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Chapter Text

The Essence of Marriage

Chapter 1 

Sesshomaru stared at the papers that were sitting on top of his polished ebony desk, which he was currently sitting behind. Everything was silent, as he was alone in his slightly bare office; he preferred the place not having any sort of clutter, which seemed to include almost any kinds of decorations. The sudden object of his disdain – papers – were on top of a plain manila envelop, which they had been delivered in. They appeared relatively harmless, as if they were of little importance or value, but how they looked was a lie.

Those papers were the number one priority in his life at the moment, even though he did not want to think that they were. They could cause all sorts of wounds and injuries, so they were nowhere near harmless. But, of course, he liked to tell himself that he was above harm, any type of harm, especially from her. They were divorce papers; he and his wife were getting a divorce. Yes, that was the plan.

His wife had signed them already. Her signature was neat and curvy, almost delicate, lying in solid blue ink at the bottom of the page that he was currently eyeing with an unreadable expression on his typically stoic face. The name peered at him like a thousand needles in his eye, Kikyo Kamina. She had even signed her maiden name for him to fully understand and accept the idea that they were no longer together, for him to get the feel of her no longer being his. A part of him that he did not want to acknowledge noted that he did not like the feel of her no longer being his. The idea that that was even possible was unsettling.

Sesshomaru ran his fingers through his long, silver locks as he stared down at the papers as if that would help matters any. It was not like looking at them would change anything, not that he was certain he wished to change anything. She had attached a little purple Post-it note to the papers that merely stated "this is your desire," as if she knew the thoughts that would rack his brain. The note was just like her, passive aggressive. He was the actively aggressive one, but that was only because she pretended to be so apathetic toward many things, even the things that they both knew were significant to her. He recalled that it was like that when he first brought up the idea of terminating their marriage.

“Perhaps we should get a divorce,” he had proposed in a tone that had been so casual that it was like he was offering to take his wife out to dinner. It had flowed from his mouth as if it was the most natural thing for him to say.

Kikyo, not to be out done in aloof detachment, responded, “Perhaps.” Her voice had been just as cool and calculated manner.

And with those two sentences that did not even consist of eight words altogether defeated their marriage as if it was something mundane and ordinary that did not need to exist. “Why did I say those words?” he asked himself, sounding quite baffled, which was something that he was not accustomed to.

He knew why, though. We were both so obviously tired of each other. That thought got him back on track. They had not been going anywhere, especially not somewhere worthwhile. They had barely been able to stand the sight of each other when he had made the proposition of putting their marriage out of its misery, like their bond had been a horse with a broken leg.

“We were a cliché together,” Sesshomaru realized with a low growl, unable to keep the disdain out of his voice.

They had become the married couple that acted like familiar strangers, if that. They were the married couple that people probably wondered why or how they were even together in the first place. He would actually be surprised if the people at his firm knew that he was married.

They had done things, unflattering things, or maybe it was more like he had done things during the marriage. He could not pinpoint any major offense on her part and he believed that she had remained as true as she could. Maybe it was just him, he considered for a moment. And then he dismissed that as nonsense.

He was Sesshomaru and by definition that made him incapable of making a mistake. He was perfection and everyone knew that for a fact. He had proven that he was perfect time and time again; it was one of the reasons that he had so much work now and in the past. He was perfection embodied and nothing would convince him otherwise. But … if he was perfect, why could he not make his wife happy anymore? Why was it that he did not know what she needed anymore? Why was she so ready to walk away from him?

“Why was it so easy for us to fail?” he asked the air, shaking his head.

He focused his golden eyes on the signature that was on the paper. It questioned why he could not make his mark to join it. He was not sure why he could not sign the damned things and just be done with them, be done with her, just like he should be. His brain whispered the reason across the dark regions of his mind and he just refused to acknowledge that answer, which was that he still wanted her to be his. She was still his.

“She will always be mine,” he growled.

That woman, the woman enchanted Sesshomaru from the moment that he first spoke with her and she easily wrapped her spell around his whole being, binding them together. That woman was his woman, would always be his woman, and he did not want to let her go for anything. She would become someone else’s woman if he released her like the papers told him to do; she would be the woman of someone that did not deserve her or earn her in any way. She would end up with some fool that would not understand what she needed, some moron that would not know how to deal with her.

But, then again, he truly did not want to deal with Kikyo anymore. That was the reason they were where they were after all, right? He just did not want to be bothered by that annoyance of a woman anymore. So, he should just sign the papers and cut the frustration loose. They would both be much happier that way, would they not? His mind did not offer him an answer to that question.

“Where is my pen?” he wondered with a slight growl as he searched the rather neat desk for a writing instrument.

Sesshomaru scanned around the desk for a pen because he knew that there should have been one nearby. He was supposed to be working after all, but he did not see any pen on his organized, immaculate desk. He went into one of the four drawers and pulled out a blue pen while turning his attention back to the divorce papers. He stared at the signature already present and at the note attached to them.

“This is so typical of her,” Sesshomaru complained in a low tone. A frown tugged at his usually expressionless face.

He was not sure what he meant by the remark or even how he felt about it. She was such a perplexing creature and confused him utterly. He was not sure of much anymore, he noted, especially the reason why he was not signing the blasted papers. He wanted to believe that if he signed the papers then that would please her somehow. Despite everything that had happened between them, she was his wife and he did want her to be as happy as she possibly could.

But, Sesshomaru refused to believe that Kikyo could be happy without him. How could she be happy without being able to be held in his powerful arms whenever she wished? How could she be happy leaving the fact that he would always be there to protect her from anything that might do her harm? How could she be happy without his tender kiss? It just did not seem possible to him.

Sesshomaru sighed as he realized the thoughts that he was having. When was the last time that he bothered to even kiss her or embrace Kikyo? He was not sure. She had been ducking and dodging him before he even stopped trying. All right, so, he should definitely sign the papers now that he remembered that fact.

Before he acted on the idea of signing the papers, he thought about how his family would feel when they found out about the divorce. He was not sure why the thought came into his mind, but it was there now. He and Kikyo were very private people, so they had been keeping their problems to themselves and none of his family was aware of the fact that their marriage was rocky or even close to coming to an end. But, it would be rather impossible to hide an entire divorce.

His mother would probably weep, which she would follow up with being angry, extremely angry more than likely. She liked Kikyo very much and she thought that he and Kikyo were a great couple. She delighted having Kikyo in their family, believing that with Kikyo around it was like having a second daughter. His mother and Kikyo got along very well, enjoying each other’s company whenever they around each other. No, his mother certainly was not going to be pleased with finding out that he was divorcing Kikyo at all. Worst of all, his mother would certainly blame him for the divorce, even if he were perfection personified.

“To her, Kikyo was the perfect one. If only she knew,” he muttered to himself.

His father would probably look at him as a failure, Sesshomaru figured. He had failed to make his wife happy. Perhaps he was a failure, Sesshomaru considered for a second. After all, a husband was supposed to make his wife happy, correct? He could not have done that if she had not only agreed to the divorce, but signed the papers before getting them to him. She seemed to want out of this twisted thing that they called a marriage, maybe even more than he did.

Sesshomaru shook those thoughts away and then contemplated what his siblings were going to think when they found out about the separation. He could already hear his little brother’s cackling and immature gloating, boasting about how he always said that Sesshomaru would never be able to hold onto Kikyo. Just thinking about it all gave him a headache, so he could imagine just how terrible it was going to be in reality. He might have to tape that brat’s mouth shut after he heard the news just to save the little sanity he seemed to be clinging to.

His little sister would have an entirely different reaction. She might actually attempt to slay him, Sesshomaru realized. He could already hear her heatedly blaming him, accusing him of hurting Kikyo once she knew that Kikyo would be going away and she might not get to see Kikyo again. She might even hate him for what was happening and would have no problem saying that to his face with complete disregard to what it would do to him.

His little sister adored Kikyo beyond measure. She had always wanted a big sister and he had delivered just that to her when he married Kikyo. The two ladies spent so much time together with Kikyo treating his sister just as she would treat her own and now his little sister was going to know that Kikyo was leaving, not just him, but their family. His sister would be infuriated and he was very aware that there was nothing that he could do aside from bear her wrath because it was decidedly best that he and Kikyo part ways.

He just did not wish to return to a woman that looked at him with cold, absolutely dead eyes; her eyes were like those of a puppet’s or a doll’s, lacking any and every sign of even existing. Perhaps it was somewhat his fault because when he met her, her eyes had housed life. Her eyes had intrigued him back then. It had been four years ago, but it felt so much longer.

-8-8-8-8-

That’s just the beginning of things … or the ending of things really. Next time, see how Sesshomaru and Kikyo got together in the first place.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Four years before the crash …

Sesshomaru sighed and checked his expensive silver wristwatch for what had to be the billionth time in that minute alone; there was no way to calculate how many times he had eyed the watch since he had been in the Hell that he was currently in. He wanted to leave and he wanted to leave yesterday. He was currently stuck at a rather elegant and crowded party.

Why was he stuck? Well, the party was in his honor and if he dared to leave, his father would fill his life with misery and woe for an indefinite amount of time. It was not something that he wished to experience … again. He was already looking at the party as a punishment for either something wrong that he was going to do in the future or had done in the past and his father just had been waiting to get him for it. Either way, he was in Hell and he was not going to be getting out soon it would seem.

Had Sesshomaru known that his parents would make such a big deal about everything, he would have lost his first case just to avoid the annoyance of celebrating the victory. All right, he was lying there. He would not have lost because he could not let anything mar his reputation in any way and he guessed that the party was unavoidable once he won his first and very important case. Of course, he could have come up with some clever excuse to not have to attend the party, but he doubted his parents would have let anything slid short of him being dead.

He had not expected that he would have to stay for the whole function just because he was the guest of honor, but he had been told by his father to stay “or else.” He was not in the mood to find out what “or else” meant. Note to self, never be the guest of honor for anything ever again, Sesshomaru told himself.

The stoic, platinum-haired male cast his bored golden eyes out into the gathering, watching many people that he was aware of, but could care less about, mingling with each other and talk about undoubtedly pointless matters. He was willing to bet that most the folks engaging in conversations actually did not care what was coming out of the other person’s mouth and was merely pretending to listen anyway. He knew that he would not care for the conversation spewing from most people, in attendance or otherwise.

He scanned the get-together for only two people, his parents. He figured that if he did not see his father or his mother then he could sneak away and head home. He could always make up some excuse later on, if they desired an explanation anyway. They could always remember who he was and cut him some slack; well, his mother might do that anyway and be able to talk his father into doing the same. It was worth the risk, if only to save him from throwing himself out of a window. Although, the window might be a good plan B.

Before he spotted his parents, Sesshomaru caught sight of his brother. He was willing to bet that his luck was cursed for the simple fact that his little brother saw him at the same time and started heading toward him. He was now totally convinced that the so-called celebration was a punishment, some sort of divine retribution considering the way that Fate had turned on him by allowing his irksome brother to spot him. He then noticed that his brother was almost tugging a petite female form behind him; yes, the party was certainly some form of divine vengeance, he concluded.

“This is just great. Not only will I have to deal with Inuyasha, but also one his shallow, shatter-brained females,” Sesshomaru muttered in an almost tired tone. He felt weary already and shook his head. He was truly starting to believe that it was wrong of him to win that case. Had he lost, at least he would be at home right now and not about to have to put up with his ignorant brother.

“Hey, Sessh-dude,” Inuyasha called loudly when he was barely ten feet away from his brother. 

“Is it a must for him to yell and act like an idiot all the time?” Sesshomaru sighed before turning his attention to the younger male. “Brother, show just a little civility and speak in a lower tone more appropriate for the indoor. Also, cease to call me everything that is not my name,” he ordered coolly.

“What? Sessh-dude is like your name,” Inuyasha argued, as if that statement would appease his older brother. The grin on his face told that he knew he was getting on his big brother’s nerves and he loved it!

“But, it is not my name,” Sesshomaru pointed out in his usual calm tone. His eyes flashed with a warning that the younger male ignored.

“Whatever.” Inuyasha scoffed and rolled his golden eyes.

“I see you wore that monstrous red suit of yours,” Sesshomaru commented in a bored voice, even though the outfit was an affront to his eyes in his opinion. He viewed his brother’s crimson-colored suit as a crime against fashion, even though the color did fit Inuyasha and it was a very well made suit, fitting the younger male perfectly. He wore a cream-colored vest and no tie along with the suit; Sesshomaru sometimes considered that his brother got dressed in the dark. It was the only way he felt the boy could honestly put such an outfit on.

“Look who’s talking. Where’d you get that suit from, a dead body?” Inuyasha countered boldly.

Sesshomaru only rolled his eyes. His suit was pure white and made from the finest silk. It somehow managed to fit him even better than Inuyasha’s suit fit the younger male. The elder brother wore a grey vest with it and a golden tie that almost perfectly matched his eyes. He was willing to bet that his tie cost more than his brother’s entire outfit two times over and in his opinion that was illustrated quite well, especially when they were standing near each other.

“Who is this with you?” Sesshomaru asked Inuyasha, as if he cared. Whoever his little brother was wasting his time with was really something that Sesshomaru seriously believed deserved none of his attention. But, he would rather steer the conversation away from anything even dumber than the girl that Inuyasha would ultimately bring up. After all, Inuyasha was always good for talking about something that made Sesshomaru just want to bang his head against a wall to escape his brother’s voice.

“Oh, yeah!” Inuyasha laughed because of his forgetfulness regarding his companion. He turned his attention to the woman in his company and then introduced her to his brother rather rudely. “Sessh-bum, this is Kikyo Kamina. Kikyo, this is my jerk of an older brother, Sesshomaru.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Kikyo said in a mellow, almost somber tone. She bowed politely to him.

Sesshomaru stared at his brother’s guest as if she was some kind of anomaly, which she was as far as he was concerned. There was something about her that set her apart from his brother’s other girlfriends. For one thing, she had been standing there for a whole five seconds and was not running her mouth about some kind of nonsense that he would have to tune out. She was subtly observing what was going on around her, which he thought was odd for someone in the company of his brother anyway. No one with Inuyasha ever did anything subtly, but especially females with him. Then there was the sound of her voice; it was not annoyingly perky like other girls that were around Inuyasha. For the longest time, Sesshomaru thought that irksome voices were contagious considering how much his brother’s voice got on his nerves and how it seemed like everyone’s voice in Inuyasha’s company did the same. It was not so with her.

“Hey, Sessh-butt, keep an eye on Kikyo while I go have a smoke,” Inuyasha requested. Well, it was something like a request, but he spoke in his usual forceful manner. He was not really going to take “no” for an answer either, but he knew better than to make it sound like he was ordering his big brother around or nothing would ever get done.

“Why not take her with you?” Sesshomaru countered. The only way to make the evening more torturous for him would be to have to spend a moment alone with his brother’s more-than-likely-vacant girlfriend.

“She hates the smell. Go figure,” Inuyasha replied with a shrug and a laugh before he walked off before his big brother could object again.

Sesshomaru turned his attention to Kikyo, who did not seem to be paying him any mind. He took a moment to take her in, but not much since he did not think that she worth much of his attention. She was a slender woman with a waterfall of ebony hair cascading from her head, which was kind of hiding her from his view, which he did not mind. He did not feel like studying her much more anyway and then she gave him another excuse to not pay her much mind by speaking.

“You don’t need to baby-sit me. I’m quite capable of handling myself at a party,” Kikyo informed the guest of honor, but since she was not looking at him, it was like she was speaking with the air.

“Then you can move on. I was standing in this space before you and your moronic boyfriend came over here,” he pointed out rather flatly.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she told him plainly.

No? It was a bit of a shock to Sesshomaru and he glanced down at Kikyo. She did not look like girlfriend material when it came to his little brother now that she brought that up. She had a sort of ethereal beauty to her; Inuyasha usually went for a girl that was sexy, but not particularly beautiful and yes, there was a difference. She had a quiet dignity and pose to her that he could plainly see just from looking at her. Such a thing was almost unheard of in any female that Inuyasha even looked at, even if the girl was only his friend. She seemed mature like an adult; Inuyasha did not typically hang around anyone that acted over the age of five, in his opinion anyway.

“Is there something bothering you?” Kikyo inquired because of the look in his amber eyes, which disrupted Sesshomaru’s thoughts.

“Why are you here with him if he isn’t your boyfriend?” Sesshomaru countered, almost as if he cared.

“He asked,” she answered bluntly, not betraying any other information in regards to her presence.

“I see,” he muttered and there was a moment of silence between them.

“Congratulations,” she commented out of the blue. It seemed like the proper thing to say in her opinion and she was always as polite as a situation allowed for.

“Excuse me?” Sesshomaru asked, as if he had not heard her, even though he did. He was just caught off guard that she was speaking with him again. He was not used to people talking to him unless he addressed them.

“For winning your case, congratulations,” she clarified her statement.

“Oh. It’s nothing,” he replied nonchalantly to prove his point that it was meaningless.

“It seems to be more than that. This is a party for you, after all,” she commented, her deep chocolate eyes sweeping out across the whole banquet hall to prove her point that his victory was something.

“My parents’ idea. I would rather be home,” the silver-haired male confessed earnestly.

“Doing what?” she asked, some curiosity sneaking into her generally monotone voice.

Sesshomaru had to think about it for a moment. Even if he did not have anything to do at home, it would be better than staying at the party, but he did have something to do at home. “Finishing my book,” he answered.

“Writing or reading?” she inquired.

“Reading.”

“What book are you reading?” she asked, sounding curious once again. It might have been a record for such a thing to work its way into her tone twice in less than a minute.

“Nothing that you would care about, I’m sure,” he replied in a dismissive tone.

“Quite the assumption for a man who has known me all of three minutes. I suppose you think because it’s not a coloring book, I wouldn’t be interested,” she remarked dully. She did not even sound insulted, which was odd. It was like she was just making any old statement.

Sesshomaru was almost taken aback by the remark and how she caught on to his thoughts, but he caught himself from changing his facial expression. Is someone who associated with my moronic brother trying to claim that she has a fully functioning brain? It would seem so. He doubted that it was true because she was his brother’s friend, but he could humor her, if only to prove without a doubt that she was just as empty-headed as anyone that associated with Inuyasha.

“It is a collection of philosophical views from the middle ages,” Sesshomaru informed her, waiting to see a bemused look appear on her pale face that never did arrive.

Kikyo merely nodded. “Which philosophers does it cover? There are so many traditions to cover during that time and quite a few topics to think on. It must be an immense book. It probably focuses greatly on the existence of God, though since many of the thinkers of the time were also heavily religious men,” she replied.

“You know something about the philosophy of the time?” he asked, making sure not sound shocked or amazed, even though he was quite surprised by the fact that she even knew what he was talking about. He remained almost apathetic toward her for the most part.

“I’ve read quite a bit on the proof that there is or is not a god from the times. I know more about the religious thinking than the philosophy, but they do appear closely linked in that time,” she answered with a little flip of her hand, as if she was brushing off her own words or did not show much of an interest in the topic.

“So, which do you prefer as a proof of God, that the world shows intelligent design or that there has to be unmoved mover that set things in motion?” he inquired, his tone still even as if he did not care one way or the other for her presence, but he was conversing with her just the same.

“I suppose I would have to consider that something cannot be in motion if it is not placed in that state by something else, but as Thomas Aquinas pointed out, everything can always just be reduced to nature,” she explained with a slight shrug.

Sesshomaru nodded, understanding and agreeing with that assessment for the most part. “What do you study in school?” he asked. He figured that she went to school with his brother. It was possible that she was philosophy or theology major.

“I’m a fourth grade teacher,” she informed him.

“Teacher?” he echoed, almost as if he did not know what one was. If Kikyo were a lesser soul, she probably would have laughed at the way that he parroted her.

“I graduated some two years ago,” she replied. She figured that he assumed that she was in school since she was there with Inuyasha, who was still attending college.

