Hanakotoba Matsuri 2024 Week 01: Endurance & Energy
Flower: Red hibiscus (passion), Poppy (peace)
Element: Fire
Trope: Stranded in a deserted location, Struck speechless
"Are we having dinner on Friday?"
Kagome sighed, stretching her legs out on the couch. Sesshoumaru was currently seated on the floor, though she'd offered to move. He never liked staying in one place too long, even inside his apartment. "I can't. Mama's set up another marriage meeting."
In a not-so-rare show of emotion, not around her at least, he rolled his eyes. "How many is this now? Three?"
"Five," Kagome replied, turning the page in her magazine. "Ever since things didn't work out with Hojo, she'd been trying extra hard."
His fingers skimmed over his keyboard, the soft whoosh of another sent email sounding before he glanced over his shoulder. "Wasn't he the first one?"
She smirked, not looking up from the article she was reading. "Took everyone dressing up for the meeting for him to finally confess to his parents that he was gay. It was a little bit of a debacle, but good overall. They were super understanding."
"Yet your mother continues to push these meetings on you when you have not asked for them," he rebuked, finally closing his laptop.
She shrugged. "It's not like I've got anything better to do. And she always makes sure they're outside of work hours." As a personal shopper, she technically didn't have set hours, but Mama was conscious of that and never questioned it when their schedules didn't line up.
Sesshoumaru leaned back against the couch, the ends of his hair tickling her calf. He always wore it tied back in some way when he was out in public, but at home, he preferred to leave it loose. He'd cut it short a year ago—after one of his nieces got a wad of gum stuck in it—but it was growing out nicely, already reaching past his shoulders.
Inuyasha had found her as soon as she graduated high school, giving her those three years to make sure he didn't mess with the timeline. It had been one thing to see him again, but seeing Shiori, too, had given her hope that others had survived.
Shippou eventually found the time to fly back to Japan to see her. He'd hit maturity in the last 500 years, now standing taller than Inuyasha, which he rubbed in at every moment. Their fights were far less emotional than the brawls they used to have, though the teasing was still there, and it warmed Kagome's heart every time she got to see everyone.
Sesshoumaru had been a surprise. Even more so when he showed up with Shippou the second time. Apparently, they'd gone into business together, creating a line of long-lasting toys that even youkai toddlers couldn't destroy. They'd recently opened a new location on the mainland, which Shippou was overseeing, but Sesshoumaru was more intimidating when it came to ensuring supplies were delivered on time, so he'd been flying back and forth when Shippou needed backup.
She started writing the kit regularly, but since he was so busy with the new shop being built, her correspondence had had to go through Sesshoumaru, and soon they'd been conversing almost daily.
It was odd, considering they'd barely spoken in the past, but he'd become much more relaxed in the last five centuries. He was CEO because it allowed him the freedom to travel, but Shippou had sent her candid shots of him in the back of the shop, sleeves rolled up as he worked on new toys.
She wasn't sure when they'd passed the label of friends, but she looked forward to her time with him when he was in town. He had a surprisingly dry sense of humour, one that Inuyasha had had to explain, but it seemed time did wonders for clearing the air. He was Inuyasha's kids' favourite uncle.
"You should just marry me," he said, laying an arm across a bent knee.
Her magazine fell from her fingers, eyes widening. "What?"
His shoulders raised in a careless shrug. "Then your mother would leave you alone."
Kagome scowled, rolling up her magazine and smacking him over the head with it. "That's not something to joke about!" He was liable to give her a heart attack with something like that. She raised her arm to smack him again on principle, but he caught it before she made contact.
"I am always serious about decisions such as these. The kit is the one who enjoys the art of jesting."
Breath stilled in her lungs as she stared at him. "Why would you want to marry me?"
He relieved her of her weapon, flattening it out on top of his computer before getting to his feet. "Why not?"
She scrambled after him. "That's not good enough! How am I supposed to give you a proper answer if you won't give me one?"
A soft chuckle escaped his lips, softening his expression. It was one she'd seen before, but with the question he'd just asked, Kagome suddenly felt heat rising to her face. Her feet froze to the floor when he turned on her, claws running through her hair to tuck a stray strand behind her ear. "I have always enjoyed that about you."
His tone was warm, but she pulled away nonetheless, hands shaking as she grabbed her things. "I should go. I've got a video call with my next client in an hour." Avoiding his gaze, she slung her backpack over one shoulder and quickly stuffed her feet into her shoes.
Sesshoumaru didn't protest but followed her to the door. He stood over her, his presence more overbearing than before, and she jumped when he grabbed her wrist at the last second, forcing her to turn around.
