"Your girlfriend is back," Hiro said after handing the drink order to the bar. "Want me to keep an eye on her?"
Sesshoumaru scowled, knowing there was no point in hiding his reaction. Hiro had made it a game of narrating his emotions, especially when he was severely irked about something, speaking as if he were Sesshoumaru's inner thoughts.
He'd inherited his father's panache for mischief, and though his memory was like a steel trap, Sesshoumaru sometimes questioned hiring him. He was just glad his hair was black instead of bright red—youkai had no need to hide in the modern era, but he had a feeling Hiro would dress like his father just to get under his skin.
"As long as she keeps to herself and does not insult the staff, she may stay," Sesshoumaru said, drizzling coulis over several plates before handing them to another server. "And she is not my girlfriend."
Hiro grinned, keeping half an eye on the bar to see when the order would be ready. "She thinks she is. She was going off again about how well she knew you."
"She is bothering other patrons already?"
Hiro's eyes glittered in a way that had his own narrowing. "No, just the people at her table. Looks like a business meeting of some sort. You should really go say hello."
Sesshoumaru returned to the list of receipts in front of him. He usually spent his time in the middle of the entrée table, but he'd decided to try a few new combinations tonight, and being in charge of the desserts allowed him time to experiment between orders. "Why would I do that?"
"Because someone else at the table is totally your type."
There was a slight pang in his heart, a constant craving that had never abated in the centuries after reconciling with his brother, but Sesshoumaru brushed it off. There was no point in dwelling on the past. "You are much too young to lecture me about such things."
Hiro sighed, arms folding over his chest. "Dad doesn't want you to be alone, either, ya know. You're allowed to look once in a while."
Another pang, especially since he knew the deeper meaning of the words. "I did not hire you for such frivolous things."
"Yeah, yeah." Hiro snatched a strawberry from Sesshoumaru's station before he could stop him. "Just keep an eye on the table, anyway. I have a feeling things might get ugly. The bitch is already going off on how she's better than humans."
The daiyoukai sighed as Hiro strode confidently out of the kitchen, not worried one bit about retribution for his thievery, and for once, Sesshoumaru wondered if he'd spoiled the boy too much as a child.
His words rang true, though. If Hizoku was feeling exceptionally haughty and had already dropped his name, he would likely have to address the issue. Personally.