“Then you’re older than Inuyasha?” he inquired, his sleek eyebrow raised ever-so slightly, as if he was intrigued.

“I am,” she confirmed.

Sesshomaru nodded again. An elementary school teacher was friendly with his brother, yet discussing philosophy with him. He doubted that the night could get any stranger if it tried, but he would try to swing odder things in motion because he silently admitted that night that he was fascinated with Kikyo Kamina. For this instance, he would be the unmoved mover … or maybe she was because she had moved him.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the pair are actually dating; it seems like it would be much a mundane thing for those two to be on a date.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

It took Sesshomaru almost a week to get into contact with Kikyo again after the party his parents had thrown him as congratulations on winning his first case. He supposed that the simplest thing for him to do would have been to ask his brother for her phone number, but his way was much less gut-wrenching. He preferred to never have to deal with his loud, uncouth brother unless it was absolutely necessary; that usually meant that his parents were forcing him and Inuyasha to be in the same area and there was absolutely nothing either of them could use for distractions. Of course, there were times when Inuyasha did enjoy just getting on his big brother’s nerves when they were in close proximity.

Sesshomaru called Kikyo once he did manage to dig up her phone number, but he got her voicemail. It was rather direct in stating her name and requesting that whomever it was trying to get in contact with her leave their name, number, and some explanation for the contact. He decided to leave a message, even though he would have preferred to speak with her directly.

“This is Sesshomaru. I was calling to let you know that I enjoyed our conversation the other night at the party. Perhaps we could get together and discuss existence and essence over dinner sometimes,” he said and he left his number for her to call him back. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that was a strange way to make a date. He never offered to discuss philosophy with anyone before.

When Kikyo got the message, she had no idea how to take it. Inuyasha’s brother wanted to speak on philosophy with her over dinner? It sounded rather bizarre to her because who spoke about philosophy while dining? Not that she was opposed to doing such a thing, but it still seemed rather peculiar in her opinion. Besides, she was not too certain that she wanted to go out with Sesshomaru.

Kikyo had heard her fair share of “Sesshomaru’s a stuck up bastard” rants from Inuyasha to consider that the elder of the brothers might not be a man that she wished to associate with. She did admit that she liked speaking with him for the brief time that they had at the party. Unfortunately, Inuyasha had pulled her away in the middle of a sentence after he came back from having his cigarette and she had not gotten to finish her conversation with his older brother. Sesshomaru did not seem so horrible, not the way that Inuyasha made him out to be anyway. She would not mind being in his company again, as long as they picked another topic of discussion somewhere along the line. Philosophy was interesting, but her mind needed more than just that as a stimulus.

Kikyo returned the call and agreed the next day to go out with Sesshomaru. He informed her that he would pick her up at eight on Friday night, but that was not ideal for her, which he thought was a bit strange. Unless of course, Kikyo had a date that night, but he did not detect any hint in her voice that such a thing was the case. She had told him that Friday was not right with too much ease and no hesitation to suggest that she was going on another date that night. She suggested that they go out on Saturday, which was all right by him. He actually had documents that he was supposed to look over and prepare, so it worked out to where he would be able to get through all of his work and possibly enjoy his weekend. 

-8-8-8-8- 

On Saturday, Sesshomaru went to pick up Kikyo from her apartment. She lived in some modest, but comfortable looking co-ops. The building complex was clean with a group of seven red-bricked building. She was waiting for him downstairs in the lobby of her building, dressed in what he considered to be business casual attire. He was willing to bet that she was wearing work clothes, but such a thing did not bother him and he did not think less of her if that was the case.

“Shall we go?” Sesshomaru asked as he approached Kikyo, who was also calmly strolling toward him.

“Please,” she replied with an almost blank expression on her face, as if she did not care one way or the other, even though that was not the case.

The pair went to Sesshomaru’s white sedan. People tended to be shocked about the car that he drove, always expecting some kind of flashy sports’ car. Yes, it was a Benz sedan, but people still thought he would have a two-seater and something that went from 0 to 80 in less than a second.

Kikyo did not seem to think about the ride much. She did not look impressed at the sight of it and her eyes only briefly wandered around the interior. She silently noted that the tan leather seat that she was occupying was quite comfortable. The ride to the restaurant was smooth and not very long. They were silent for the trip, mostly studying each other as if they were puzzles to be figured out.

They did not come to any solid conclusions. Kikyo wondered if Sesshomaru was close to what Inuyasha made him out to be while Sesshomaru was trying to understand what about Kikyo endeared her to his brother to the point where Inuyasha even knew her. They were unable to figure those things out before they reached their destination.

Dinner was pleasant enough, but probably looked weird to outsiders. They remained on the safe topic of philosophy, speaking in low, clinical terms to each other. They really did not find out much about each other beyond their metaphysical thoughts, but they discovered that they did not mind the other’s presence. It would seem that she was not a half-wit, as Sesshomaru was still considering that she might be until that meal. He was not the cold-hearted bastard that Inuyasha made him out to be, Kikyo noted.

He asked her out again and she accepted, so they went out the next day also. He took her to the boardwalk for a stroll since it was such a lovely day and they attempted to get out of the realm of philosophy in effort to get to know each better in more substantial ways. After all, they might end up going on a third date and by then, they figured that there needed to be something more between them than an interested in philosophy.

“So, how do you like teaching fourth graders? It must be rewarding,” Sesshomaru commented, although he did not see how such a thing could be rewarding. He thought that such a thing was probably nerve-wrecking, but he suspected that only someone that could stand such a career would choose to do it.

“It is sometimes. I do like it. I like children,” Kikyo answered with a small, almost invisible smile. He enjoyed that about her. She did not wear her emotions on her face from what he could tell and he actually liked that.

“I would suspect as much if you teach nine-year-olds. These are creatures that feel they know everything there is to know about everything,” he remarked with a small, knowing smile.

Kikyo smiled warmly. “Most children do see themselves as mini-adults. I try to treat them as they like and they tend to behave. It makes my job easier. What about you? Do you enjoy being a lawyer?”

“Indeed.”

Kikyo accepted his one word answer, which was something that Sesshomaru secretly appreciated because he disliked explaining himself. She quickly learned that he was a man of few words, especially when it came to his personal life. She was the same way and he did not press her for more than she offered. Despite the fact that they spoke few words about their lives, they continued to date and they enjoyed each other’s company all the more each time that they got together. 

-8-8-8-8- 

The first month, Sesshomaru and Kikyo only went out on the weekends. One Saturday he ran out of ideas as to where to take Kikyo and decided to be different. He took her to a carnival that he had noticed when driving by the boardwalk one day; they both suspected that they looked odd at the amusement park. After all, they did not appear very amused.

“What should we do first?” Sesshomaru asked while looking around and not enjoying what he saw between all of the people and tons of junk food. He hoped that Kikyo suggested they leave.

“Have you ever been on the Ferris wheel?” she inquired rather curiously, glancing over at him. She could guess the answer to her question, but she would rather that he confirm or deny it.

“No,” he replied in his usual tone.

“Let’s,” she proposed, almost sounding excited about it, but not quite there. She began gently pulling the silver-haired male toward the aforementioned attraction. They took a seat on the ride and they began to go around and around. He failed to see the entertainment value of the ride.

“What is the point of going up and down in a circle on hard, uncomfortable seats that some child has probably defiled with uncontrolled bodily functions?” Sesshomaru had to ask. It seemed rather mindless and dull to him and he was rather stunned that the ebony-haired female wanted to ride such a monotonous attraction.

Kikyo did not bother to respond verbally. She pointed to the car right below them for Sesshomaru to understand the main point for people over the age of twelve to ride the attraction. He directed his golden eyes to where she was pointing and saw a couple kissing. He quickly turned away from the scene.

“Did I need to see that?” he complained, frowning slightly because of his annoyance with the scene that he had had just witnessed.

Kikyo shrugged. “You wanted to know the point,” she retorted dully, as if she was not affected by his clear displeasure.

“Is that why you dragged me here?” he inquired, as if he did not care, but he did make the inquiry. He was curious if that was the point of her wanting to get on the ride, even though that did not seem like her.

“Would you think to do such a thing?” she countered.

“I would never lower myself to a public display such as that.”

Kikyo nodded. “Then we are agreed.”

Sesshomaru nodded too and then wondered why she would pull him onto a ride where the point was to act indecent. He glanced at her and then he believed that he understood why they were there; she was staring out onto the beach, which the carnival was next to. The sun was shining over the breathtaking blue-green water, making for a spectacular sight. The Ferris wheel was a great way to view the pristine beach and clear water as it touched sky. He decided to enjoy the view with her, taking her hand in his while doing so. She glanced down at their hands, but she did not say anything about it and they continued on looking out onto the beach while they could. They both mutely smiled, very tiny expressions, almost unnoticeable.

After that ride, the unenthusiastic couple went into the horror house for lack of a better thing to do. Yet another pointless waste of time, Sesshomaru thought. He doubted that the attractions in the haunted house could scare a four-year-old; Kikyo was inclined to agree. He guessed that the ride was in the dark not to frighten anyone, but to allow more time for revolting public displays. They did not indulge in such a thing, instead allowing the ride to bore them to the point where Sesshomaru was ready to just get out of the small car and walk out of the place. Kikyo would have followed him, but thankfully, the ride ended before they could do such a thing.

After three rides, Sesshomaru was a bit tired of the carnival; he just was not amused and he doubted that he ever would be. Kikyo locked her arm around his and let him know that they were not leaving just yet by tugging him toward a cotton candy stand. The motions kind of made him forget that he wanted to get out of there and he glanced down at her arm in his, deciding that he very much liked the way they were linked together. He bought her a bag of pink, puffy candy upon request and seemed surprised to see her merrily eating it. She noticed that he was looking at her strangely.

“Would you like some?” the chocolate-eyed woman offered.

“No,” he answered plainly.

“Have you ever had any before?” she asked.

“I’ve had the blue kind.”

“You don’t like it?”

Sesshomaru only looked down at the petite woman on his arm, as if that answered her question. She pulled a small bit of cotton candy from the bag and put it to his lips, which surprised him a bit. Sesshomaru pulled his head back a bit, but he silently accepted the candy since he thought that it would please her. He nipped her fingers with his teeth as she put the sweets in his mouth. She made a startled noise and glanced up at him; he pretended that he had not done anything wrong. She had to fight back a smile.

They wandered the amusement park for a little while longer with nothing really catching their eyes. She did get him to try candied apples and funnel cake; he could not believe that she would eat any of those sticky so-called foods, but she enjoyed them quite a bit. He only tasted them to please her. Then they passed a game stand with a ridiculously large teddy bear as a prize, along with other equally large plush toys. Sesshomaru had noticed many people walking around with stuffed animals. Maybe Kikyo would like one, he considered.

“Shall I win you a prize?” Sesshomaru proposed, as if it was a foregone conclusion that he would get a prize if he played a game.

“If you can,” she answered like it did not make a difference to her. She would be quite pleased if he was able to pull off such a feat as it would be a sweet gesture, not that she would ever say such a thing.

“Well, then it shall be done,” he commented.

Sesshomaru went to a game stand; it was a shooting game. He had three shots and had to hit a target with just one. The set up was that the target was a playing card; the ace of spades. It was ten yards away and he could not hit any of the white in the card. He took one shot and collected a prize.

“What should we call him?” Kikyo asked as Sesshomaru held a giant, snow-white toy dog, which was the prize he won.

“Call him?” he echoed. Why should they call it anything? It was an inanimate object; it was not like it was going to come running if they named it.

“He looks like a Fluffy,” she decided while studying the stuffed animal, delight actually dancing in her chocolate eyes. 

“He does?” he inquired in a rather confused tone. It was a toy, how could it look like anything?

“Yes. We’ll call him Fluffy,” she stated soundly.

“Indeed,” he concurred flatly.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Sesshomaru learns a bit more about Kikyo by getting to see what her home is like.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Sesshomaru hated having to wait for the weekend to come to see Kikyo; it seemed like such a long wait. He wondered what the problem was with going out during the week. He would not keep her out late, knowing that she had work in the morning; he worked on weekdays, too. He had to remember to ask her about it when he called her to make sure that she was all right; he made such calls daily.

“The things I do for this woman …” he muttered, but he certainly did not sound troubled by it. He did do for her what he did for no other woman he dated, but he did not wonder why. It felt natural to behave in such a way with Kikyo.

Sesshomaru finished up his work for the day and then went home to his large, empty house. He liked the place being empty considering the fact that people typically irked him. He also preferred doing things for himself, which was why he never hired servants or anything like that. He probably would concede that his home was too large for one person, but he could afford it and he wanted it. Those were the important things in his opinion.

The silver-haired male was about to start his nightly routine when he realized that he was almost a half hour late with calling Kikyo and checking on her. He guessed that she should be home by now; it was going on six, after all. He called her apartment, but there was no answer. Strange, he thought. He called her cell phone before deciding to panic in his own unique way, which would involve no change in his facial expression or urgency in his demeanor while hopping in his car to go search for her. She answered her cell phone, though. 

“Kikyo, where are you?” Sesshomaru asked in a concerned tone.

“I’m on the train,” she answered in her usual voice, mostly to help him. She knew that he had to be very worried about her if she could hear the concern in his voice. She figured that as long as she sounded normal, then he would know that everything was all right and he could calm down. She was right for the most part, but her response just raised another issue as far as he was concerned. 

“Still?” he asked in disbelief. He knew that she took public transportation, but he had no idea that she was still heading home at six in the evening. He did not like that reality very much.

“Yes.”

“How long does it take you to get home?” he inquired quite curiously.

“About three hours,” she reported. She lived on the completely opposite end of the city from where her school was located. Making matters worse, there was no direct way for her to get home.

“Three hours?” he nearly shouted. His woman was on a train by herself everyday for three hours? He would not stand for it since something could happen to her and she deserved better than some long train ride anyway.

“Yes,” she confirmed like it was nothing to her. 

“Why didn’t you tell me that it took you so long to get home? I had no idea that you were on the train for that long,” he said. He certainly would not have allowed such a thing to go on for as long as they had been dating if he had known.

“It’s all right,” she tried to assure him. It was something that she was used to; she had already been doing it for a year.

“From now on I’ll pick you up from work,” he told her soundly, obviously wanting no argument over the matter. She was not one to give into his desire every time, though.

“You don’t need to,” she argued.

“But, I will,” he proclaimed soundly. “You leave your job at 3:30, correct?” he inquired.

“I do,” Kikyo confirmed.

“Then starting tomorrow I will pick you up everyday. Understood?” Sesshomaru practically commanded. 

She now knew that there would be no talking him out of his new plan. “Understood.”

“Do you also need a ride to work?” he asked. He certainly would not allow her do that routine going to work if she did. He was not interested in chancing something happening to her on the train with such long commutes.

“No.”

“How do you get to work?” he inquired, as if he would determine if she needed what he had to give based on that information.

“I only take one train and it’s not a long ride. Then I meet up with a friend who drops me off on her way to work,” she explained.

“All right, that is acceptable, I suppose. I will come to pick you up starting tomorrow, though,” he vowed. She accepted that since he seemed so determined.

Sesshomaru made good on his promise because the next day, he was waiting for her outside of the elementary school where Kikyo worked. She actually looked a bit stunned when she spotted his car outside of the three-story, teal and white school building. It was as if she had not expected him to keep his word, but the fact that he had made a warm feeling spread through her that she did not tell him about. She got in the vehicle and offered him a small kiss as thanks, which he eagerly accepted. When they were finished with the loving embrace, he put the car in drive and took off toward Kikyo’s apartment.

The silver-haired male could now understand why Kikyo only wanted to go out on weekends. It took her so long to get home that by the time she got ready, she would have no time to relax, which he was certain that she would need to do after a day of dealing fourth graders. He figured that things would change now that he was going to pick her up from work.

“Would you like to come up?” Kikyo proposed as Sesshomaru pulled up to her building.

“Excuse me?” he asked because he was not sure that he heard her right. Until that point, he had never seen her apartment. He did not even know what floor she lived on. She was always waiting for him in the lobby of the building when he came to get her for their dates.

“Would you like to come up? I could make us dinner,” she offered. She was feeling generous because of his kindness.

“Who are you and what have you done with my chaste Kikyo, who would never dare to suggest such a thing?” he teased her. She was the only person that he would ever tease as he did and it was because of something that she did to him internally; he was not sure what that something was, though. He did like the feeling though, not that he would admit that out loud. 

“Do not mistake my intentions. There will be no desserts and dinner will be the only thing eaten,” she commented quite smoothly.

Sesshomaru could only stare; his Kikyo had not just said such lewd words, his mind tried to assure him, but he knew otherwise. He just could not believe it. What has gotten into her? He decided not think too much on the matter, even though the remark did amuse him slightly. It would seem that she was opening up to him just as much as he was with her.

Sesshomaru parked the car and followed Kikyo up to her apartment. As she opened the door, a familiar aroma hit Sesshomaru. The apartment smelled like lavender, which was what Kikyo smelled like. He might have to make it a point to be at her apartment as often as she allowed such a thing just for the heavenly fragrance that coated it.

He looked around the modest-sized apartment. It was more than enough space for one person. Her living room was clean with a black sofa facing the television, which was against the wall. There was a small coffee table between the television and the sofa. A large bookshelf sat inconspicuously in the corner. Her dining room had a small black table with three chairs pushed in and an empty fruit basket in the center. The kitchen was to the right of the front door; it looked like it could fit four people in it rather tightly, but that had to be more than enough space for one person, he figured.

“You may look around if you like,” Kikyo told him.

“All right. Feel free to get comfortable. You don’t have to start dinner right away,” he replied.

Kikyo nodded and took off her shoes. Sesshomaru removed his shoes as Kikyo disappeared into the back of the apartment. The first thing that he did was go to the bookshelf and he scanned the items lining it. Her collection did not include anything that he expected of a fourth grade teacher, but everything that he came to expect from her.

He happened to glance to the side and noticed something odd by the closet; it appeared to be a lone inline red and black skate. He went and picked it up. He inspected the toy and noted that it looked too small even for Kikyo’s tiny foot. Then he noticed a picture on the wall of a grinning girl.

“She has a sister?” Sesshomaru wondered aloud. He scanned the apartment and spied a few more pictures of the chocolate-eyed girl; in some of the pictures, she was wearing an eye patch. He chalked it up to some silly fashion idea the child probably had because he could not imagine what a little girl might do to lose an eye.

Kikyo had not said anything about having a sister, but the girl did look much like Kikyo. She appeared to be around ten, so it did not even cross his mind that it might be her daughter. He figured she would have mentioned if she had a daughter as that was a rather heavy piece of information.

“What are you so interested in?” Kikyo inquired as she rejoined Sesshomaru. She was dressed in baggy red sweat pants and a v-neck white tee-shirt. He was so dumbfounded that he just gapped at her for almost half a minute. He was not used to seeing her in such attire and he would not say it out loud, but he liked it.

“The pictures,” he replied once he found his voice and he motioned the picture on the wall.

“Oh,” she merely said.

“Who is she?” he asked curiously.

“My little sister, Kaede.”

“Why didn’t you say you had a little sister?”

“You never asked,” she answered with a lighthearted smile.

Sesshomaru laughed a bit. “Indeed. I am asking now. What is she like and why is she wearing an eye patch?”

“She is nine. They do strange things,” she answered with a bit of a shrug. It was the best way that she could explain her little sister.

“My little sister is also nine,” he stated.

“Well then, you understand me.”

“Perfectly.”

“Would you like to watch a movie before I start dinner? It is rather early,” she pointed out. If she started dinner now, they would be eating before six in the evening, which was not something that she was accustomed to.

“All right,” he agreed.