Her entire world had shifted on its access, all because of one simple question, and he seemed keen on taking advantage of it, lowering his head to brush his lips against hers. Kagome didn't know what to do, giving him a helpless look when he pulled back.
"I will take that as payment for not giving me an answer right away." Kagome gave him a curt nod, then fled.
He'd disappeared.
Well, not disappeared, considering she knew exactly where he was, but he'd still left the country.
Kagome had been agonizing over his proposal, trying to figure out the best answer, but she realized she needed more information than he'd given her. So, she'd stomped back to his apartment three days later—only to find a note taped to his door about an issue with the manufacturer on the mainland.
The bastard hadn't even bothered texting her that he was leaving.
She wasn't about to let that fly, so she'd postponed her next few clients and booked the next flight over. He wanted an answer, and now he was going to get one.
Along with a piece of her mind.
She wasn't stupid enough to barge in on a business meeting, so she contacted Shippou, making up a story about taking some time off to travel and wanting to stop by to see the new shop. The kit had been ecstatic, though too busy to show her around the city, giving up the address without thinking twice.
She bought some food at a local cafe on her way over, not bothering to find a hotel before knocking on the front door. Shippou welcomed her with open arms, flitting back and forth between her and the carpenters installing shelves along the walls.
The shop was about halfway done, and it was hard to imagine it fully furnished, but Shippou pulled out a stack of blueprints and sketches of what it would eventually look like. "We want things to be low to the ground so the kids can actually play with them when they're here," he said, motioning to the shelves lining the floor.
"Aren't you worried about things being broken before they're purchased?"
He flashed her a grin. "That's the whole point. They don't break easily. So even if a toddler has a tantrum and throws it on the floor, it'll stay in one piece." He was preening by the time he finished, and Kagome went up on tiptoe to ruffle his hair.
"I'm proud of you," she said, giving him a warm smile.
He scratched the back of his head, the tips of his ears turning red. "Thanks. I'm having a lot of fun."
She chuckled. "I can tell. You've worked really hard to make your business a success."
He gazed around the room, hands sliding into his pockets. "I never would've thought it possible if it wasn't for Sesshoumaru. He's been the driving force behind it." The simple mention of his name had her aura souring, and she pursed her lips. Shippou blinked at the sudden change in her demeanour. "You okay?"
The lid on her temper rippled. She didn't want to get into the reason behind the impromptu vacation, but her patience was wearing thin—along with her courage. She needed to yell at him while she still had the willpower to do so. "Will he be back soon?"
Shippou checked his watch. "Probably. The meeting shouldn't have gone over." One of the carpenters came over with a tape measure, tapping a few different places, and Shippou gave him a thumbs up. "I can't leave the shop, but I can call you when he gets here if you want to go shopping or something."
She didn't get the chance to respond, the subject of her ire walking through the front door, a small group of well-kept businessmen behind him. Kagome stiffened, power flaring, and he paused in the middle of the floor, head snapping to the side.
Hands clenching into fists, she half stomped up to him, poking him in the middle of his wrinkle-free vest. "How dare you just disappear!" The men behind him murmured amongst themselves, and his eyes narrowed before he grabbed her arm, dragging her outside. "I will be back in a moment. Please refer to Itazura-san for the concerns we have been discussing."
As soon as the door shut, she yanked herself away from him. "I won't be cast aside like a—"
"I do not have time to explain things right now," he said, cutting her off. She was seconds away from blasting him again, but he pulled a business card out of his pocket, quickly writing something on the back. "This is where I am staying. Go there, and I will be along as soon as I can." His tone gave her no room for argument, but she continued to glare at him even as he turned around. "And call your mother. She is worried about your sudden disappearance."
The door closed silently behind him, but Kagome flinched anyway. He hadn't said the exact words, but it was a dismissal all the same. She had half a mind to storm back in there and tell him exactly what he could do with his offer, but Shippou's reputation would suffer, so she knew she couldn't.
Taking a cleansing breath, she checked the address on the card he'd given her, noting that the street was only a few blocks away, and started rehearsing her response on the way over. He'd all but ruined their friendship with his callous question, and she wasn't about to let him get away with it.
Sesshoumaru must have called ahead because the concierge was ushering her toward the elevator as soon as she entered the building. He listed off the hours and locations of their amenities, and she had to tell him twice to slow down so she could understand him.
She'd studied linguistics in college to pass the time because she still hadn't chosen a major, and after discovering she could make a living out of being a personal shopper, being able to converse in multiple languages had quadrupled her clientele. She wasn't fluent but knew enough to read their list and collect her fee.
