusting! Jaken knew it wasn't his place to say anything, but he planned to hint to Rin that their little interludes in each other's offices weren't secret from him.
Rin walked into her office and set her things down when the phone rang. Picking up the receiver, Rin shut the blinds to her office as she greeted the caller.
"Hello, it's me again," the voice answered. It was definitely a man, but Rin scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.
"It's who? I'm sorry, but I don't recognize your voice."
"Me, the one who called a couple of days ago. I had complimented your breasts?" Rin blanched, and was about to tell the guy off when he continued. "Well, I finally got a glimpse of all of you. Granted, your boss's body was in the way half the time, and then you two went into another room, but still, it's a very nice body."
"Y-you saw us in my apartment? B-but I live on the t-twenty-second floor!"
"Oh, I'll do just about anything to get little glimpses of you. You're my property...you know that, don't you?" the voice growled into the phone. Rin's legs gave out, and she was on her knees next to the desk before she even knew what had happened.
"Onigumo? Y-y-you were spying on me? H-how dare you! I don't belong to you! Leave me alone! I'll see whoever I want to see!" Rin yelled into the phone. She saw Maru run into the room out of the corner of her eye, but tried to pay attention to what Onigumo was saying.
"It looks to me like you're doing more than seeing your boss, Rin. You little slut...I ought to make you pay for cheating on me, but I would never hurt you. In fact, a good fuck like you deserves a guy like me...and I would fuck you good, my little slut. I'll just have to hurt him—besides, I already warned him not to touch my property. And furthermore—" Rin cut him off before he could go on, clutching the phone as if it were Onigumo's neck.
"You stay away from him! I let him touch me because I love him! You're no better than a rapist! Not even Kagura stayed with you for long, did she? I heard she left you after she heard about what you did to me!" Rin felt Maru place his hands on her shoulders, gently squeezing them.
"Heh, Kagura was getting old on me, anyway. It's more fun when they try to resist. You just were playing along, weren't you Rin? You just like it rough, don't you? You like it when I fuck you that hard..." Rin began to cry, and was only able to get out a few more words before Maru took the phone from her.
"J-just stop it! Leave me alone..." Having turned Rin around, Maru held her to his chest as he knelt on the floor. Putting the phone to his ear, he listened to Onigumo's next words, "I can't leave you alone, Rin. I want to feel that body resisting me again." Maru's face twisted in anger, and he fought to make his voice sound cool as he said,
"This line is tapped, Onigumo. It may not stand up in court, but it's enough for a warrant to search all of your premises, including that mob front you've got in Brooklyn. Thanks for calling." Hanging up the phone despite the yelling on the other side, Maru checked the cell phone clipped to his belt to make sure it was on before giving Rin a hug to calm her down.
"Uhm, Mr. Sesshou?" Turning to see Jaken standing at the door, Maru asked what he wanted. "Is everything alright? Do you need me to do anything?"
"Well, everything isn't fine, but you don't need to do anything. I'll take care of it." Maru unconsciously held Rin tighter when saying the last sentence, and watched Jaken close Rin's office door behind him. Before Maru could say anything to Rin, his cell phone rang.
"It's Seikai. We're going to be playing the recording to a judge in about five minutes, and we have men waiting near the restaurant for when we get the warrant. Hopefully, something will be in there. I'll call back in twenty minutes." Before Maru could say anything, the detective hung up. Ending the call, Maru clipped the phone to his belt again. Relaying the information to Rin, who still had her face hidden against his neck, he felt her nod, and wrapped his arms around her again. Standing up, he brought Rin to her feet, and put her arm's length away from him.
"The phone was tapped?" Rin asked, having been distracted slightly from the conversation she just had with Onigumo.
"Well, I didn't want to tell you since it might have made you nervous. I had asked Detective Seikai to do it ever since I came into your office the other day. Remember? You were holding the phone and looked like you had seen a ghost." Rin nodded slowly, looking down at the suspenders on his chest. Suddenly remembering what Maru had said to Onigumo, she looked up at Maru again.
"If they find something at the restaurant, will they arrest Onigumo?" Maru took a tissue from her desk and wiped away the tears on her cheeks as he replied,
"He owns the place, so they have to arrest him most directly. If they can find him, that is." Rin's eyes widened at this, and she reached forward to hold his suspender straps in her hands.
"What do we do if they can't find him?" Maru cupped her jaw in one hand, and held one of her wrists with the other.
"Don't worry about it. The police won't let him anywhere near you. I won't let him near you," Maru reassured her. Rin's grip on him lessened.
"That's what I'm worried about," she whispered. Maru's face changed at that, and he ran his hand along the outside of her arm to the back of her shoulder.
"Rin..." Pulling her to him, Maru set his lips on hers, gently probing them with his tongue. Rin's arms went up to wrap around his neck, and she opened her mouth wider. The kiss that made Rin's knees weak—the therapeutic kiss of the man of her dreams—was the kiss Maru gave her. Rin could feel her heart thumping inside her chest, and pressed closer to Maru in an attempt to feel his heartbeat. Finally breaking the kiss after a moment, Maru somewhat breathlessly asked if Rin wanted to wait for Detective Seikai's phone call. Nodding, Rin said,
"We'll just finish up the cash flows data from yesterday." Glancing at the clock first, Maru watched Rin power up her laptop as she stood on the other side of the desk. 8:22. Let's hope Seikai pulls through for us.
-Floor Fourteen-
Miroku had Sango sitting on the desk. He was standing between her knees, but doing nothing more than gently kissing the side of her neck with both of his arms squeezing her torso against him. Nuzzling aside the neck of her white blouse, Miroku used his teeth to pull the bra strap he found to the side just an inch or so. Then molding his lips to her collarbone, Miroku gently sucked on her skin, bruising that single spot as if giving her the CEO's Seal of Approval.
"Miroku...you're going to give me a hickey if you keep doing that," Sango purred as she rested her cheek on Miroku's shoulder. Miroku didn't respond, obviously, since his mouth was busy with other tasks, but he hugged her a bit tighter. Sango was enjoying Miroku's affections to no end, and was feeling more feminine than she had ever felt in her life up to this point. Taking his lips away from Sango's skin, Miroku gave the spot one last lick before pulling the bra strap back over her shoulder and hiding the new love mark with the collar of her blouse. Putting his arm back around Sango's waist, Miroku set his cheek against Sango's.
"That's the idea. I'm going to make love to you before that mark disappears," he quietly said. Sango smiled and clamped her knees against his thighs. It was then that someone knocked at the door. Sango sighed, and Miroku let go of her, picking up his coat and briefcase. Walking to the door, Sango unlocked it as quietly as she could and opened the door. Someone in a nice suit, whom Sango had only seen once before now, was hopping from foot to foot holding his laptop. His hair was this odd shade of red, and his skin was pale with absolutely no freckles—surprising for a redhead.
"It said 'System Error' on this blue screen, and I didn't save my Excel file!" Sango led the young man into the back room, and Miroku headed out, brushing Sango's arm with the tips of his fingers as he left. Sango smiled inwardly, but set the laptop on the desk. Before Miroku shut the door behind him, he watched Sango for a few seconds.
"What's your name?" Sango asked as the computer turned on. The young man stuttered, but said,
"K-kitsune Shippou, miss. Will I be able to get that file again?" Sango began to flick her fingers over the keys, flipping through different setup screens. Shippou was still hopping from foot to foot. Smiling to himself, Miroku shut the door, and began his trek to the elevator, walking with a new spring in his step.