Sesshomaru sat down on the couch while Kikyo pulled out a movie for them to watch. She curled up on the sofa next to him and played the film; it was History of the World part one. Sesshomaru had never seen anything so ridiculous in his life, but he thoroughly enjoyed the movie, so Kikyo introduced him to other classic comedies. He would never have guessed that not only did she find the movies entertaining, but he did as well.

The discovery took their relationship in a new direction; they did not go out so much. They both preferred to stay in and cuddle up together to watch movies, usually at her place. She would cook dinner for them or sometimes they ordered out. They were comfortable in their relationship as it was; they were content for the moment.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Sesshomaru finds out something that he really did not need to know and takes it out on Kikyo.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Sesshomaru sat at his desk, checking his watch to see what time it was and trying to finish up his work since he was going to have to dash out soon. He liked to make sure that he left a little early to pick Kikyo up. He hated when she had to wait even five minutes for him. The last time he had hit traffic and found her trying to shoo off a male co-worker that did not seem to want to take the hint. The man did not seem to get it until Kikyo’s boyfriend was standing next to her and glaring down at the offending little gnat of a man like he was worthless. It was almost laughable that such a base creature thought that he was worthy of Sesshomaru’s precious jewel, but Sesshomaru had been a bit too angry to find the humor in the situation. His thoughts were thrown off by his cell phone ringing.

“Yes, Father?” Sesshomaru answered the phone.

“Good day, Sesshomaru,” his father greeted him in a rather friendly tone. 

“Indeed,” the younger male replied in a clipped voice. He was a bit suspicious because of his father’s voice.

“We haven’t seen much of you lately,” his father commented.

“I’ve been busy,” Sesshomaru answered cryptically.

“Your mother worries.” 

“As always. You should assure her that I am quite fine. I am more than capable in taking care of myself.”

“I try, but she doesn’t listen. You will come over for dinner tonight and prove that you are quite fine and capable of taking care of yourself,” his father ordered, but he made it sound like a request. His father was not a man that requested anything, which was where Sesshomaru inherited the trait. 

“Tonight?” Sesshomaru echoed like he did not know what that was.

“Yes. Is that a problem?” 

Sesshomaru took a moment to think it over. It should not be a problem. He could go pick up Kikyo and take her home. They could spend a couple of hours together and then he could go to dinner with his family. She deserved a break from entertaining him anyway, he figured. So, it sounded very doable.

“I will be there. At seven, correct?” Sesshomaru wanted to be sure.

“Of course,” his father answered. 

“See you then,” Sesshomaru bid his father farewell.

Sesshomaru closed his flip phone and then checked the time. He might as well get going, he silently decided. He exited his office and went down to parking lot. He hopped into his car and headed for Kikyo, but he got caught in traffic yet again. He growled in anger and annoyance; that little rodent had better not be hitting on his Kikyo, he thought while the cars on the highway moved at a crawl. With each second that passed, his grip on his steering wheel tightened as he thought of that irksome male talking to his Kikyo, trying to touch his Kikyo. He could not stand the thought of such a thing, even though he was quite aware that Kikyo would not do anything with her co-worker. It was just the idea of the man bothering and not taking the hint that got to Sesshomaru rather deeply. He pulled up to the school ten minutes late and, sure enough, that same pest was bothering his Kikyo. He scowled deeply.

“Dearest, is this man bothering you?” Sesshomaru inquired as he came up behind Kikyo. He put his hand around her waist. He glared down at the pale, ebony-haired man standing a couple of inches away from his woman.

“No, Sessho. Naraku was just leaving,” Kikyo replied, dropping a hint that she wanted her co-worker away from her now. The co-worker did not take the hint, as usual.

“All right. Shall we go?” the golden-eyed male proposed in order to get Kikyo away from the pest.

Kikyo did not bother to bid Naraku farewell; she just left with Sesshomaru, walking toward his car without bothering to look back. The silver-haired male did take a moment to glare daggers at Naraku before going to the car. He drove Kikyo home and glanced at his watch; it was a little before five o’clock. He had plenty of time before having to go to his parents, so he went up to her apartment with her. He parked himself on the sofa and waited for her to come back from putting on her house clothes. She did not take long and when she returned, she curled up next to him as usual, snuggling her body into his.

“Kikyo, I’m not going to able to stay long,” Sesshomaru informed her while putting his arm around her to caress her while she was so temptingly close.

“No?” she asked while yawning slightly. She was a bit tired and his petting of her back was not helping because it was so soothing. 

“I have to go to my parents’ house.”

“Today?” she asked, her eyes dropping halfway closed because of the constant, tender stroking on her back. 

“Yes.”

“All right,” she accepted that.

“You need to get your rest anyway. You should go to bed early tonight,” he suggested, some concern sneaking into his voice, which was something that typically happened when he was speaking with her. She was one of the few people that could bring out some emotion from within him; he did not mind it. She deserved it in his opinion.

“I could,” she considered. 

“Should,” he stressed while leaning down to gently kiss her on the lips. She smiled a bit against his mouth, pleased with the affection it would seem. She tasted so sweet, he thought. She pressed herself closer to him as he pulled away.

Kikyo did not argue with him because he was right. She was tired and she could use some extra-sleep. She should get it while he was not going to be around. They sat there on the couch and talked a bit while letting some music play in the background while remaining cuddled up. When the time came for him to leave, he kissed her again, with even more tender care than before. She whimpered in an almost inaudible tone when he took his lips from her. Kikyo did not put up a fuss, even though he knew that she wanted him to stay.

“Fluffy will keep you company,” Sesshomaru told her as a joke.

“He’s not as warm as you,” Kikyo replied, almost pouting just to play with him a bit.

Sesshomaru smiled a little and wondered if she knew the deep, strange affect that she had on him. He promised to call her later on, mostly to check on her and make sure that she had gotten a good amount of sleep. He then left to go to his parents’ mansion. By the time he got there, his family was already seated at the dinner table. He checked his watch; it was seven, so he was not late.

“Big brother!” Rin cheered with a wide, happy grin and pushed out of her chair. The little girl charged Sesshomaru before he was even ten inches into the dining room.

“Hello, Rin,” Sesshomaru greeted his little sister in his usual voice while she busied herself by hugging him around his leg because he was so much taller than she was.

“The great one returns,” Inuyasha declared sarcastically with a smug look on his face.

Sesshomaru did not even give his brother the time of day to bother responding. He bent down and lifted Rin into his arms to give her a proper hug. Rin grinned widely again, looking much like a raven-haired cherub. She hugged his around the neck now that she was at that level as he walked over to his mother and kissed her cheek as a greeting.

“Good to see you again, my son,” his mother commented in an amused tone. Although it sounded like she was teasing, she was quite sincere. She liked knowing that her children were alive and breathing.

“It has not been so long,” Sesshomaru argued as he put Rin down in her seat next to their mother. Sesshomaru took the chair across from his mother, which was to the right of his father, who was sitting at the head of the table.

“It’s been four months,” his mother declared.

“Four months?” Sesshomaru echoed in disbelief. He had been with Kikyo for four months? It seemed like so much less than that, but as he did the calculations on his mind, he found that his mother was being generous; it had almost been five months. Kikyo had been at the forefront of his mind and getting all of his attention for almost five months. He was glad that his mother said something because it reminded him to consider doing something special for their six-month anniversary.

“Yes, four months. What have you been up to having forgotten us for so long?” his mother practically demanded to know. She felt so forgotten by her oldest son and she wanted to know why he had been so distant lately. 

“This and that,” Sesshomaru answered cryptically. He was not one to share his personal life, even with his family unless it was necessary. 

“I know you like your privacy, Sessh, but could you be a bit more forthcoming than this and that?” his mother requested.

“I hear that you’ve been out with some girl,” his father commented as if such news was nothing at all, even though he knew very well that his wife would be instantly fascinated.

“A girl?” his mother asked in a very intrigued voice. Her eyes went wide and Sesshomaru groaned slightly. She turned her attention to her husband for more information since she knew that her eldest son was going to be secretive about things.

“Quite a few of my associates have seen him out with a very pretty girl. They have seen him at restaurants, cafes, and places such as that. Is it true, Sesshomaru?” his father inquired with a teasing smile on his face.

“It is true,” Sesshomaru confirmed.

“What is this girl’s name? How long have you been seeing her? Why haven’t we heard from you about this young woman?” his mother demanded to know in a gentle, yet still somehow forceful tone. Only a mother could pull off such a voice, Sesshomaru figured.

“Give him a chance to answer,” her husband interjected with a bit of a laugh. Her excitement and interest was amusing.

“Sessh?” she asked.

“Her name is Kikyo,” Sesshomaru answered. 

“Kikyo?” Inuyasha repeated, suddenly interested in the conversation. His brother better not be talking about his Kikyo.

“Yes,” Sesshomaru stated flippantly, like he did not really want to speak to Inuyasha.

“My Kikyo?” the younger brother asked.

“Your Kikyo?” the elder brother said while turning his attention to Inuyasha. He thought that maybe he would see some hint of insanity invading his little brother’s brain for him to actually lay claim to Kikyo. Sesshomaru felt like she belonged to him and no one else. She never would belong to anyone else as far as he was concerned.

“Is that the girl that you were so very in love with for a moment, Inuyasha?” their mother inquired curiously. Inuyasha had a way of letting his love be known moments after falling into the emotion because he never shut up about a girl that he liked. Too bad Sesshomaru made it a habit to never listen to him. 

“Wait a moment, you used to date Kikyo?” Sesshomaru demanded to know from his brother.

“Yeah, and she’s way too good for a pretty boy like you, Sessh-butt!” Inuyasha proclaimed quite seriously.

“Inuyasha,” his mother scolded him.

Sesshomaru frowned and excused himself. He left the table, the room, and then the house. He drove back to Kikyo’s apartment like a man possessed; he luckily was not stopped by any police officers and did not hit any pedestrians, especially since he would not have halted for any accidents if possible. He pounded on her door as if he intended on breaking it down. She answered the door, letting him in. Before she could greet him in any way, he pushed into the apartment and glared down on her as if trying to slaughter her with his piercing golden eyes.

“You used to date Inuyasha!” he bellowed in pure fury.

“What?” Kikyo asked in shock. She was stunned by the question and his tone. They seemed to come out of nowhere.

“You used to date Inuyasha,” he repeated in just a vexed tone as before; he just did not yell that time.

“Well, yes—” she tried to explain, but he cut her off right after the affirmation.

“And you didn’t tell me? How dare you!” he growled, as if he would breathe fire on her if only he could.

“How dare I what?” she inquired in a puzzled tone. She regarded him with some offense in her eyes, affronted by his behavior.

“Date that moron! That’s it! We’re done,” he proclaimed like that was the only logical thing that could be done and he turned to leave.

“Wait, Sessho!” Kikyo pled as she grabbed his arm. He flung her from him as if she was meaningless. She fell to the plush carpet while he left the apartment. She called after him, but he did not return. What just happened?

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: who handles the break up the best … or would it be the worst?

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

Kikyo wanted to do nothing more than weep, but she refused to do something so weak and pointless, especially over a man. But, it was not just any man; it was her Sessho. She had been with him longer than she had been with any other man and believed that he suited her better than any other man. He understood her and accepted her; well, understood and accepted the parts of herself that she shared. He was the only one that she wanted to be with.

Then why had she not been honest with him, Kikyo asked herself. Mostly because it was difficult to tell a man that she was almost certain that she was in love with that she had dated his little brother, especially when she knew how he felt about his little brother. It was not like that the topic ever came up in a conversation to make it a bit easier to discuss, not that she thought the subject would be simple to speak on.

She wished that she had done something now because if she had, then she might still have her Sessho with her and she would not be feeling so sorrowful that it felt like she could break down and cry at any moment. She would not be feeling so hurt that she often suspected that she might throw-up from the agony of no longer being with Sesshomaru. She would not feel like her chest was going to cave in and she would be swallowed up in an endless sea of misery and despair.

Kikyo decided to call Sesshomaru after a couple of days. She thought that he would have cooled down somewhat by then. She believed that he would at least take her call and they could discuss the matter like mature adults. He did not pick up his phone, though. The ebony-haired female left a message just in case he found it in his heart to listen to her. She did not mean to leave as long a message as she did, but once she started, she could not stop speaking.

She doubted that she would ever understand how her feelings for him made her do things that she otherwise would never do. She was usually such a rational being and hid her emotions quite well, but that did not seem to be the case when it came to him. She could not compartmentalize when it came to him. She would not mind if only it did not mean that he could obviously hurt her so much.

“Sessho, I know you probably still do not want to hear from me, but I suppose you are owed as best an explanation as I can offer. If you must know, I dated Inuyasha last year and it was not for very long. It was an experiment for both of us. He was so different from anyone that I had ever met and he did fascinate me. There was something about his way of living life that sort of dragged me in. He is a very good person, despite how you feel about him. He treated me differently from every other man I have met. He didn’t look at me as if I was strange or some sort of anomaly. I don’t think I could explain it better than this, but it was quite the adventure for both of us. An adventure that has come to an end and will never happen again. I just … I only want to be with you,” Kikyo informed the voicemail, sounding as heartbroken as she felt. She sniffled before she disconnected and hoped that did not make it into the message as well. She did not want him to think that she was pathetic or he would never give her a second chance.

Kikyo sighed; Sesshomaru never returned her call. She could take a hint, even if she did not want to. There was no reason to bother him if he did not want to be with her and going any further would only upset him, she reasoned. Despite the fact that she was aware that he did not want her and she tried to tell herself that he was just a man to heal her wounds, it was not working.

Sesshomaru was not just any man; he was her Sessho. He was the man that understood that she was not withdrawn or apathetic or weird, just mellow. He was the man that accepted that she would not sing his praises over every little thing; not that he needed accolades. He understood that what she did not say with words, she said with subtle expressions and actions, much like he did.

He was the one that she wanted and deeply desired. And it was sheer agony for her that he did not want and desire her anymore. Still, she did not know what else to do aside for wait and hope that he changed his mind. She would not bother him if he did not wish to be bothered. It was the least that she could do for the man that she believed she loved to the depths of her soul.

Sesshomaru had listened to the message that Kikyo left, but he did not care. He did not want to hear anything from her. How dare that woman play him like a cheap horn after dating his idiotic brother! She obviously was not the woman that he believed her to be; well, it was obvious to him anyway because he could not figure out how she could be with his moronic brother. He should just dismiss her from his thoughts, he decided; she attempted to do the same with him.

It was difficult for both of them to forget each other. Kikyo dreamed about Sesshomaru while sleeping, holding Fluffy, the toy dog that he had won for her, in her arms tightly, as if that would bring him back to her. The stuffed animal actually still smelled like Sesshomaru after all that time, which was very comforting and quite soothing to her broken heart. She often cuddled it in her sleep, pretending that it was Sesshomaru.

The platinum-haired lawyer found himself often ready to leave work early, his mind still conditioned to go pick Kikyo up from work. He reminded himself that she was no longer his responsibility and he did not care what happened to her. She was not his problem. And then he thought about the co-worker that he had seen hitting on her. That bastard better stay away from her, Sesshomaru thought.

“I’ll tear him apart if he doesn’t,” the elegant attorney growled.

Part of Sesshomaru’s mind told him that he did not have a say in who spoke to Kikyo anymore; she was nothing to him now that he had broken things off with her. But, a more possessive part of his mind scoffed at that first idea and told the first part of his mind to shut the hell up. Kikyo was his, always and forever. No other man that valued his life had better touch her or else he would have that man ruined in every way possible before ending his suffering personally.

At the end of the week, his first week without Kikyo in his life after months that he would not even silently admit was miserable, Sesshomaru had dinner with his family again; or for the first time, considering the fact that the last time he was there, he had cut out before the meal was even served. He was practically tackled by Rin as soon as he arrived. She was grinning from ear to ear and pretty much climbed him like a tree in order to hug him around the neck.

“Hello, big brother!” Rin seemed to cheer her greeting.

“Nice to see you, Rin,” Sesshomaru replied and he went to offer the rest of the family salutations. He then put Rin down in her seat and took his usual seat.

“So, will you be staying for the whole meal today, son?” his father asked in a very amused tone. Sesshomaru confirmed with a simple nod.

“What happened last week? Why did you leave so suddenly?” his mother inquired in a slightly worried voice.

“I had a matter to discuss,” Sesshomaru answered.

“With Kikyo?” his mother asked curiously and he nodded again as affirmation.

“Are you going to bring her by?” Rin inquired eagerly. She was very interested in meeting her brother’s girlfriend. She could not recall the last time that he had a regular girlfriend. Kikyo had to be special, she concluded.

“No,” he bluntly replied.

“Why not?” Rin pouted. She wanted to meet Kikyo!

“You broke up with her, didn’t you, Sesshomaru?” his father gathered. He knew his kids well enough to know how they would react to things and the way Sesshomaru had shot out of the house last week after finding out that Inuyasha had dated Kikyo, the only thing for the elder son to do was break up with the girl. He did not totally understand Sesshomaru’s logic in doing so, but he knew that was what his son did.

“Indeed,” Sesshomaru affirmed that he had ended things with Kikyo.

“Why?” Rin and their mother asked simultaneously. They seemed rather surprised by the move and it showed in both of their faces while also coming through in their voices.

“She was too good for you anyway, Sessh-butt,” Inuyasha declared smugly with a superior glint in his eyes. He seemed rather happy that his brother was not dating Kikyo anymore.

“Did anyone ask you?” Sesshomaru snarled heatedly. Apparently, it was a hot topic for him to bring out such emotion, but Inuyasha did not care about that. In fact, he liked getting a bit of a charge out of his big brother.

“Nobody needs to ask. I know my Kikyo and she’s way too good for you,” the younger brother proclaimed earnestly. A jerk like his brother did not deserve someone as kind and pure as Kikyo in his opinion.

“Your Kikyo?” Sesshomaru repeated back to his brother in disbelief. If that fool boy thought that Kikyo was his then he needed to have his empty head examined, Sesshomaru believed.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha stated soundly with a nod.

“She isn’t and never will be yours,” Sesshomaru barked.

“She ain’t yours neither,” Inuyasha pointed out with a smirk.

“I didn’t say she was.”

“You’re acting like she is. She’s too good for you. Way too wholesome and pure. You’d just ruin her with the way you are. You wouldn’t know what to do with her,” Inuyasha declared as if that was a fact.

“And what would you know about it?”

“Hey, I did date her,” the younger brother pointed out.

Sesshomaru frowned deeply; he just wanted to fly at his brother and beat the silly boy into a coma. Inuyasha could tell what his brother was thinking, which was why he was still smirking. He knew that Sesshomaru would not start a fight with their mother and sister at the table, so he had won that round. Oh, it felt really good to beat a prick like Sesshomaru, Inuyasha thought.

Thankfully, their parents moved the conversation clear of Kikyo right after that and they were able to have a civil dinner. Sesshomaru went home and tried not think about his brother or his ex-girlfriend. She was like their ex-girlfriend, he thought with a fright. He curled his lip in disgust over the idea; he shared an ex-girlfriend with his brain-damaged little brother!

Sesshomaru was thrown from his thoughts as his phone rang. He looked to see who was calling; it was his mother. He sighed as he answered, “Yes?”

“Sessh, I was just calling to make sure that you’re all right,” she informed him. He could tell from the concern practically dripping from her voice that she was worried about him. He supposed that he showed a bit too much emotion at dinner and that was what prompted her call.

“I am fine,” he tried to assure her.

“All right. I wanted to tell you that you shouldn’t let it bother you if you like Kikyo so much. It was not like she knew you when she dated Inuyasha,” she pointed out.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sesshomaru stated, almost sounding annoyed, but he made sure to catch himself. He was not in the habit of being disrespectful toward his mother or projecting his feelings toward her.

“All right. It was just that tonight you seemed miserable. I think you enjoyed having her in your life and I don’t think you should punish the both of you over something like this.”

“Mother, you are still talking about it,” he pointed out in his usual tone.

“Forgive me, Sessh. I’ll let you go then.”