The concierge brought her to the top floor, giving her a copy of the key card before showing her into a lush suite. After explaining the preprogrammed numbers by the phone, he left her alone.
"Show off," she mumbled, hands on her hips as she glared around the room. Everything was pristine; it didn't even look like he'd been in the room, save for a single suitcase tucked against the side of the couch. She strode purposely toward it. "If you're going to stick me here, I'm using your credit card to order room service."
Yanking it onto the couch, she clicked it open, the sight of his neatly folded clothing only enraging her more. Had the entire proposal been a joke? She'd been a wreck for three days, all while he'd been living it up on a first-class flight. Grabbing the first dress shirt, she flung it over her shoulder, not caring where it landed or how wrinkled it became.
Every piece of clothing soon followed: pants, a lounging yukata, another shirt, some socks, and a belt. They all ended up in a crumpled pile on the floor, and she hoped it was the first thing he saw when he returned.
"Serves you right," she said, pulling out a travel wallet. The zipper got stuck on each corner from the force she put into opening it, and she nearly threw it across the room. "I'm going to rack up your card and—" She almost dropped the wallet when she saw what was inside.
Tucked into one side was a used copy of a book she'd been raving about just over a week ago. She'd all but spoiled the ending with how much she'd talked about it because she never expected him to read it himself. It wasn't his style. There was a torn piece of paper poking out of the top, and she flipped to the page it was holding, hands stilling as the title of the last movie they'd seen stared up at her.
They'd both hated it, not even making it to the end before walking out. To make it up to themselves, they'd found the nearest high-end restaurant and ordered dessert for dinner. It had been wonderful but not memorable.
At least, not to her.
A pressed flower wrapped in wax paper sat on the other side of the wallet, lying on top of a collection of cards and IDs. She'd attempted to learn how to do it for one of his niece's birthdays, using the leftovers from Shiori's flower shop.
The first had been a total disaster, petals torn in several places, and if it hadn't been for Sesshoumaru, she wouldn't have even tried a second time. He'd spouted something about patience and a dig about how a simple craft had defeated her.
She'd doubled down just to prove him wrong, uncaring of what happened to the trial run. The red hibiscus was faded around the edges, but he'd kept it.
Kept it with him.
The door clicked open, and she heard him shuffle inside. "I understand your ire, but using the kit to interrupt a business meeting is beneath you," he said, dropping his jacket on the back of a chair. "Did you call your mother? I have several messages from her wondering where you ran off to—and why you blew off your marriage meeting."
She thumbed the broken petals, slowly turning to face him. He let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair to pull it from its braid. The fire of her anger died down, and she met his gaze. "Are you in love with me?"
She saw him jerk, his amber eyes moving to the objects in her hands. He tried to grab the wallet from her, but she twisted away, holding it against her chest. "It is against the rules to go through someone's private things."
"Screw the rules!" she shot back. "You broke them by asking that stupid question and then running off!"
His jaw tightened. "I was attempting to give you time to think it over."
"You should've stuck around and explained yourself!" She gripped the items. "Scratch that. You should've started with this and led up to the question." Her head was spinning. He hadn't answered her earlier claim, but if his secret collection was anything to go by, there was only one explanation.
He slowly advanced on her, plucking the wallet from her hands and zipping it closed. Kagome made a noise of protest, but he cupped her face, drawing her close before swallowing the rest of her tirade. His mouth moulded to hers, tempting her to respond.
She whimpered, grabbing onto his wrists. Sesshoumaru was kissing her. Sesshoumaru was kissing her. And trying to make her kiss him back. His thumbs stroked her cheeks, and the touch was so gentle she slumped against him.
An arm snaked around her waist as she tilted her head, revelling in his taste as she gave in. She could feel the heat of his skin through their clothing, blunt nails digging into his shirt as she grappled for purchase, and it felt like an eternity before he pulled back. "Is that a yes?" he breathed, pressing their foreheads together.
She managed not to kick him and shook her head. "Absolutely not." He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, and Kagome lifted her chin. "You're going to take me on a date first, and when you propose properly, you better be down on one knee."
She thought the side of his lips quirked before he kissed her temple. "As you wish."
"Good." She pointed the same finger in his face as before. "Now get changed. You're taking me out right now. To dinner. After I shower." She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned around. "And your suitcase was a mess when I found it. You should learn to put your things away properly." His growl signalled his promise of retribution, but she flounced toward the bathroom, knowing she'd rush through bathing just to spend a few extra moments with him.
He'd waited long enough.