“Good night, Mother.”

“Good night, son.”

Sesshomaru disconnected the call. He tried not to think about what his mother said; he was not miserable without Kikyo. He did not care about Kikyo and he did not need her in his life. She was nothing to him, he silently insisted.

-8-8-8-8-

Kikyo sat at home, thinking about how she should have seen the breakup coming; Sesshomaru would just need an excuse, she told herself. Brothers that were so different, yet so much alike; she believed that she had practically lived a rerun of her life by dating Sesshomaru. There were key differences, but the results were the same with both brothers. It had been foolish, she reprimanded herself; it was foolish to think that there would be a different end to the story that time around.

The major difference, she noted, was that it hurt so much more when Sesshomaru left her. It had ached that he had raised his voice to her for the first time. It hurt to the point of throbbing emotionally that he had flung her to the floor, even though it had not involved much physical pain. It was pure agony that he would not take her calls. It was excruciating that he no longer wanted her. 

Without Sesshomaru, Kikyo wondered what she was supposed to do. She told herself that she would go back to life before him, but it seemed so close to impossible considering the way that she felt about him. How was she supposed to go back to life before him? How was she supposed to continue on without him coming to pick her up from work and fending off Naraku? Oh, she was going to have to put up with Naraku from now on, not only at school, but he took the same train as she did. She was going to be on the same train with that man for at least an hour. The idea of it all, remembering what it used to be like on the train with him, made her skin crawl. The hits just kept on coming it seemed.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: why it’s a good thing to have little sisters.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Kikyo wondered what she had done wrong in her life as Naraku sat down next to her on the train. He just had be some kind of punishment from the gods for something that was very bad and she just did not know what. That was the only explanation that she could think of. She was going to have to start listing events through her life to find out what she needed to do penance for if it would only make him go away. Glancing at him, she considered her options. Well, there is always murder … or maybe some sort of blessed item would turn him into dust.

Naraku began talking and Kikyo ignored him as he went on and on, preferring the roar of the train rubbing against the tracks to the sound of his voice. She could not think of a better way to put up with him because nothing else seemed to work. He did not seem to take the hint when she came right out and told him that she did not want to bother with him. She did not know what to do aside from pretend that he did not exist, even though he seemed hell bent on proving that he was right next to her. Suddenly, her cell phone rang and that gave her something else to focus on, which she was thankful for.

Kikyo reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She answered it after looking at the number. “Yes, Momma?” she answered her phone.

“Kikyo, darling, I need you to do me a small favor,” her mother replied.

“Pick up Kaede?” the teacher guessed easily. It really would be the only reason that her mother would call her knowing that she was on the train at the moment.

Her mother sighed in relief. “I would greatly appreciate it.”

“All right. She is to stay with me?” Kikyo asked.

“Yes, I can pick her up from your apartment tonight if necessary,” her mother informed her.

“No, I can keep her tonight.”

“All right.”

“Bye,” Kikyo said and after her mother responded in kind, she disconnected the call. She put her phone away and glanced out of the window, noting that her mother had very good timing. She got up and went to the train doors, preparing to get off at the next stop.

“Kikyo, where are you going?” Naraku asked, as if he had a right to know her whereabouts.

“I have an errand to run, not that it’s any of your concern,” she answered with some bite in her tone. He was no one to her, except for a pain in the neck anyway, which did not allot him any privileges in knowing what she did on her own time.

“I can assist you,” he offered in a polite voice that she knew he was forcing. He was not a kind man, after all and she knew that quite well. Even his smile, which he was currently flashing her, betrayed his slimy nature.

“None is required.”

“Allow me,” he insisted.

“It is unnecessary,” she argued in an even tone. It was bad enough that he knew where she worked, she did not wish for him to know where her sister went to school. She did not trust him with such information.

Kikyo had been avoiding letting Naraku even see what stop she got off on the train when she was heading home. A couple of times, he had stayed on the train, following her to the second train that she rode. He even tried to get off at the stop that she did to go home, but she just got on another train after seeing that he was following her. His actions did not frighten her in any way; his behavior did unnerve her a little, though. It was not pleasant to have a stalker, after all, especially such an obvious one.

The raven-haired woman exited the train when the doors slid open. Naraku trailed behind her much to her dismay. He was like a pesky housefly; he just never went away. She tried to lose him in a crowd that was a couple of blocks away, but he kept pace with her. She sighed; he was going to find out where her little sister went to school because she could not waste anymore time trying to be rid him. She would be late picking up Kaede if she fooled around with him any longer and she was not sure what her little sister might do if she got out of school to see no one waiting for her.

Kikyo marched down the long city blocks to a private school that looked like a mini-castle. She saw a group of people waiting on the sidewalk just outside the gates that separated the backyard of the school and the city street. She joined the group and looked into the large schoolyard, seeing that the children were not there yet.

“What are we doing here?” Naraku inquired. 

Kikyo ignored him as she saw a line of uniformed students exiting the building. She did not have to wait long to see her sister’s unmistakable face; it was hard to miss a nine-year-old girl proudly wearing an eye patch. Her little sister was talking with another little girl and Kikyo could see why the pair might share a common interest as both girls were carrying skateboards on their backpacks.

“Why does Momma let her bring that thing to school?” Kikyo asked herself, referring to the board.

“Big sister!” Kaede hollered in a joyful tone when she caught sight of Kikyo. She charged her big sister and leaped into Kikyo’s waiting arms.

“Sister?’ Naraku echoed in a confused tone.

“I didn’t know you were coming to get me. Momma didn’t say anything,” Kaede said while grinning brightly just for the fact that she was with her sister. She was definitely Kikyo’s biggest fan. 

“I didn’t know either. I believe it was rather spur-of-the-moment,” Kikyo replied with a small smile of her own. She found it difficult to not smile when her sister was so happy just because she was present.

“Oh! I bet Momma stayed at work because she’s trying to get a promotion. She doesn’t talk about it a lot, but she has mentioned it a couple of times and she thinks that she’s really close. She just needs her boss to see it, so she’s probably working late to show him that she’s ready to move up,” the child reasoned as Kikyo released her from the embrace.

“I suppose,” Kikyo replied and then she noticed the girl that her sister had been speaking to; she was standing behind Kaede. The girl was looking around, probably searching for her parents, Kikyo concluded. “Kaede, who is your friend?” the adult woman asked curiously.

“My friend?” Kaede echoed and then she turned around to see the girl behind her. She laughed a bit, embarrassed that she had forgotten that she exited the school with her classmate. “This is Rin. Rin, this is my big sister, Kikyo,” she introduced her friend and sister. 

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Rin greeted the older female politely.

“Oh, please, call me Kikyo,” she insisted, friendly warmth lacing her voice, which made Rin smile.

“Hey, Rin, tell my sister about your two-headed lizard. Kikyo, this is just about the coolest thing I ever heard,” Kaede reported enthusiastically. 

“Two-headed lizard?” Kikyo asked, having the presence of mind to look slightly confused just to egg the girls on.

“Ah and Un. See, Ah and Un are a little monitor lizard that was born with two heads. When I got them, I was told that they probably wouldn’t live too long, but they’re still going strong. I want to show them to Kaede because she’s the only one in our class that believes me about them,” Rin explained with an angelic grin.

“Maybe we can go today. Huh, Kikyo?” Kaede requested with a grin that made her eyes shine and made Kikyo give into her demands almost always. 

“I would like to take you, but her parents have not been informed and we have a long train ride ahead of us,” Kikyo answered.

“What about if I ask my big brother? He’s coming to get me today and if I ask him, it’ll be okay. He can drive you home. He’s nice enough to do it, even if acts like he’s not. If I ask him, he’s bound to say yes. He’s a really good big brother,” Rin declared proudly, letting Kikyo know that Rin thought highly of her big brother.

“So, if he agrees, can we please go, Kikyo?” Kaede begged with a cute pout that she knew would make her sister cave in.

“Well, if it’s not too much trouble,” Kikyo hesitantly conceded. There was no way for her to decisively deny her little sister when she looked like that. Between the pout and the grin, Kaeda has me wrapped around her finger. She sighed.

“And there he is!” Rin pointed at her brother’s car as it pulled up. “Big brother!” Rin called with a huge grin.

Kikyo turned to see what the child’s brother looked like and she froze like time itself stopped when she saw Sesshomaru get out of the car. Kikyo really wanted to know what gods she had angered in what life because the day was getting worse by the second. Rin charged Sesshomaru and hugged him around his leg as usual.

“Hello, Rin,” Sesshomaru greeted her in his usual tone.

“Big brother, I want to show my friend Ah and Un, but she needs a ride home. Could you drive her home after she sees Ah and Un?” Rin requested in a rush because of her excitement. 

“Where is this friend?” Sesshomaru asked, focusing more on his little sister than their current surroundings.

“Right there,” Rin replied while pointing at Kaede and Kikyo, not to mention Naraku, who was standing near the sisters. Sesshomaru turned to look and he almost gasped, but he remained in control of himself; apparently, the universe had a warped sense of humor.

“Kikyo,” Sesshomaru said in a clipped tone. It was not even a greeting. The use of her name was barely an acknowledgement from the sound of his voice. It was like he just wanted to make sure it was her to continue to gaze upon her as if she was worth less than the trash on the street.

“Sesshomaru,” she replied in an equally dispassionate tone. She then turned her attention to her little sister. “Kaede, I think that your trip might have to be postponed,” she commented. After all, she doubted that Rin’s brother would be willing to do them any favors.

“Aw, man,” Kaede groaned, utterly disappointed. She kicked at the dust and pouted again.

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance. As long as it is only you and her,” Sesshomaru said to Kikyo. His little sister did not have many friends and he did not see the point in making her miserable just because the world enjoyed being ironic.

“Please, sis!” Kaede implored her sibling. “I mean, it’s a two-headed lizard. How many chances are we gonna have in life to see a two-headed lizard?” she inquired quite seriously.

“All right, all right,” Kikyo agreed with a sigh.

“Just you and her,” Sesshomaru repeated for Kikyo to understand that he would not let that flea Naraku in his car.

“You have already said as much. It is only myself and my sister,” Kikyo informed him.

“And him?” Sesshomaru asked, nodding toward Naraku. He made sure to keep his tone neutral, even though he wanted to destroy the man just for being near his Kikyo.

“He came on his own. I’m sure he can leave the same way,” she answered in a disinterested tone.

“Then let’s go,” Sesshomaru stated, wanting to get Kikyo away from her co-worker as quickly as possible.

Naraku was about to protest about being left as Kikyo and Kaede started toward Sesshomaru’s car, but the silver-haired male glared at him to let him understand that it would be in his best interest to go on his way. Naraku frowned, but he did not challenge Sesshomaru. He turned around and walked away. Kaede looked at Naraku’s back as he retreated. 

“Who was that, big sister?” Kaede inquired curiously. She had not even noticed him until Sesshomaru drew attention to him.

“Just an annoyance,” Kikyo replied in a dismissive tone.

The ladies piled into the car. At first, Kikyo was going to sit in the back with her sister, but Rin beat her to the backseat. Kikyo sat in the passenger seat next to Sesshomaru, who did not as much as glance at her. The ride was spent in a tense silence for Kikyo and Sesshomaru while their sisters kept talking about going to a skate park, not that anyone had agreed to take them to said park and no one was going to allow them to go to the park on their own.

When they came to the manor house, Rin pulled Kaede up to her room. Sesshomaru quietly invited Kikyo into the sitting room with a motion of his hand. She silently accepted the offer and took a seat in an armchair. He sat across from her with his eyes focused everywhere that was not her. They were both certain that they could be respectful toward each other despite the past, if only for their sisters’ sake.

“Are your parents not home?” Kikyo asked just because the place was so quiet. 

“No,” he answered bluntly and for a few seconds everything was silent again. “Why was he there if you weren’t with him?” he calmly demanded to know.

Kikyo dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. “He is free to travel where he pleases,” she replied, not that she enjoyed that he chose to travel near her.

“Has he been harassing you?” he inquired, even though he knew that answer to that question just for the fact that the man was with her and she obviously did not desire him to be there. He wanted to crush that irksome man for daring to bother his Kikyo.

“His breathing harasses me,” she answered in a bored tone.

“I can see how that might be,” he conceded and then there was silence once again.

“Did you receive my message?” she finally asked. Part of her hoped, quite foolishly in her opinion, that he did not get the message and that was why he had not returned her call and that he was not totally ignoring her existence, as she was certain he was. 

“I did,” he confirmed brusquely.

“I see,” she muttered for lack of a better thing to say. They were quiet again.

“Were you still dating him when we met?” Sesshomaru asked. It had been plaguing his mind. Was she with Inuyasha back then? Had she agreed to date him while she was still with his little brother? 

“No,” she answered plainly, yet honestly.

“Then why were you with him at the party?” he inquired.

“He asked me.”

“Why you?”

“His girlfriend was studying for a big exam that night. She couldn’t go. I was plan B,” she informed him. 

“And why did you agree?”

“He asked me,” she repeated.

“You love him?” he asked, making sure to keep his usual tone. It took a lot of self-control for him to do such a thing considering how he actually feared the possible answer that she could give. He was not ready to hear that she loved or was still in love with his little brother.

“I thought I did.”

“And now?”

Kikyo looked away for a moment, not sure if she wanted to respond to that question considering the answers that she could give. Sesshomaru did not change his expression, even when she turned back to look him directly in his golden eyes. He thought that he knew what she was going to say, but she managed to catch him by surprise; she was just about the only woman that could do that.

“I love you,” Kikyo informed him in a deliberate, yet nonchalant tone. She made it seem so easy.

“You love me? So, you thought you loved Inuyasha and now you love me. Sounds rather fickle,” he commented, although she said the one thing that he was pretty sure that he wanted to hear. He doubted that he would have been able to take any other answer than the one that she gave. Unfortunately, he was not sure he was ready for that answer.

“If you don’t want my love, say so. I cannot change the way that I feel, but you can ignore it. I would expect you to do so,” she retorted.

“You would expect me to do so?” he echoed as if he did not understand her words.

“It is what your brother did.”

“You dare compare me to that imbecile?” Sesshomaru almost growled at her for saying such a thing, and with such ease too.

“I merely know that you are angry with me for loving you.” 

“What’s to keep you from loving me today, but Naraku tomorrow?” he inquired.

“Are you jealous?” she countered.

“Jealousy is beneath me. I am perfection, what have I to be jealous of?”

“There is your answer then,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“If I love perfection, why would I need anything else?” she asked him.

Sesshomaru was left dumbfounded for a moment. She was good with words and logic, maybe as good as he was. He stared at her and considered everything that had happened between them. Did he want to bother with her again?

The golden-eyed male stood up and walked over to Kikyo. She looked at him unafraid as he stared at her with an intense, almost predatory gaze. She considered that he might still be angry with her.

“If you speak the truth, then you are mine and you will always be mine,” Sesshomaru informed the raven-haired woman.

“Who would argue being with perfection?” she asked.

Sesshomaru leaned down to kiss Kikyo. He captured her lips in a passionate embrace and almost sighed in relief against her mouth. He had no idea how much he truly missed her and the feel of her soft, delicious lips against his own. How had be survived over two weeks without her? He had no idea.

“Big sister, look!” Kaede yelled as she and Rin charged into the sitting room. Kaede was holding Ah and Un and, sure enough, he had two-heads, but Kikyo did not see them. The two little girls blushed when they noticed their older siblings deeply kissing.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kikyo goes to have dinner with Sesshomaru’s family, parents and siblings. It should be all right … right?

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

Sesshomaru and Kikyo picked up their relationship as if they had not been separated for over two weeks. They went back to spending much of their time at Kikyo’s apartment, watching classic comedies. Sesshomaru made sure to pick her up from work everyday to keep that unworthy gnat of a man Naraku away from her; he had actually come close to fighting with that man a few times, but Kikyo convinced him that to do such a thing would be beneath him.

Now that their sisters knew about the relationship, Kaede and Rin shared as much information as possible with each other about their siblings. They were very enthused when they spoke, wanting to get to know the other’s sibling as much as possible. With each conversation, they helped convince each other that their siblings needed to get married and stay together forever. What really excited them was that if their siblings got married that would mean the two nine-year-olds would be related and, man, they loved that idea.

The little girls also shared their information with their older siblings, even embarrassing things that only siblings should know about each other. They told their parents about the couple, also. They really just liked talking about the couple, mostly because Kikyo and Sesshomaru were like heroes to their respective sisters. Thanks to their little sisters big mouths, Sesshomaru’s and Kikyo’s cell phones were being blown up with calls almost all the time, like that very moment.

Kikyo had been resting peacefully against Sesshomaru’s side when his cell phone went off. She groaned in a low tone as she sat up; they were cuddled up on her sofa, watching a movie. She moved so that he could retrieve the offending object from his pocket. He sighed when he saw that it was his father calling him for what he considered the millionth time in just that week alone.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Kikyo asked curiously since he was just staring at the phone, as if he was trying to will it to stop ringing.

“No,” he decided while placing the phone on the coffee table and then grabbing her around the shoulder to put her back against him. She snuggled against his side while he rested his head on top of hers.

“Your father again?” she inquired since she noticed that Sesshomaru was less likely to answer a call from his father than from his mother for reasons that she had not asked about.

“Yes.”

“Won’t he be upset if you keep dodging him?” she pointed out.

“Won’t your mother be upset for the same reason?” he countered, hoping to get her to dismiss the subject with the mention of her mother.

“My mother worries,” she replied, as if that answered his question.

“Is that all?”

“I suppose she’s curious too. I am not usually in a relationship, especially one that she is aware of. Who knows what Kaede has been telling her,” she said with a small, amused smile. She could only wonder why her mother continuous called her, but she could guess that Kaede was saying all kinds of fanciful things to their mother and that was more than likely why her mother hit up her phone as if she thought that Kikyo was involved in some dire emergency.

“Probably the same thing that Rin has been telling my parents. How do you suppose they’ll react when they find out that we’re going to move in together?” Sesshomaru wondered aloud.

“My mother may faint,” she said quite seriously. She already knew that her mother was surprised to know that she had a steady boyfriend and her mother did not even know what to make of that information. If her mother found out that she moved in with said boyfriend, who knew what might happen. She just doubted that the reaction was going to be good considering the way that her mother seemed to feel about Kikyo having a steady boyfriend. Her mother seemed to think Sesshomaru was somehow taking advantage of her and she was not sure why.

“Mine may do the same,” he realized. After all, moving in with Kikyo showed a sign of commitment and intimacy with her that he had never expressed with any woman that he was with. The relationship was obviously serious and that would be a shock to his family because it would be a first. 

“Do you think that perhaps we should just tell them? We can’t avoid them forever,” she stated. The reason that they had been dodging phone calls was because they did not want to go into the facts that they were moving in together.

Sesshomaru sighed because his dearest did have a point. She made such a point that the next time his father called, he took the call. He listened as his father told him how worried his mother was and all the usual things. Then his father practically demanded to meet Kikyo.

“Meet Kikyo?” Sesshomaru echoed as if he did not understand what his father meant. He really did not understand because he could not recall a time when his father wanted to meet a woman that he was interested in.

“Yes, bring her to dinner tomorrow,” his father ordered. His tone saying that there would be no talking him out of the idea.

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, and stop repeating everything I say. You sound like a parrot.”

“Yes, sir.” Sesshomaru closed his flip phone and then glanced down at Kikyo, who was sleeping soundly against him.

Sesshomaru sighed again as he gathered up Kikyo in his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He moved Fluffy from the center of the perfectly made bed and placed her down on the pillows. He was about to turn to leave, but he noticed that she was still holding on to him. He glanced at her to see if she was still awake, but she was not. He gently removed her hand, tenderly kissed her soft cheek, and quietly left the apartment.

The next day when Sesshomaru went to pick Kikyo up from work, he informed her that they were expected at his parents’ house. She nodded, but did not say anything; she was just accepting it as if it were fate. They drove to her apartment and she wondered what she should wear for such an event. 

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” Sesshomaru told her to ease her nerves. Most people would not have noticed her anxiousness, but he could read her rather well at that point; the same could be said of her in reference to him. There was a particular look in her mahogany eyes that conveyed her nervousness to him.

“I’ve never … well, I’ve never met parents before, not like this anyway,” Kikyo admitted while staring at the clothing that was hanging in her closet. She felt like she did not have anything worthy of appearing in to meet her beloved’s parents.

“My parents are like any other parents,” Sesshomaru pointed out with a bored wave of his hand. Well, he was not too sure about that, but he did want her to be calm about it. 

“No, they are not. They are your parents. What if they dislike me?” she more wondered aloud than asked him the question.

“How could they dislike you? Rin has been telling them all sorts of great things about you. She completely adores you, so she would never let them get it in their heads that they might dislike you. She has probably made them believe that you created the universe. I heard her telling them about the trip you took her and Kaede on to some arcade and she left me believing that you were the best thing since the sun. Well, maybe I already believed that,” he remarked, being surprisingly sweet. People that knew him would not believe their eyes and ears if they saw him right now.

Kikyo smiled a bit and lightly kissed Sesshomaru on the lips as thanks for the compliment. She felt at ease, knowing that Rin had been putting in a good word for her; she took Rin out when she and Kaede went on trips now since she knew that her little sister had a good friend. Of course, she did consider that Kaede had been speaking well of Sesshomaru to their mother and their mother was still suspicious of him. So, it was possible that even having someone already on her side in Sesshomaru’s family would not help.

“It will be fine,” he assured her, tenderly caressing her arm.

She nodded and then went to get ready. He sighed and shook his head a bit. He had no doubt that his parents would love Kikyo, but he wondered how his moronic brother was going to act. He doubted that Inuyasha would behave himself as it was against the young dolt’s nature to do such a thing as act civil.

When Kikyo was done getting ready and they were about to leave, Sesshomaru caught a whiff of the perfume she was wearing. He completely halted what they were doing just to smell her. She was wearing a rather subtle, but sublime fragrance. He recognized the scent.

“This is that perfume I bought you?” he asked with his whole face pretty much pressed into her neck as deeply as possible without merging with her. She did not mind his actions; she knew that he had a scent fetish.

“Of course,” Kikyo answered.

“It smells heavenly on you,” he stated in a low tone. It was like he was in a trance thanks to the scent. 

Kikyo did not respond and Sesshomaru stayed pressed into her neck for a moment longer. He never knew that something could smell so good, but he supposed that anything that mixed with Kikyo could only be delightful. His knees were ready to go weak and that was when he decided to pull away from her tempting flesh.

“This isn’t over,” he commented and she laughed.

They left the apartment and went to his parents’ house. They entered the dining room to find his family already sitting around the table. They always managed to make Sesshomaru feel as if he was late, even though he never was. 

“Sesshomaru! Kikyo!” Rin cheered as she charged the couple. She hugged her brother first and then Kikyo.

Rin then grabbed Kikyo by the hand and informed everyone that they would be sitting next to each other, as if the announcement was the most important thing that the family would hear that night. Kikyo did not argue with the child; she learned early on that it was best not to argue with Rin because the girl had selective hearing, meaning she never heard the argument against something that she wanted to do. She was definitely related to Sesshomaru and Inuyasha in that regard.

Sesshomaru sat by his mother while Rin took the seat that Sesshomaru usually occupied. Kikyo sat down next to Rin; she was across from Sesshomaru. She glanced to the side to see Inuyasha, who did not look at all happy. He was not paying Kikyo or his older brother any mind and they decided to return the favor. Sesshomaru was about to introduce Kikyo to everyone, but the eager Rin beat him to it.

“Kikyo, that’s my mother Izayoi and then that’s my papa, Inutaisho,” Rin informally introduced Kikyo. “Oh, and that’s my other big brother, Inuyasha,” the child added when she glanced at the middle sibling, who still was not paying anybody any mind. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Kikyo said politely to the parents.

“We’ve heard a lot of things about you,” Inutaisho commented, sounding friendly toward her. He knew that if he sounded hostile in any way, his daughter would pick up on it and call him on it immediately since she thoroughly adored Kikyo.

“Positive things, I hope,” Kikyo replied. 

“Mostly.”

Kikyo did not know if that was good or a bad thing. She could see where Sesshomaru got his best neutral expression from because Inutaisho did not give her any hints as to which way she should think the comment went from his expression. She decided not ponder too much on it as he did not follow it up with anything negative.

Kikyo silently noted that all of the males in the family looked very much alike. She did not think too much on that as she and her sister resembled her mother so very much. Sometimes, she just figured that certain people had strong genes.

The dinner did go relatively smooth for a while; Sesshomaru guessed it was because Inuyasha was being quiet for probably the first time in his life. The one bump that they hit was when Inutaisho inquired if she was the same Kikyo that Inuyasha dated so long ago; it was really a couple of years ago, but he made it seem like eons had passed. Kikyo did not lie.

“I am one and the same,” Kikyo answered in a very neutral tone. It was almost controlled neutrality, not her usual monotone manner of speaking. She was not sure how the family would take such news and she doubted that Sesshomaru wanted to be reminded of her past relationship. 

“And this isn’t a problem?” Inutaisho asked his sons with almost an amused look in his amber eyes. He was trying to start trouble, both of his sons thought.

“Feh,” Inuyasha answered, adding a wave of his hand to show that he did not care one way or another. Well, he pretended that he did not care.

“If it were a problem, wouldn’t some sort of action have been taken by now?” Sesshomaru pointed out.

Inutaisho conceded the battle there, not bothering to bring up the fact that Sesshomaru had broken up with Kikyo not too long ago. He did like the fact that Kikyo was honest about her previous relationship with Inuyasha. He also knew not to drag the matter out because if he started something and it upset any of the kids, his wife would be breathing down his neck for ruining the evening.

Dinner went back to being bearable and Kikyo was oddly charming. She was clearly intelligent, honest to the point of being almost blunt, and unfazed by many things. By the end of the night, Sesshomaru knew that Kikyo had won his parents over. It seemed like every time they said something to her, she had a pleasant and well thought out response for them. She was easily capable of holding a conversation with them on a variety of topics. They admired things like that.

Inuyasha had not done anything stupid by the end of night, which surprised Sesshomaru. He had expected Inuyasha to act out, but since everything was fine, he decided to inform his parents of his and Kikyo’s plan. It seemed like it would actually go over well with the way the night went.

“Mother, Father, Kikyo and I plan to move in together,” Sesshomaru announced with about the same amount of emotion in his voice as person would have who was commenting on the weather.

“Cool!” Rin declared with a giant grin. It was a step closer to her brother and Kikyo getting married, which would make her related to her best friend, which would be sort of like gaining two sisters in her opinion and that was something beyond outstanding to her.

“What?” Inuyasha hollered in disbelief. His face twisted in a rage; apparently, he was done behaving himself and he was not in favor of his brother’s plan.

“You’ve thought this out?” his father asked, even though he knew the answer to that. The day Sesshomaru had not thought something out would be the day that Sesshomaru died. 

“Thoroughly,” the eldest son answered.

“I’m coming over your house like every night. Kaede will be there, right?” Rin asked Kikyo.

“Of course she will be there every now and then,” Kikyo replied with a small smile on her face; the energy that Rin gave off just made her smile almost every time she was around the child.

“Great! You two should get a dog too. No, better still, you should have a baby,” Rin suggested and all of the adults balked at the idea.

“Um … Rin, I believe that you are moving much too fast,” Kikyo commented with a light laugh.

Rin only smiled; she obviously thought that it was a great notion. No one protested to the couple’s arrangement even Inuyasha took it in stride after his initial shock. He had wanted to say something, but when he looked at the couple and he saw that Kikyo was genuinely happy, he kept his mouth shut. It was a difficult thing for him to do, but he managed. Inuyasha later explained that he thought if they were happy together and that was what mattered; besides, it was not like he was going to get Kikyo back when he already had a girlfriend. Apparently, he could be mature every now and then.

The couple thought on their next task now that dinner with Sesshomaru’s family was out of the way; they would have to tell Kikyo’s mother. They knew that that was going to be far from fun. In fact, it would probably be hell, they considered. Her mother hated Sesshomaru.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Well, Sesshomaru gets to meet Kikyo’s mother and tell her some news that she really won’t want to hear.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

“Did I wrong your mother in past life or something?” Sesshomaru wondered out loud as Kikyo hung up the phone with her mother. He could tell from just the one end of the conversation that he heard that it had not gone well.

Kikyo considered that telling her mother that she was moving in with Sesshomaru over the phone it would be easier and less painful. She had not found out if that was true or not because she could not get that far into a conversation with her mother about Sesshomaru because as soon as she brought him up, her mother started ranting about her “no good boyfriend.” To say her mother that disliked him did not cover a fraction of the negative emotion the woman felt for him.

“As much as she detests you, it might have been this life,” Kikyo replied with a sigh that almost sounded like she was admitting defeat. Her mother was the one person on the planet that could cause such a feeling in her, but she was not looking to give up just yet. 

“I’ve never even met the woman. What has Kaede been telling her?” Sesshomaru inquired because he really wished to know why her mother detested him so much beyond the few things that Kikyo told him about. The little bit of things that he did know did not seem to add up to him as to why every time Kikyo tried to talk to her mother about their relationship, her mother had to bad mouth him like there was no tomorrow.

“Nothing to convert her to liking you, I can assure you that much,” Kikyo remarked, sighing again. She wished that her mother would just accept Sesshomaru. He was the man that she loved, after all. “I’m not entirely sure where she got the notion from, but she is under the impression that you’re taking advantage of me.” 

“First off, how does one take advantage of you of all people?” he asked quite seriously.

“I’m not sure. My mother has always been very overprotective, though. She has always monitored everything that comes into my life or my sister’s life. It’s just the way she is. I suppose you being an unknown element unnerves her.”

He nodded. “Will she get over it once I become more known to her?”

“I have no idea. I have never been in such a situation to see how she would react. We will both be discovering how this turns out together,” she commented with another sigh. “I think that she’s heard rumors involving you and that’s causing her major concern.”

“But, they are just rumors.”

“It is all she has to go by, except for Kaede’s reports and I don’t think she’s holding stock in those. She probably thinks that you enchanted Kaede somehow,” she explained. 

“Are you going to tell her?” he asked since he noticed that once again, she had failed to mention that she was moving in with him.

“I will,” she promised.

“When?”

“Soon.”

Sesshomaru accepted that answer because he knew that Kikyo would get around to it; the moment that she could bring him up in a conversation without her mother swearing that he was the devil incarnate. They both would admit that he was not the most humane creature on the planet, but he was far from Satan. Sure, stories around town did not paint a very flattering picture of him, but those were rumors, not the total truth. He would like to think that his beloved’s mother was wise enough to know that she should not believe everything that she heard.

“What if we all went out to dinner and you told her?” Sesshomaru suggested, hoping that her mother would be much too conservative to start a scene in public. After all, his beloved would never do such a thing, so maybe she got the trait from her mother.

“She would only think that you’re flaunting your wealth,” Kikyo answered, shooting down that idea in her usual tone of voice.

“And hate me all the more,” he gathered with a deadpan expression. It seemed like there was no way for him to win with that woman. 

“Of course.”

“Dammit. What could I do to please this woman aside from dying a slow, painful, miserable death?” he inquired quite seriously. He wanted to get on her mother’s good side because Kikyo was very close to her mother. He felt like her mother’s opinion of him would matter to her, although her mother’s low opinion of Sesshomaru did not seem to be affecting Kikyo at the moment.

Kikyo laughed a bit. “You could always stop seeing her daughter,” she replied.

“I would rather the slow, painful, miserable death,” he informed her, which earned him a loving kiss from her. 

“Nice to know,” Kikyo commented as she pulled away from him. The golden-eyed smiled ever so slightly.

Neither of them knew what they were going to do about Kikyo’s mother. They went with telling her at the absolute last minute because after all of their stalling that was the only option; besides, for letting Kaede spill the beans to her mother one day soon, anyway. They invited her to Sesshomaru’s house for dinner. She did not know that it was going to be their first meal living under the same roof. She brought Kaede with her, which they did not mind.

Since Kaede was very comfortable around Sesshomaru and used to him by now, she acted like his house was her house. She removed her jacket at the door, not bothering to put it away, and ran off to explore his home while he and Kikyo greeted her mother. Kikyo also picked Kaede’s jacket up because the child had just dropped it on the floor; she always guessed that children assumed houses cleaned themselves every couple days instead of believing that some human had to put things in order.

“Good evening, Ms. Kamina. I hope that the trip over wasn’t too bad,” Sesshomaru said through gritted teeth and forced civility. How could he be polite to her if the blasted woman was already glaring daggers at him as if he had murdered her first born child? He had never even done anything to her; at least other people had good reasons to detest him.

“Two hours on the train with a hyper nine-year-old is never pleasant,” she pointed out in a clipped tone. It sounded like she was insulted that he had even asked her such a question. The glare helped drive home the offense.

“Momma, Sessho did offer to come pick you up,” Kikyo reminded her as she took her mother’s jacket and hung it in the front closest along with her sister’s jacket. She did not think that it was fair for her mother to act so hostile toward her beloved when Sesshomaru had made the attempt to be kind and pick their guests up from home. Her mother had just turned him down.

Her mother merely waved the comment off as if she did not care about what the silver-haired male had offered. She looked around the rather elegant and large house. It was sparkling clean; Sesshomaru was not very active around his home and whenever he did move something, it was immediately placed back where it belonged when he was done with it. Kikyo was also a bit neurotic about order, so she often straightened things up when she was at the house, even when things did not need to be straightened. Her mother did not appear impressed. 

“Perhaps you’d like to sit in the living room until dinner is ready,” Sesshomaru suggested, still trying his best to be polite. He truly wanted to get on her good side, but it seemed like that was not going to be possible.

“Dinner is not ready?” Ms. Kamina asked, speaking mostly to Kikyo. She looked a bit surprised. Usually when Kikyo cooked for her mother, she had everything prepared by the time her mother was home from work, but it was different that night of course.

“I didn’t know what you and Kaede might like, so I spent a great deal of time wondering what to make,” Kikyo explained, sounding like a cross between her usual self and a child offering up an excuse to avoid getting in trouble. It was not an uncommon tone of hers when her mother was involved.

“You know anything is fine by me and Kaede will eat whatever is presented to her whether she likes it or not,” her mother commented.

“I know, but I still didn’t want to make just anything,” the younger woman stated. There were a few seconds of silence.

“Perhaps you would like a drink,” Sesshomaru offered while motioning to his bar and Kikyo winced slightly.

“I don’t drink,” Ms. Kamina replied plainly; at least he knew where Kikyo go that tone of voice from. Although when Kikyo used it, it did not sound so dreadful toward Sesshomaru. It certainly never left an unsaid, but implied “you heartless, thoughtless bastard” hanging in the air.

“Dammit,” Sesshomaru muttered. Three sentences in and he had already managed to ruin things even more so than they already were. He could hardly believe it; he was perfection, after all. He was not supposed to fail when a task was presented to him and he was supposed to convince his beloved’s mother to like him … well, tolerate him at the very least.

“Hey, big sister!” Kaede thankfully called before Sesshomaru had a chance to say something else. The child then reported, “Sesshomaru has a lot of the same movies as you. He’s even got the Marx brothers collection that you got!”

“I am well aware,” Kikyo informed her sister while trying her best to ignore the look that her mother was giving her. She tried to tell herself that it was not possible for her mother to suspect something was up just because she and her boyfriend had the same movies. Sure, the movies that Kaede was looking at were hers, but her mother did not know that.

“He’s even got the same Chaplin movies as you do too,” the nine-year-old continued quite enthused by her discovery.

Sesshomaru looked away while Kikyo decided to get her sister away from the movies before she noticed some of them bore familiar marks that an overzealous Kaede left on them for some reason or another. Sesshomaru was left alone with a woman that he so desperately wanted to call a harpy to her face because she believed so many rumors about him. Yes, some of those rumors were true, but she did not know that, so he did not think it was right for her to judge him on rumors.

Sesshomaru glanced down at Ms. Kamina and noticed that her attention was directed toward the living room. He tried to think of something to say to her that would not make her look at him as if she was trying to melt his heart with her thoughts. There were not many topics of conversation that came to mind.

“Would you like a tour?” Sesshomaru proposed, trying to sound pleasant, but it was rather difficult to do with a woman that he knew wished that he would die right now in front of her.

“No,” she answered evenly.

Sesshomaru did not know what else to say, but Kikyo returned and that saved him from attempting another exchange with Ms. Kamina. She directed her mother to the dining table and struck a small conversation that Sesshomaru purposely excluded himself from; he just could not put up with any more death glares from that woman. She looked so much like his Kikyo that she just made him think of how uncomfortable he would be if Kikyo ever looked at him like she did. He was almost scared of the thought that Kikyo could manage an expression similar to the one that her mother was giving him.

The golden-eyed male did note that Kikyo and her mother got along very well despite the fact that the older woman loathed every fiber of his entire being. He always noticed that whenever Kikyo spoke on the phone with her mother, there was hardly ever any animosity or tension between them, until he came up anyway. He thought it was nice that her mother had not convinced Kikyo to leave him and, even though they disagreed on Sesshomaru, their relationship as mother and daughter did not seem injured in the slightest. Everything ran relatively smoothly until Kaede returned from exploring.

“Kikyo, how come Fluffy’s here?” Kaede asked curiously while holding up the aforementioned stuffed animal. “I mean, I’ve never seen you take Fluffy out of your bedroom, so how come you brought him over here? He could get dirty if you move him around. ‘Sides, you won’t have him to sleep next to at home if you leave him here and you always sleep next him,” the child reasoned.

Kikyo controlled herself from letting her face fall in embarrassment while Sesshomaru pretended that the ceiling was just about the most fascinating thing he had ever seen in all of his days. Kikyo turned her attention to her mother to see that she was being eyed in a way that she was unaccustomed to. Her mother was looking at her so intensely that she felt like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She searched her mind for an explanation as to why something that she slept with was at Sesshomaru’s house.

“Momma …” Kikyo started to say, but she trailed off. There had to be a good way to put the news to her mother that would not leave her mother hating Sesshomaru any more than she already did.

“Yes?” Ms. Kamina said calmly, but Kikyo knew that her mother was just waiting for the explanation before the reprimand came.

“I’m moving in with Sesshomaru,” Kikyo informed her mother rather bluntly. Apparently, there was no good way to announce such a thing to her mother. The silver-haired male glanced at his beloved because he did not think that she would be so straightforward with her mother, but she found that it was the best way to go about things.

“I figured you would. You know what I think,” her mother replied in a rather dismissive tone. It was like she did not understand why her daughter even bothered to tell her.

“I do, but …” Kikyo was not sure what she wanted to say, so she did not say anything further. 

“Then there is no need for me to say anything nor is there a need for me to be here. Bring me my jacket,” her mother requested. 

“Momma, don’t leave,” Kikyo implored her mother, a pleading expression coating her face. She did not like her mother rejecting something that she honestly wanted and would not give up. She was thankful that she had not experienced her mother’s disapproval often in life because it felt terrible, hurting her heart and troubling her breathing. 

“I don’t want to fool you into believing that I approve of this in any way,” her mother replied in steady tone, seemingly unaffected by Kikyo’s begging.

“I know, but you’re not even trying. I only want you to just try. This isn’t even like you think,” Kikyo argued, making sure not to raise her voice, not that it ever entered her mind to do so when speaking to her mother.

“Even if it isn’t, I still don’t approve. It will eventually be like I think with you living here. Not to mention, he will only hurt you in the end, sweetheart. That is the type of man he is,” Ms. Kamina informed her daughter as if Sesshomaru was not standing ten feet away from her.

“Momma, that isn’t fair to him. You don’t even know him,” the pale teacher argued. She was used to her mother being stubborn, but it was not typical of her mother to be so judgmental, especially in regards to someone in her life.

“I’m only telling you the truth. Now, bring me my jacket.” 

“Momma, please,” Kikyo begged. Sesshomaru was a bit stunned because he had never seen his beloved beg for anything.

Ms. Kamina sighed and remained seated; apparently, she was going to try to understand the situation. How could she leave after her daughter openly begged her to stay more than once? She still did not approve, though and Kikyo was aware of that.

They had a pleasant, but slightly tense dinner. Ms. Kamina even stopped glaring at Sesshomaru after a while, which he took as a good sign. He remained on his best behavior for the night and he did think that it softened Ms. Kamina toward him, but not much. She did not put up a fuss when he offered to take her and Kaede home. Sesshomaru drove the mother and younger daughter home; Kikyo accompanied him so that he would not be alone on the ride home. They then spent their first night living under the same roof.

“I think I understand my mother’s attitude a little better than I did before,” Kikyo commented as they entered the bedroom. “Seeing her reaction to you was easier to draw information from her than speaking over the phone.”

“All right, beloved, why does your mother hate me so?” Sesshomaru inquired as he changed into his pajamas, which were just white cotton pajama pants. He hardly ever used the shirts to any pajama sets he had. He had to know the reason behind why even though he had been quite the gentleman, her mother still did not warm up to him beyond the fact that she stopped glaring at him.

“Do you want the short answer or the long one?” Kikyo countered as she braided her lengthy raven hair for the night.

“Short for now. I’ve got to be up early tomorrow,” he remarked. He was aware that the dislike her mother of him had to run deep and probably would take a while to explain, so he did not need that answer yet. 

“She believes that you corrupted me.”

“Corrupted you?” he echoed in a perplexed tone because that could be taken so many different ways.

“She believes that we have slept together,” she clarified for him.

Sesshomaru nodded. “Any chance of making that belief reality if only to give her a valid reason to hate me?” he asked with a smirk.

“You may sleep next to me,” she answered with a teasing smile. 

“You are a grown woman,” he pointed out, even though they had been through it all more times than either of them liked.

“Yes, but I have explained this situation to you.”

“I know. How very boring, you are saving yourself for marriage. But, that may help explain why I bought this,” Sesshomaru commented.

The silver-haired male went into the pocket of his pajama pants and then stepped behind her. He presented her with a little ring box as he pressed himself against her back. She looked down at the box in disbelief.

“Sessho,” Kikyo muttered. 

“Beloved, I couldn’t bear being without you and I know that for a fact. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even if your mother hates me for that time. I want you to be mines forever and a day. Will you marry me?” he proposed, whispering all the words in her ear as if he was telling her secret.

Kikyo was speechless; the only way for her to answer was to nod. She then turned around and flung herself into his arms. She kissed him deeply, which Sesshomaru took as confirmation to his question. She did verbally affirm when she found her voice minutes later.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: A bunch of things happen: they get married, Sesshomaru has a lot of work, Kikyo gets a driving lesson, and they have their first anniversary. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

The marriage started out well, even though Kikyo’s mother still disapproved and was not afraid to make that fact known, even with people around. At least she had not objected at the wedding and she had even played nice with Sesshomaru’s parents. Sesshomaru was bothered by the fact that his mother-in-law hated his guts, but he did not let it show. He just tried to be on his best behavior around her and that way he figured that she could not go back and tell Kikyo something negative about him and possibly ruin the good thing that he had going with his beloved.

The couple’s honeymoon was a two month long affair, pretty much Kikyo’s whole summer vacation. They stayed in the tropics, going from island to island and doing pretty much the same thing everywhere they went. Sesshomaru doubted that he would ever see a more pleasant public sight than Kikyo in a bikini; the best sight that he had ever seen in his life in his opinion was her in nothing at all. If it was possible, he would love to always see her in her birthday suit, but they did have to go outside sometime and her in a bikini was just the next best thing for him. It had taken him quite a long time to talk her into the two-piece bathing suit, but he was very pleased with his effort.

Sesshomaru did find it that he detested when other men looked at his Kikyo in her bikini. He silently resented men eyeing her when she was around because he was well aware that his new wife would hate for him to start trouble, even though he would not see it as starting the trouble. He saw it as protecting her honor, but she would never accept it as that. Whenever she turned around for a moment, he typically glared at some male, silently telling the man to turn his attention elsewhere or suffer the consequences. No male challenged his glare, seeming to know what the consequences were and that he would certainly follow through on them.

Other than men ogling his new wife, Sesshomaru had the very definition of a good time on their honeymoon. Kikyo also enjoyed herself, doing plenty of things that it never would have crossed her mind to do at home. She found herself experiencing a lot of eagerness and anxiety at the same time through out the trip, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself. They felt like they had started their union out on a good foot.

When the newlyweds got back to the real world, Sesshomaru found that he had a load of work waiting for him that was almost as tall as he was. He should have anticipated that such a thing would happen since he was gone for almost two months, but he had not been thinking about work in the slightest when he was away. He tried his best not to work too late while attempting to catch up with the needs of his clients, but most of the time, he just could not help being at the office for long hours.

The silver-haired male still went to pick up Kikyo from work every day because he did not want her on the train with Naraku. The man did not seem to care or respect that she was now a happily married woman and was still completely uninterested in him. Sesshomaru wanted nothing more than to tear into the guy’s chest to help him understand what Kikyo said in plain words, which was that she did not like Naraku.

“Sessho, you know you don’t have to come get me every day. I don’t mind taking the train,” Kikyo informed him as she got into the car. She disliked how coming to get her interrupted the flow of his day, even though he never complained. It was still a lot of time out of his schedule that she thought could be used for a better purpose.

“I mind you taking the train,” he replied. He minded that pest of a co-worker having a chance to be close to her for over an hour and with no one around to protect her should Naraku try something foolish.

“Perhaps I should learn to drive,” she suggested, containing the fact that she seemed a bit delighted by that idea.

“It’s unnecessary,” he tried to assure her.

“You always have to take time out of your schedule for me. I would prefer it if you didn’t have to waste such time,” she argued.

“I don’t find it a waste.”

“I know you don’t. But, you come home so late most of the time. I was just considering that if you didn’t have to stop working to come get me and take me home, then you wouldn’t get home so late,” she explained her position on the matter. She would like for him to come home earlier and if she had to learn to drive for that to happen, then she would learn to drive.

“It shall be considered then,” he answered because of the logic behind her reason. He would like to get home to her earlier, but then again, he had also come to enjoy his break in the day where he got to do her a little favor.

Kikyo hoped that Sesshomaru agreed that she should learn to drive. She could afford a car and it would make their lives so much easier if she knew how to drive. He would not have to stop working to come pick her up for one and then he would get home before eight most nights. She would like to spend more time with him at home and he actually wanted that also.

Sesshomaru gave Kikyo one lesson in driving and that was the end of all lessons. It had been a rather terrifying experience and he doubted that he had ever yelled the word “car!” so many times in his life. Rivaling his use of the word “car” that day were words such as “tree,” “truck,” “brakes,” “old lady,” “old man,” “stop sign,” “red light,” and his personal favorite “lake.” The only thing that he could think of as a bright side to the whole thing was that some people actually paid money at amusement parks to be that scared.

It had been decided that Kikyo should never get behind the wheel of a car for any reason, even if she was just taking the keys out of the ignition. She agreed with his conclusion just because she had never seen her beloved look so shocked, appalled, and downright frightened in all the time that she had known him as he had when she was “driving.” She had not anticipated being so horrible in driving; it looked so simple. She was not sure what else to propose to get Sesshomaru to stop coming to get her from work in order for him to get home earlier and nothing ever did come to mind.

As time pressed on Sesshomaru’s schedule did not get any better. He was handed big case after big case because he was, as he put it, too good at his job. At first, he would come home and find dinner on the table with Kikyo waiting for him, so they could at least have a meal together. Then he began coming in and finding her asleep at the table; their meals would be cold. He would carry her up to bed with a heavy heart; he did not mean for what was happening to happen. 

Kikyo understood that her husband had a demanding career and she respected his work, so she never complained about his hours. She tried her best to be supportive of him in her own unique way, which meant that she behaved exactly as she always did, even when he did not come home some nights.

Kikyo knew that some women would be suspicious or at least upset with Sesshomaru when he stayed at work some nights. She had faith in him that if he had a chance to be with her, then he would be with her. He just wanted to his job to the best of his ability and she understood that. 

Kikyo tried her best to keep busy while Sesshomaru worked on case after case. She thought of plenty of activities to do with her class and she spent a lot of time with her sister and Rin. The little girls liked the extra attention a great deal, but they sometimes did wonder why Kikyo was not with Sesshomaru, especially when they stayed at the couple’s house. They seemed to know it was impolite to ask why Sesshomaru was not with his wife, but they were not below gossiping such musings to their mothers. Kikyo was suddenly getting phone calls from both her mother and Sesshomaru’s mother. She knew whose fault it was, but did not bother saying anything.

“He’s not there again?” Izayoi asked, speaking to Kikyo over the phone for what seemed like the thousandth time to the younger woman that week alone. Kikyo did not like the new attention that she was receiving from their mothers, but did not say anything about it, hoping they would drop the issues when they saw that she was not bothered by her husband’s absence. No such luck, though.

“No, he was given a new case and he has to begin working on it immediately,” Kikyo informed her mother-in-law, keeping her usual tone of voice with the older woman, trying to show that she was not upset with the fact that Sesshomaru was not home yet.

“That boy,” Izayoi sighed. She thought that Sesshomaru would know better than to leave his young wife at home alone so many times. He was not usually so inconsiderate … well, with people that mattered to him, anyway.

“I don’t mind. He needs to focus on his job,” Kikyo tried to assure her mother-in-law, but as usual, her words seemed to be glossed right over.

“He also needs to focus on his wife. I’m going to call him and scold him,” Izayoi declared quite seriously. She was going to give him quite the lashing verbally if he did not stop acting like he was still single.

“Please do not,” Kikyo requested, her tone almost begging.

“He needs to be home with you,” she pointed out in a stern tone.

“It’s all right,” the younger woman insisted.

Kikyo did not understand why Izayoi kept persisting that she reprimand Sesshomaru. He was merely trying to do his job and provide for her. She would let him without bothering him on the matter. He was already stressed out, so she did not need to add to that. She figured sooner or later the workload would subside and he would start coming home more often and earlier. She was certain that things would return to normal for them sometime soon. Her mother argued against such thinking. 

“Kikyo, have you even considered that he might be seeing another woman?” her mother inquired as they had tea together at Kikyo’s residence. They were sitting in the dining room at the table.

“He is not seeing another woman,” Kikyo replied with a bemused look in her chocolate eyes, as if she did not even understand where her mother pulled such a scenario. It was almost like she thought such a thing was as likely as the world exploded at that very moment.

“Isn’t it possible?” her mother asked because she noticed Kikyo’s expression. She did not think that her daughter was being realistic if she did not at least consider that Sesshomaru could be lying about what he was doing with his time.

“Well, it is possible, but not probable. He’s working on a case,” the teacher stated soundly. 

“Have you considered the other possibilities aside from the one that he keeps telling you?” her mother inquired.

“I believe him when he tells me that he’s working,” she informed the older woman in a rather firm tone, hinting to the fact that she was not enjoying their current discussion. 

“All right, have you decided what you’re going to do for your first anniversary?” her mother inquired, purposely changing the subject to avoid upsetting her daughter any more than she had already done. She merely wanted her daughter to be aware that there could more to things than what she was being told.

“I’ve brought him a new watch and a new pair of shoes, so that he has more than one pair to wear out. I’ve decided to cook his favorite meal instead of going out. I just want to have him all to myself next week,” Kikyo explained. The couple’s first anniversary was hardly a week away and she could not wait to celebrate being married to her beloved for a year.

“Why you love this man I will never understand. The family that he comes from has done such detestable things and he’s by no means the cleanest man out there,” her mother stated, showing that she had heard rumors of not just Sesshomaru, but of his family, which was expected considering the fact that he came from a wealthy, aristocratic family.

“I know he is not a saint, but he also isn’t a demon. He does what he must,” Kikyo argued. Her husband was not as bad as her mother would like to believe in her opinion and she felt like the woman would see that if she just gave Sesshomaru some chance.

“I suppose as long as you’re happy, I should be the same.”

“If you could.”

“But, you know I cannot,” her mother spoke the plain truth. “You could have done so much better than Sesshomaru, Kikyo. You’re everything that a good woman should be and you deserve morally decent man.” 

“There is nothing wrong with my husband.”

“You know my stance on that statement.” 

“I do. One day, I truly believe that you’ll be all right with this. You’ll come to accept him … or at least tolerate him,” Kikyo commented.

Her mother conceded with a shrug for it was possible that she might one day tolerate her son-in-law, even though it was not very likely. She thought of it as sort of like being struck by lightning. The rest of the time that they spent together was pleasant enough for the fact that her mother stopped talking about Sesshomaru. It was nice to have company that was not ten years old, Kikyo thought.

Kikyo did dismiss her mother’s suggestion that Sesshomaru might be having an affair. She believed him when he said he was working and that was good enough for her. She did not see why he would cheat on her because she had not changed from when he first met her and he seemed to like her just fine then. She reasoned that he should still like her just fine because she had not changed. She figured that she should just look forward to their first anniversary as a married couple. She hoped that it would be as special as it felt to her.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kikyo hummed to herself as she prepared dinner and lit candles all over the house for a romantic effect, waiting for Sesshomaru to come home. She was feeling such obvious delight, apparent by the way that she moved about the house and the small smile on her face. Joy sparkled in her eyes as she worked. She just could not wait for her beloved to come home and they could share their special day together.

Kikyo fell asleep long before her husband came home; he did not even call. Sesshomaru found her at the table with melted candles that the flames had disappeared from long ago and some very cold food. He looked around and wondered why she was dressed so formally and why all the lights were dimmed. He dismissed everything as he went to lift Kikyo up and take her to bed.

“Sessho?” Kikyo muttered as he picked her up. She opened her eyes slightly to look at her husband.

“Beloved, why do you insist on waiting for me on such long nights?” he asked in an almost disapproving tone.

“It’s our anniversary,” she answered in a low voice.

Sesshomaru went rigid with shock, which his beloved noted. She did not even bother to say anything in regards to his reaction to her words. She snuggled into his chest and turned her eyes away from him, expressing the two extremes that she was feeling at the moment; a desire to be close to him, but being upset over the fact that he did not seem to know that it was their special day. He cradled her to him even more so than he was already doing. He was happy that she could not breathe fire because he knew that he would be roasted if she could, despite the fact that she was trying to act like she was taking things well.

“You’ve forgotten,” Kikyo whispered. There was no accusation in her tone; she was merely making a statement. She was glad that he was finally there, but part of her, a big part, was angry that she was apparently not important enough to him for him to even recall the day they had been married.

“Forgive me,” he replied in a similar tone. He knew that something terribly important was coming up, but his mind was so wrapped around that ridiculous case that he was working on. He was so stuck doing research and witness preparation that he barely got three hours of sleep every night, so his mind was not as sharp as it should have been.

“It’s all right,” Kikyo lied.

“I will spend all of tomorrow with you,” he promised, hoping that would make up for his carelessness.

“It’s unnecessary.”

“I will spend all of tomorrow with you,” he simply repeated.

Kikyo did not argue and Sesshomaru made good on his word. He spent all of the next day with her. He treated her to whatever she desired, even though she insisted that she was happy just being with him. He made sure to show affection for her whenever possible, but it did not take him too many days to go back to business as usual.

Kikyo was back to being alone. The curse of having the whole summer off was having no work to do and no grown people to hang out with for a good part of the day because they were all at work. She was left to taking Kaede and Rin places, which she liked to do, but she would have preferred to be with her husband just some of the time. Would they ever be together again like they used to, she wondered.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: What could go even more wrong than Sesshomaru missing their first anniversary? Find out next time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

Kikyo eventually got used to Sesshomaru’s work schedule and stopped waiting up for him at all. She left him clipped notes around the house like “Dinner’s on the counter” and “I have to work a half hour later.” None of her notes contained more than ten words in them and the words tended to be less than eight letters; they were as clipped as possible most of the time. In fact, they could be described as “curt,” almost rude.

Sesshomaru never showed any outward reaction to the notes. He reasoned that Kikyo was just being practical. The notes were a way for them to communicate since they did not see each other as much as they would like.

It was actually rare for the couple to be in the house together. They woke up together and ate breakfast, but that was about all. They hardly spoke to each other anymore. It was like they did not know what to say to each other. Was there anything to say to each other? It did not seem like it. It was amazing for the pair to be in the house in the evening and awake for more than an hour, but sometimes, strange things happened and they found themselves at home together and awake.

“Hello, stranger,” Kikyo remarked as Sesshomaru came into their bedroom. Oddly enough, she was not being sarcastic or even really playful with her comment. He was a bit shocked to see her sitting on the bed with a bunch of papers around her, her students’ work, and he almost showed that emotion on his stoic face.

“You’re up?” he asked the obvious because of his surprise. He hoped that his face did not show how stunned he was because he was not sure if he could hold it back anymore. She could tell just because of the question that he expected her to be sleeping as she typically was when he came home.

“Apparently,” she answered with a small shrug.

“So late?” he continued on with the obvious questions because of his shock.

“Yes,” she said plainly.

Sesshomaru nodded and went about his business, not knowing what else to do at that point. He took a shower and put his pajamas on. He lay down in the bed to find his wife still awake, not paying him any mind; both of which stunned him. She was still going through her students work.

“Would you like me to turn one of the lights out?” Kikyo inquired to be polite. She did not want to keep her husband awake since he was such a busy man, after all.

Sesshomaru shook his head to turn down the offer because he was not about to go to sleep. He stared at his wife for a long moment and thought about the last time that they had been intimate. He could not recollect and that shamed him. Had he really ignored his wife for that long? He decided that such a thing would end that night as he leaned over and kissed her, not caring that she was trying to do some work.

Kikyo did not resist her husband and disregarded her work seconds after his lips touched hers. She quickly realized that she needed such attention, as a craving for Sesshomaru crept out of her system that she had not been aware even existed until it almost completely took her over. It had been so long since they had done more than a swift kiss goodbye that she forgot how much she enjoyed his touch. He had forgotten how good she felt.

He wanted to touch her all over and she was more than willing to let him. Before his hands even made it to her body, Kikyo was purring. Sesshomaru smiled to himself, especially when the purring turned to outright moaning. He wanted to hear more of that sound and he got his every desire while giving Kikyo hers.

Sesshomaru was not sure why he was not with his wife more often, but after that night he decided that he needed to make more time for such a delightful experience. But alas, he did not keep that promise to himself. Kikyo was aware that it was best to savor the time that they were together because she knew that it would not happen again anytime soon. In the morning, life went on as usual.

As time went on, Kikyo started to feel different, physically speaking. She felt tired, fatigued almost, sometimes or sick. She tried to tell Sesshomaru, but he never really had the time to talk to her; even when they were in the car, he was always on his cell phone barking at someone for being incompetent. After a while, she decided not to bother with him. It was probably nothing, she told herself, even when she started feeling some slight pains in her abdomen. Nothing got so bad that she could not continue on with her life, even though there was some discomfort. And on the very day that she had decided she was going to go to the doctor, she fainted at work after feeling a moment of jutting pain in her abdomen.

-8-8-8-8-

Sesshomaru’s cell phone went off a few times, vibrating in his pocket, but since he was in a very important meeting, he did not answer until he was done. He looked at the number and saw that it was Kikyo. He wondered why she kept calling him, knowing that he had a rough case and he was surrounded by simple-minded idiots that could not seem to do anything right without him holding their hands through it. He sighed as the phone went off in his hand and saw again that it was Kikyo. He finally answered just to see what her problem was.

“Beloved,” Sesshomaru answered the call, sounding close to annoyed by the fact that she had already called him five times. He was about to cut into her for doing such a thing when she was aware of his situation at work, but he did not have the chance.

“Wrong,” Ms. Kamina replied in a clipped voice of her own.

“Um … Ms. Kamina …” Sesshomaru said in a confused tone. Why was his banshee of a mother-in-law calling him from his wife’s phone? It seemed so bizarre that he could not even begin to give himself a logical answer to that question.

“One would think you’d be more prompt if you believed your wife was calling you,” she told him as if she could read his thoughts. He hoped she could not read his thoughts or else she knew how many times he called her a bitch in his mind.

“I had an important meeting,” he replied in a deadpan tone. He did not owe her an explanation as to why he did or did not do something. His wife knew what he was going through and that was what mattered.

“I’m sure you did. Perhaps you’d like to take time out of your all important schedule sometime today and come to the hospital.”

“Hospital?” he echoed, almost as if he did not know what it was. “Is Kikyo all right?” he inquired as his mind started putting two and two together, namely his mother-in-law calling him from Kikyo’s phone so many times and then telling him to come to the hospital.

“She is uninjured,” Ms. Kamina said, but her voice was different. She actually sounded colder than usual, even though she had just assured him that Kikyo was not hurt.

“Then what?” he inquired, not enjoying the mystery hanging in the air. Why is his wife in the hospital if she is unharmed? He would like to think that maybe Kikyo was not in the hospital at all, but then it would not explain why his mother-in-law was calling him from her phone.

“Just come.”

Sesshomaru was a bit stunned while Ms. Kamina disconnected the call after informing him what hospital to go to. He grabbed his coat and dashed out of his firm like he was on fire. He hopped in his car and drove to the hospital like a madman, just sensing that the call had something to do with his wife; why else would that harpy she called a mother phone him? He luckily made it to the hospital without being harassed by police and without injuring anyone. He found where Kikyo was and charged up to her room. Kikyo was lying in the bed and her mother was sitting with her; they were both silent. 

“Beloved,” Sesshomaru said, but Kikyo did not turn to acknowledge that he was even there in the room.

“Kikyo, Sesshomaru is here,” her mother informed her daughter in a gentle tone. She received just as much as a reaction as he did; Kikyo did not move at all. She thought that the younger woman would show some signs of life once her husband arrived, but it seemed that she would not move even for him.

Ms. Kamina sighed and went over to Sesshomaru. He looked down at her, silently demanding to know what was going on; his golden eyes were laced with confusion and some anger just because he did not understand why Kikyo was in the hospital. She was fine when I dropped her off this morning!

Ms. Kamina glanced at her daughter and then turned her eyes back Sesshomaru. She actually appeared hurt, he noted. He wondered what had happened; he was a little worried because his wife’s inert state.

“Kikyo miscarried,” she informed him plainly, almost as if it was nothing. He looked even more confused by the news.

“Miscarried?” he echoed in a bewildered tone. How could she miscarry when she was not pregnant? Well, she was not anymore, but she had not told him that she was pregnant. He had not known; he had not known about his baby.

“Yes, she had a miscarriage.”

Sesshomaru went to his wife and stared down at her. Her chocolate eyes seemed to stare off into nothing. She appeared as if there was no soul housed in her body anymore; her wonderful eyes were now empty and devoid of everything. At first he was going to be angry with her for not telling him about the baby, but when he saw her, the idea of being even slightly upset abandoned him like rats on a sinking ship.

The silver-haired male wanted to do something for Kikyo to help put her back together, but he did not know what to do. He just embraced her, but she did not return the embrace; she was just stiff in his arms as if she was a giant doll. He still held onto her, letting her know that he was there for her. He was there and everything would be all right, but it was possible that she did not believe that considering the fact that she did not acknowledge his presence at all.

Sesshomaru was so concerned for Kikyo that he hardly paid attention to the doctor, who was trying to explain why she lost the baby. The only words that he really heard were that she was physically fine and they should not be worried if they want to try again to have a child later on. He supposed it was good information to know, but it did not do him or his wife any good at the moment.

Kikyo seemed to recover quite rapidly after she was released from the hospital. She did not even miss a week of work for what most would consider serious emotional trauma. She had only taken a day off after her stay in the hospital, which was on her mother and husband’s insistence. She went in and taught her students like always when she finally got back into the class. She did get a lot of get-well-soon cards from the children; she guessed that passing out in front of nine-year-olds implied that she was sick. She accepted the cards, but never bothered to explain to anyone what happened to her. In fact, the only people that knew she had lost a baby were her mother and her husband and she did not speak about it with anyone, not even them.

Sesshomaru knew that it was not healthy for his clearly distraught wife to keep everything to herself, so he tried to speak to her on the subject and how she felt about it. She never said a word; she would just regard him blankly with empty chocolate eyes as if he was the one going mad and not the other way around. He was beginning to think that she was dead and she helped feed that theory with the way she acted when he saw her.

Sesshomaru tried to make time for his wife, to be there for her, and be supportive of her because he knew that those were the things that she required. It was his responsibility as her husband to provide her with everything that she needed. She did not seem to want that, though. She was unresponsive to his touches and caresses; sometimes, she would even gently pull away from him as if she did not wish to be touched by him at all. Every now and then, he had to catch himself from growling at her when she drifted away from him.

“I’m trying to help, beloved,” he whispered to her once while embracing her. Kikyo said nothing in return and merely stepped away from him, leaving the room as if she did not want to be in his presence.

After a while, the raven-haired woman did not even seem to want her husband’s attention. He tried speaking with her about little things, like how her day went and she would not respond to his questions. He was starting to think that she blamed him for losing the baby. It would explain why she was ignoring him so much now.

“Kikyo, beloved, it wasn’t my fault,” Sesshomaru muttered, sitting at the table while she cleared the dishes from their dinner.

“What wasn’t your fault, dearest?” Kikyo inquired, sounding hollow on the inside, which was the way she always sounded now to Sesshomaru. Not that she said much to him anymore for him to know what her tone generally was.

“The baby,” he clarified his statement.

“The baby?” she repeated in a puzzled tone, as if she did not know what such a thing was. She had been like that for months now; he would try to talk about what happened and she acted like it was all in his head, like there never was a baby.

“It’s not my fault that you lost the baby,” he informed her. He bit his tongue after the words left his mouth. He should have said “we” instead of “you.” It sounded like he was countering her blame of him by blaming her. She did not need that kind of stress, he thought; not that he believed he needed the kind of stress she was putting him through.

“I never said it was,” Kikyo retorted calmly.

“You act as if it was,” he pointed out.

“How so?” she inquired. She was certain that she had been acting the same way as she always did. It was not like he was around most of the time to know what she was like anyway, she thought.

“You have become cold toward me,” Sesshomaru answered. How odd was it for him to speak of someone being cold?

“I am unchanged,” she argued in a very civil tone.

Sesshomaru was not sure how to prove to Kikyo that she had changed. He pointed out that whenever he went to touch her, she withdrew from him. She merely claimed that his timing was poor and she had things to do, much like he always had things to do, whenever he tried to be affectionate. She always did have something to do when he went to her, Sesshomaru noted. But, she could have easily invented things to go and do; he was almost certain that she was purposely pulling away from him. What was he supposed to do with her if she did not want him to do anything for her?

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: what new kind of hell can these two put themselves through? The best mistake … well, worse mistake is up next.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12 

Sesshomaru decided that it might be best for him to leave his wife alone and allow her to work things out on her own because that was what it seemed like she wanted. Actually, she seemed to just want him to leave her alone point blank and end of story. It seemed like the best thing for him to do since she was not trying to take anything that he was offering her. 

The bad thing was that Kikyo did not seem to be helping herself either. She did not even seem to be trying to do anything. Sesshomaru was tempted to recommend that she see a doctor about it, but he remembered that he was giving her the space that she wanted.

She retreated deeper into the shell that she was building around herself until she came to a point where Sesshomaru was certain that she would be cold to the touch, if he touched her anymore anyway. She seemed so offended by his mere presence sometimes that he figured that she might strike him should he even think to touch her. It seemed that he was the only one that noticed that she was now dead because no one else brought the subject up.

The silver-haired male was thankful to be working on a few time-consuming cases. It gave him an excuse to not go home and he did not have to put up with that ghost woman that was once his wife. It was not that she had a vexing disposition or anything, but she ignored him and he did not feel like sharing a space with someone who acted like she did not want to be there. Who would want to deal with a woman that acted like a zombie, anyway? She was a passionless phantom, floating around the house in a neutral misery, and he felt that it would be best to just let her go for the moment. Surely, she would get herself together at some point in time; he had faith in her to do so.

All right, after a while, Sesshomaru conceded that his wife was not getting any better, nor was she attempting to get any better from what he could tell. Fine, he mentally sighed. She could go ahead and act like the world was coming to an end and she was the only one that knew it. He did not need to put up with her attitude anymore and he refused to even consider putting up with any longer. The decision was easy since she was not acknowledging him anymore, so he could not even offer up any assistance. She was not his problem anymore, he decided, not that he would ever figure out how he came to that conclusion.

Sesshomaru was not sure how the next mishap came into being, but it was a mishap indeed. Actually it was more like a catastrophe by anyone’s calculations. It might be the only thing he actually admitted to as a mistake on his part because of the severity of it. He knew for certain that it had been wrong of him to do, but he had done a lot of so-called wrong things in his life.

It was something that happened gradually. Tsubaki had been a client, a good-looking and intelligent client. She had invited him to dinner to celebrate him saving her from a couple of years worth of jail time on charges that she had been embezzling from the company that she worked for, which she actually had been. One thing led to another thing and another thing pretty much led to what he believed was equivalent to the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The first time that Sesshomaru woke up next to Tsubaki, all he could ask himself was what was he thinking. How could he do such a thing? He could hardly fathom that he had done such a thing as to sleep with a woman when his wife was home and grieving. He actually felt like the scum of the Earth, as if he had not only betrayed his beloved, but himself as well. He had played his honor, loyalty, and love cheaply with his actions.

So, the golden-eyed male immediately went home and looked at Kikyo, who was sleeping; she appeared angelic and fragile when she was out in such a manner. She seemed like the opposite of what he knew about Tsubaki. He showered and lay down next to his wife. He tried to hold her, but she resisted him in even in her sleep, which he did not appreciate in the slightest. He guessed that was the reason why the next time he woke up next to Tsubaki, he went back to sleep and no troubling thoughts crept into his mind.

Kikyo never showed any signs of suspecting Sesshomaru of any infidelity. She dragged around the house like always, like the walking corpse she had turned into. She eyed him with a gaze that seemed to look through him when he was home. He remained stoic, so as not to show any signs of his disloyalty.

Sesshomaru disliked looking at his actions as not being loyal to Kikyo. She had been the one that acted like she despised being near him; she was the one that acted as if she did not need him. He was merely giving her all of the space that she desired. He was not going to stop his life just because she was trying to stop hers.

-8-8-8-8-

“Beloved, would you like to do anything for our third anniversary?” Sesshomaru asked Kikyo over breakfast.

“No,” Kikyo answered plainly.

“Are you certain?” he asked curiously, taken aback by her blunt reply. It seemed like an odd response to him. What woman did not want to do something with her husband on their anniversary? Besides, she had shown signs of being partial to the day in the past. So, why did she not wish to do anything now?

“I am,” she responded dispassionately, as if his offer meant nothing to her anyway.

“You don’t want to go out?” he inquired to be certain.

“You’ll be working,” she replied in an almost dismissive tone. She had learned better than to think of their anniversary as something special. Their marriage hardly existed and what was there certainly did not need to be celebrated; she was aware that he knew that as well as she did.

“Well, yes, I will, but I can come home at a decent hour and take you out,” he offered rather politely, not even sounding like himself, which he was not aware of.

“It’s all right,” she assured him. She did not want him to pretend to have any obligation toward her when it was clear from his past actions that she meant very little to him.

Sesshomaru was not sure why, but he thought that it was very peculiar that Kikyo did not want to do anything for their anniversary. He thought that he would be able to make up for forgetting their first anniversary, not to mention being out of town on their second one to do research for a case. She was not giving him the chance to make up for his earlier actions, he thought. Difficult zombie woman, he mentally huffed. He decided to leave her to her death-like state, where she seemed so thoroughly pleased to stay, and he actually spent his third wedding anniversary with Tsubaki.

Sesshomaru took Tsubaki out for a very expensive meal at a very exclusive restaurant. It was something that he would have never done with Kikyo because such things did not impress her; in fact, he knew that over-the-top elegance made Kikyo uncomfortable. Tsubaki was thoroughly entertained by all of the glamour, so he indulged her with an even more elaborate hotel room. He refused to acknowledge the fact that he was not nearly as entertained by everything as she was. In fact, he was kind of bored, but he did not want to admit that to himself. What he was doing now, he mentally insisted, was better than being with that dead woman in his home.

-8-8-8-8-

For their anniversary, Kikyo sat at home at the table, which was empty. She had not bothered to cook; she knew better than to do that. She was just staring at the table as if she was attempting to burn a hole in it with her gaze. She was more than aware that her husband was not going to come home, but she sat there anyway. She seethed in silence, wishing that things were different between her and her husband.

Sesshomaru came in the next morning to find Kikyo sitting up in their bed. She stared at him while he ignored her. He went to take a shower and changed into some new clothes. He was about to walk out of the door to go to work, but she stopped him by actually speaking to him. He was almost surprised to hear her voice.

“What is it about her that makes you go to her?” Kikyo asked in a curious, but plain tone. It was like she was asking any other question that held trivial importance rather than showing that she was very aware of what her husband did when he stayed away from home.

“Excuse me?” Sesshomaru asked as if he had no clue as to what she was talking about.

“What is it about her that makes you go to her?”

He wanted to tell her it was that Tsubaki had a pulse, but he did not even want to acknowledge Tsubaki to her. That would make the betrayal real. That would make it his fault and he was never at fault. So, he decided to dance around the issue.

“What is it you’re trying to imply?” Sesshomaru inquired.

“You’re just like Inuyasha,” Kikyo replied, even though she knew that would get a charge out of her husband. She did not care since it was the truth. She guessed that he was where Inuyasha got his talent for betrayal.

Sesshomaru frowned. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” he inquired while getting his emotions under control. How dare she compare him to his stupid little brother? He just wanted to yell at her for being who she was, the dead woman living in his house, because of her distasteful words. Why did he even bother with her?

“Never mind it,” Kikyo said in a dismissive tone. It did not make a difference, she supposed. Getting her answers would not make him halt and it would not set her at ease in any way, shape, or form.

“Kikyo …” Sesshomaru muttered. “Perhaps we should get a divorce,” he proposed in his usual tone of voice, as if it was nothing at all, as if that was what he originally planned to suggest. 

“Perhaps,” she answered. Apparently, their marriage was dead and it was time to bury it unceremoniously without any honors.

Sesshomaru did not say anything further. He left for work and then he went to go pick Kikyo up from work, as she decided to do summer school that year. She knew that if she did not work, then she would be alone for two months. He found that she was not there waiting for him like she was supposed to. He looked around, wondering where she was, and then waited for almost an hour. She never showed up. He went to the house, thinking that she might be home already. He just wanted to make sure that she was all right. She was not home, though.

Sesshomaru searched the house and found that all of Kikyo’s things were gone. She acted quickly, he would give her that. She had only taken the things that were exclusively hers; her movie collection, her books, her clothes, and of course Fluffy. She even left him a note that merely said “Bye.” He expected as much from her, even though deep down in a place he did not even want to acknowledge, he wanted more from her than that.

The silver-haired male was thankful that his wife was not particularly malicious. If she were truly malevolent, she would have at least destroyed his things while she was gathering her belongings. She had not molested any of his possessions; the worse thing she had done was obey him.

Sesshomaru tried to tell himself that he was glad to be rid of Kikyo. There was no reason to want to be around a person that acted so dead all of the time when she had such a nice life. He gave her everything that she could possibly need and want, yet she acted as if it was not good enough. She acted as if nothing was ever good enough for her. If she wanted to pretend that the world was Hell, then that was her business, but he certainly did not need that in his life.

Without having Kikyo to worry about, Sesshomaru thought that there would be some order in his life. He could work as late as necessary without thinking about picking her up, or how she was home alone. He could see Tsubaki whenever he wished without having it bother his conscience. He could do whatever pleased him and he did not have to ponder on Kikyo.

It took a while, but Sesshomaru did begin to wonder about his wife. She was fragile creature, well he thought so anyway, and he had not heard from her since the day that he suggested they divorce. He wondered if he should call her or if he should go by her job. He decided against both of those; he told himself that he did not need to put up with her anymore.

Sesshomaru told himself that he was free of Kikyo. He was unburdened by her haunting presence. He did not need or what to be bothered by her. Yet, he ended up calling her anyway after some days of separation.

“Yes?” Kikyo answered her cell phone in her usual monotone voice, even though she was well aware who was phoning her.

“Kikyo?” Sesshomaru asked, even though he knew that it was her. He did not think it was possible for him to forget her low, almost sultry voice.

“Yes.”

“How are you?” he inquired for lack of a better question to ask.

“Well. And yourself?” 

“I am well also,” he answered.

“To what do I owe the honor of this call?” she asked.

“I was merely wondering how you are doing, where you are staying, and if you need anything,” he answered.

“I am with my mother,” she informed him, which answered all three of his questions.

“Oh.” Sesshomaru could imagine how her mother was graciously gloating about being right about him. He wondered if she told her mother about the fact that he had another woman. He doubted that she told her mother such news because it was a rather private matter and, even though she was close to her mother, he did not think such words would ever leave her mouth about their problems.

“Anything else?” Kikyo inquired, sounding normal for her, but the question seemed to imply a desire to get off of the phone with him. 

“No,” he stated plainly because he could not think of anything else to ask her. He did not think that he should have called in the first anyway. 

“All right. Goodbye,” Kikyo said and she disconnected the call.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: So, divorce or no divorce that is the question. Next chapter has the answer.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

Present day

Sesshomaru stared down at the divorce papers, eyeing them as if they would tell him what he should do. He wondered if Kikyo had gone through as deep a thought process as he was doing when she signed the papers. Had she thought about their entire relationship, relived the whole time that they were together before she quickly sprawled her name across the line to sever their cherished bond? He doubted it. She did everything with a practiced ease, like everything came naturally to her; it was close to the same way that he did things. His way tended to be more calculated and deliberate, but he hardly pondered things over and over as he was doing now. He always knew what he wanted and then he went for it, but right now, he was hesitating.

The golden-eyed lawyer thought that his wavering meant that he did not know what he truly desired. Or, there was always the chance that he was all too aware of what he wanted and just did not wish to admit it to himself. He could almost hear a voice in the back of his head whispering that he knew everything, what he wanted and why he was hesitating. You know the reason, the voice echoed in his mind, but he did not want to acknowledge it. If he did, then it made him look almost foolish, but then again, was he ready to go against himself just to save face? That seemed foolish as well.

“I thought you’d still be here,” Kikyo commented coolly from the doorway.

“Kikyo,” Sesshomaru almost gasped as he looked up to see the teacher standing in his doorway. He wondered how she got to his office, but he did not bother to ask because his mouth would not form the question.

“May I come in?” she requested very politely.

“Please.” He motioned to the inside of the room with a royal sweep of his hand.

Kikyo entered the office and closed the door behind her. She looked around, having never been to his office before that day. She knew that most people would think that it was strange that she had never been to her husband’s office, but she worked just as many days as he did and she knew that he would not really like the surprise of her being at his place of business if she did have the time to come by.

He had a couple of bookshelves and one painting on the wall, which had been done by Rin; it was a nice piece of modern art with a lot of vibrant colors that seemed to reflect the girl’s cheery personality and also made it seem to be lost located in Sesshomaru’s office. He was not as extravagant as most people would think from the few items in the space, but she always suspected that his office looked something like it did. She took a seat in front of his desk.

“You look good,” Kikyo commented, not that she expected otherwise. She knew that he took great care of himself and even if he did not, he did have that other woman to do things for him, her mind pointed out. The voice in her head sounded much more bitter than the one coming out of her mouth.

“Thank you. You do too. You’ve been taking care of yourself?” he inquired, even though he could guess the answer to that question. He knew that she was staying with her mother and he doubted that that harpy woman would allow her daughter to fall into any type of dejected state while in her care.

“My mother mostly has,” she admitted, but she would not confess why that was.

Sesshomaru did not press the issue, but continued the little pseudo-friendly conversation. “I figured as much. It pains me to ask this, but how often does she curse my name?”

“Daily. Sometimes, hourly.”

“I thought as much,” he said, sounding almost as if it impacted him in someway, as if he cared what her mother had to say about him. “Have you gotten a new apartment yet?” he asked, some concern slipping out of his mouth, but she had the decency to ignore it.

“No, not yet.”

“I could make a few calls,” he offered. He was not sure why, but he felt like he owed her that much. He felt like he owed her period.

“Unnecessary. Kaede doesn’t want me to leave,” she informed him with a small, amused smile. She was looking for a place of her own, but for the moment, her mother and sister were quite pleased with her presence and she felt like she needed them, so she was going to stay with them for a little longer. She liked the support that they offered.

“She hasn’t told Rin that you’re living with them?” he asked in a stunned tone. He did not think there was a secret among their little sisters.

“I requested that she not say anything about it,” Kikyo explained.

“That’s good. That explains why my mother has not come up here personally and yanked my head off of my shoulders,” Sesshomaru mused aloud. He could already feel the anger that was going to be radiating off of his mother in poisonous, murderous waves when she found out that he and Kikyo were separating.

“I suppose. You haven’t signed yet?” she asked while nodding toward the divorce papers.

“No.” 

Kikyo nodded and cast her eyes around the office once again. She thought that he would have jumped at the chance to sign the papers. After all, the whole matter was his suggestion. He could be rid of her and be with his other woman. He could be content again. It seemed logical to her, but obviously there was some flaw in her thinking if he had not signed the papers yet.

Sesshomaru stared at Kikyo, just taking in the sight of her. She might have looked the same as always to anyone that did not know her as well as he did. She sat with perfect posture and pose, like a queen, he often thought. But, he knew that underneath her composed, elegant demeanor, he had hurt her. He was more than aware that he wounded her worse than possibly anyone ever had or would. He had not meant to do such a thing; she was his beloved. He had not meant to do the things that he had done; they seemed like such good ideas at the time, though. In reflection, he had made so many bad moves and he mentally acknowledged that for the first time.

“Why are you here, Kikyo?” Sesshomaru asked to stop his thoughts because he knew where his mind was going because it went there often since they had been separated.

“I thought that it would be nice to spend our last few moments of marriage together. I have always wondered if the time we spent together in this marriage were added up, would it equal even a fraction of the time that we spend together before we got married?” she replied, as if it did not matter to her, but it did, which was why she brought it up.

“I suppose it is a valid thought. It never did enter my mind, though. I had so much work …” he trailed off because it sounded like he was making an excuse and he did not see why he would need an excuse. She had not offered him any excuses for anything, so he should return the thought and respect her enough to just accept responsibility for what happened.

“I understood that,” Kikyo told him. Sometimes, she did wish that he would spend more time at home, but she always understood that he had work to do. She would have never considered getting a divorce if all he did was work long hours when it was necessary.

“Then what was it that you didn’t understand?” he asked. There had to be some reason for what they had falling apart. What was it? He knew what he thought it was, but he did not know what she thought it. It was possible that she had not believed that their marriage was crumbling at the same moment that he thought it was.

“When was I not enough?” she asked him quietly. He was always all she needed and it did ache, eternally, that it was not the same with him. It was beyond an ache actually because it was sharp and central in the core of her being while never leaving. She now hurt every moment of every day because she was not all he ever needed and that he did not even want her anymore. She felt like she had failed him.

“You were always enough,” he answered smoothly, but sincerely. She was everything; she was all he ever needed and he knew that, especially now. He would confess that easily because it was so true.

“Then why?” she demanded to know. Her chocolate eyes lit on fire with anger that he never thought could exist in her body, but there was also pain behind her frustration. He had definitely injured her heart.

“You withdrew. Why?” he countered civilly. He felt like she had pushed him away and that was why he strayed. Had she behaved differently, he liked to believe that he would have behaved differently.

Kikyo turned her eyes away from him for a moment. She had not meant to be the way that she had. It had been subconscious more than anything else. Sometimes, she felt like he was treating her like a child, someone to be looked after to assure she did not hurt herself. Other times, she felt mocked, like to get his acknowledgement for more than a ride home, she had to lose a baby. And then of course there was the fact that she had lost a baby. They could have had a child, but she had managed to fail in that regard, too. 

“I … I didn’t even know …” Kikyo answered vaguely, sounding rather sorrowful.

“You didn’t even know what?” he asked in a bit of a confused tone.

“About our baby. I was going to go to the doctor that day after work. I didn’t even know he was there until he was gone. I didn’t know what to do. I felt so …” she trailed off because she felt about a billion emotions at once and she did not know how to put such a thing into words.

“You didn’t know?” he asked with a slightly surprised expression. All that time, he thought that she just did not tell him. It never occurred to him that she did not even know. He had been so angry with her, thinking that she just did not tell him.

“I didn’t,” she replied in a low tone. Her voice held nothing but pain and disappointment in herself. She had lost that baby. It was her fault somehow, she told herself. “It was all my fault …”

“No, it was never your fault,” he insisted and he felt like those words were directed at more than her miscarriage. 

“I …” She gritted her teeth, unable to address the agony inside of her.

“It’s all right,” he said when he saw how upset she looked over just speaking about what happened. It was actually the first time that she spoke about, with him at least. He suspected that she might have talked about it with someone else by now, which was not true. She had kept those words bottled up from the very moment that she had had the miscarriage.

Kikyo shook her head and she stared at Sesshomaru. Tears welled up in her eyes and he realized that she was going to do the one thing that she had never done in all the time he had known her—she was going to cry. She had not even shed a single tear when she had told that she had a miscarriage, but now it seemed like she was ready to release some of her grief. It’s about time, he thought.

Sesshomaru removed himself from his seat and embraced Kikyo. She remained seated while he stayed standing up. She wept silently into his abdomen, ruining his suit jacket. He held her in surprisingly loving arms for what seemed like an infinite, but it was less than five minutes. He was just thankful and pleased that he could be there for her when she needed him and she needed to let it out. She turned her eyes up to him when she was finished and offered him a sorrowful smile.

“For all we know, our marriage showed no hint of intelligent design, huh?” Kikyo remarked, trying to get herself together now that she had managed to get some of her grief out rather than burying it in a pit inside of herself.

“Yet it exists all the same,” he replied.

“Perhaps it was just an accident.”

“If all things are set in motion by an all-powerful, unmoved mover then there are no accidents. Kikyo, what should I do? Should I let you go again like a fool? You are mine always and forever and I know that I’ll always think like that,” he confessed in a whisper. He spoke the truth because he owed her the truth, which he was all too aware of, especially as he embraced her. No matter what they did in life, he would always think that she was his, as if she had been made specifically for him and he would not be able to let anyone else touch her.

“If I am to always be yours, how can you let me go?” she countered.

“This is the question I have been plaguing myself with all day. I make you happy, no?” he asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

“You do,” she informed him without hesitation.

“I do? Not did?” he asked because of her choice of words.

“You do,” she repeated firmly.

“Then why did you sign these papers?” he asked in disbelief.

“Just as you wish to make me happy, I wish to do the same for you. I cannot make you happy. You work long hours, even when you don’t need to just to avoid me. I have become superfluous to your life. Isn’t that why you are now with that other woman?” she pointed out.

“I was with her because sometimes even perfection can be quite the ass,” he confessed with a sigh.

“Was?” she echoed now because of his choice of words.

“She lacks all the things that make you the woman for me. Her essence and existence are not your essence and existence. I cannot be with her because she is not you. You would never be superfluous in my life and she will never be in my life again,” he assured her.

“Then what is to be done? Will you not sign?” she asked while motioning to the papers.

“There has to be some other solution.” 

“Another solution to our marriage? I think there are only two options when it comes to be people being together; they can either be together or they can be apart. There does not seem to be a third state of being,” she stated.

“Perhaps then we should remain married,” he suggested with a slight smile.

“Perhaps,” she concurred with a smile of her own.

Why fight what they knew was unavoidable? They wanted to be together despite everything that they put each other through. They would rather put up with each other than with anyone else on the planet and they knew that. So, their marriage would continue to exist and all they had to do was figure out what kind of marriage it was.

-8-8-8-8-

You thought that they were gonna get a divorce, didn’t you? Hey, it could still happen.

Next time: there’s an epilogue coming up just to see how the couple’s doing. They might still be getting on each other’s nerves.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Sesshomaru waited in his car outside of Kikyo’s job. He was waiting for her, knowing that she would come out humming that infinitely annoying song about school being out for the summer. He hated that song and he did not think that it was appropriate for a teacher to hum it. It seemed especially weird since she did it in such an upbeat manner, which did not suit her at all. He would put up with it from her because it was her and also because she was going to be his for the whole summer, not that he had the whole summer off, but he had enough time off to act like the rest of the world did not exist when it came to his beloved wife.

The golden-eyed male had learned to manage his time much better now, not to mention he had gained enough clout to turn down some cases in his firm. He had come to a decision a long time ago that while he liked his job, he loved his wife and he liked being with his dearest wife much more. He had a responsibility to his job, he knew that, but he had a much larger responsibility to his wife. Kikyo meant the world and more to him and ever since their near-divorce, he tried his best to show her that he cared about her more than anyone would ever know.

He disliked thinking about how he and Kikyo had been a simple pen stroke away from ending a relationship that was more precious than a million diamonds to both of them. Their near-mistake had remained a secret for a while, just between him and Kikyo, but it eventually got out. What happened was that Kaede made a minor slip about how Kikyo had been living with her and her mother a while ago to Rin and things grew from there. It started a new hell for Sesshomaru for more time than he cared for.

His parents had been ready to skin Sesshomaru and turn his hide into jerky when they became aware as to what happened between him and his wife. The only defense that he could offer was that it was merely a miscalculation that was corrected, which was proven because he was still with Kikyo. He assured them that he was not just married, but happily married and his parents did not slaughter him. They did scold Sesshomaru for a long time until they were reassured that Kikyo was quite content with their son, though.

He recalled how his moron little brother even had the nerve to laugh at him when he found out that Kikyo and Sesshomaru had been a near breath away from a divorce. Inuyasha had not laughed because of the near-divorce; he did not think that was funny at all. He just laughed because he thought it was funny that his big brother was not as perfect as he claimed to be. To Inuyasha that was priceless and he doubted that he would ever let Sesshomaru live it down. In fact, most of the time that Inuyasha saw Sesshomaru, he felt the need to point out that the “arrogant, egotistical sociopath,” his exact words, was not as great as he swore he was. The elder brother was a bit surprised that the younger one knew such big words.

Sesshomaru let his little brother laugh all he wanted. He actually believed that he needed to be laughed at, not that anyone knew why. He deserved it because of all of the things that he had done to Kikyo; he needed some kind of punishment. He was thankful that no one was aware of his mistake, except of course the person that mattered most, Kikyo.

The silver-haired male had been making up for everything that he had done, or at least he had been trying to make up for things. Kikyo had, of course, forgiven his poor behavior because she did not think that she had been completely rational herself. He did not think that her just forgiving him was enough; he wanted to show her that he was truly sorry for what he did. He was going to show her that he was sorry for the rest of their lives.

-8-8-8-8-

Kikyo looked up the block for her husband’s car; the parking around the school was always rather bad. Usually, he waited in the car just in front of the school behind the wheel, so she did not typically have to trek up and down the street searching for him. She guessed that he had a bit of a surprise for her since he parked the car. She tried to spot the vehicle before something irksome happened, like Naraku walking up behind her. Two seconds later, the irksome happened and Kikyo wondered why the universe seemed so against her sometimes.

“Husband late again?” Naraku inquired in his low and ominous voice.

Kikyo was going to deliberately ignore the ebony-haired male, but found that it was unnecessary because she saw a reason to ignore him and get away from him. She glanced up the street and noticed Sesshomaru get out of the car. He walked around and opened the back door on the passenger side. Kikyo smiled slightly, knowing what was about to happen before anything even took place.

A tiny girl hopped out of the car. She had long, silver hair with one thick black streak in the middle of her platinum mane and deep, vibrant chocolate eyes. She was a very petite creature with chubby cheeks that were common to children of her age. She took off up the street like a little rocket as soon as she was out of the confines of the car, her little sandals slapping the concrete creating tapping noises and her white dress waving in the wind that she was creating from her dashing.

“Mommy!” the girl cried in a joyful tone as she charged Kikyo and leaped into the woman’s waiting arms.

“Hello, Izumi,” Kikyo greeted the little girl and she affectionately kissed the child’s cheek, which caused the girl to smile widely, apparently happy for the attention.

Naraku frowned when he saw the child and noticed Sesshomaru stalking up the street like a hunting puma, eyeing the other man like the rival Naraku wished he was. The pest had forgotten that Kikyo bore Sesshomaru’s child and it showed by the distasteful look on his face. The amber-eyed male came up to them and stood near his wife and daughter while glaring at Naraku, as if telling the man to leave the area if he valued his life. Naraku took the hint, as he often did whenever Sesshomaru threatened him with his eyes. Naraku went about his business, walking off in the opposite direction of where the family would be going when they left.

Sesshomaru wondered what it would take for that gnat of a man to stop harassing his Kikyo. Was he going to have to put up with the insignificant, longing parasite until Kikyo retired? Kikyo often wondered the same thing and prayed that it was not true; she was not certain if she would be able to put up with Naraku for that many years.

“Ready to go?” Sesshomaru asked his wife in his usual, indifferent smooth tone.

“Of course,” Kikyo answered.

“Mommy, tell Daddy that I can have ice cream. I wan’ some an’ asked an’ asked, but Daddy said ask you,” the child, Izumi, explained in an excited tone. She spoke with a lot of energy. She did a lot of things with a lot of energy actually, which was typical of a child her age.

Kikyo smiled a bit at her daughter. Izumi was a three-year-old ray of sunshine to her parents. She helped remind them that they needed to work together to keep everything in their lives stable, especially now that they had a daughter. With Izumi around, Kikyo and Sesshomaru noted that their foolish decisions and childish behavior were down to a minimum. They talked to each other a lot more to make sure that they were of like mind on issues and were making sound decisions, not just to avoid past mistakes, but to be certain that they were doing the best for their whole family. Their family and relationship was coming along swimmingly because of the fact that they talked a lot more now than they did before their near-divorce.

“Sessho, have you been tormenting Izumi again?” Kikyo asked in an amused tone as they all started toward the car.

“Never. She is merely attempting to get me into trouble once again,” Sesshomaru replied while caressing the three-year-old’s head.

“So, Mommy, ice cream?” Izumi begged with an adorable pout, looking her mother in the eyes for her expression to have its full affect.

“Of course, baby,” Kikyo agreed.

Sesshomaru smiled; he knew that Kikyo would give into their baby. Kikyo was such a softhearted woman, but even more so when it came to their daughter. He thought it was fine for the moment because he could play the strict parent when the time came. Right now, though, their daughter only needed attention, love, and to be spoiled to her heart’s content until she was a bit older and required some discipline.

-8-8-8-8-

The family went home and relaxed a bit. They all cuddled up on the sofa; Sesshomaru was lying on the couch, Kikyo was on him and Izumi was on her. Izumi was sleeping as they expected her to be; apparently, any movie in black and white put all minors to sleep. Sesshomaru and Kikyo were watching a classic silent movie and he was softly caressing his wife’s cheek with his fingertips.

“Beloved, are you sure that you don’t want to take Izumi with us on the trip?” Sesshomaru asked after a long silence.

“I wouldn’t feel at ease with a hyper three-year-old on such a large boat,” Kikyo answered in a low tone. She was fighting off sleep herself because her husband’s touch was so relaxing.

“I can see what you mean. Are you sure your mother won’t mind having her for two weeks?” he asked. He and Kikyo were going to be taking a trip in a short while and he just wanted to make sure that everything was in order before they left, although he was well aware that everything was perfect. It was not like it was their first time going through what they were and they always had things set up to their liking months in advance, including who would watch Izumi while they were away.

“My mother can handle her. She has dealt with two little girls before, after all. She enjoys having Izumi around, especially since Kaede will be running around all summer with Rin,” she explained. Izumi would be able to keep her mother company.

“Izumi is just about the only thing your mother likes about me,” Sesshomaru muttered as a joke.

“She’ll break one day. Little by little, you do seem to be getting to her.”

“Really?” he sounded rather skeptical. Her mother still seemed to hate his guts as far as he could tell.

“You hadn’t noticed? She doesn’t glare at you anymore or talk about you like you’re not in the room. I’m guessing she now knows that you’re here to stay,” Kikyo commented while leaning into her husband’s loving touch more so than she had already been doing.

“I will do my best to always be here,” he vowed.

“I know.”

“I promise,” he said anyway.

Kikyo nodded because she was all too aware that Sesshomaru would do his best and that was all that she asked for. She just wanted to know that she had his attention and that he was thinking of her. He mostly liked to do things big when it came to letting her know that she had his full attention, which was why they were going on a trip for a fortnight in a few days to celebrate their seventh anniversary. She appreciated the big things along with the little things like his tender caresses while they watched movies. She just liked having her husband around and he liked being around.

Kikyo was glad to know now that he did believe their anniversary was special and he had yet to forget one since their near-divorce. He always had something grand planned for them to do, even when Izumi was just a little baby. They had not gone on a trip the past two years like they were doing now because they did not want to leave their young daughter alone for too long, but he still did wonderful things for her on those past anniversaries. He was never going to allow her to think that the day was not special to him.

“We’ll have to bring Izumi and your mother some rather grand souvenirs,” Sesshomaru commented.

“You just want to taunt my mother, don’t you?’ Kikyo asked with a slightly disapproving look on her face. He ignored her expression because he knew how she felt about what he did, but he just could not help himself. He did get a kick out of teasing her mother when the opportunity presented itself.

“She can take the gift however she wishes. I am merely giving my thanks for her babysitting out little angel,” Sesshomaru explained with a slightly amused smile on his face.

“Like when you brought her back that necklace from our last trip?” she countered. Her husband liked to bring back big, expensive gifts for her mother, knowing the woman would take offense to it because she thought that he was flaunting his wealth.

Sesshomaru smirked, appearing almost wicked because of the expression and the odd twinkle in his eyes. “The look in her eyes was worth two of those necklaces. If looks could kill,” he mused in a light tone. Her mother would have slaughtered him infinite times over by now if looks could kill.

“I’m glad you and my mother haven’t commissioned deadly weapons for your little war against each other.”

“We try our very best to control of ourselves out of love for you,” he assured her, sounding like he was joking, even though he was not.

Kikyo laughed a bit and snuggled even closer to Sesshomaru. She agreed with him; she believed that her mother and husband tried their best to get along for her and for Izumi. Her mother and husband were trying their best to accept each other because they knew for a fact that they were stuck together as family for the rest of their lives. Kikyo hoped that they were all stuck together for the rest of their lives, she and Sesshomaru were trying their best to make that so.

-8-8-8-8-

This would be the end of the story. I hope you all enjoyed it. Catch y’all on the next story I write.