Aitoshii

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own Inu Yasha nor any of its characters. That honor goes to Rumiko Takahashi.

My fanfiction can also be found at inuyasha-fanfiction.com . It is a community dedicated to InuYasha no matter the pairing.

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The party that Sesshoumaru and Kagome were heading to was located in the Daigo Banquet hall of the Sheraton Miyako Hotel. When they entered, Kagome gasped at the impressive chandeliers, and the classical marble walls. It was breath taking, especially with all the added decorations for the festivities.

"It is the birthday of the colleague we will be seeing. I will warn you that you may recognize a few faces that you have not seen since the Sengoku Jidai," Sesshoumaru said, steering her through the crowds, while occasionally nodding to different people.

Kagome noticed how extravagant the women looked and began to feel a little uncomfortable.

'Old habit from being compared to a walking corpse,' she thought dryly, shaking herself from her negativity.

She did not want to embarrass Sesshoumaru. She now had a job, and would try hard to be a success. She wallowed enough with self doubt for the past few years. Though she would never forget it, she resolved herself that she would be like Sesshoumaru. He exuded a stoic mask, and it worked for it. She could put on a pleasant face, but she definitely did not feel like using her old happy-go-lucky facade when things got rough.

Sesshoumaru steered her out of her thoughts when he introduced her to a couple he had approached.

"I am sure you remember the wolf prince, Kouga, and he is escorting Ayame," he introduced.

"I could never forget either of you," Kagome smiled. "So, are you two together, yet?"

Kouga choked on his wine and Ayame glared at him.

"Unfortunately, the dick is still hung up on you. I am here just for show. I am happily mated to Ginta and Hakkaku," Ayame replied smugly.

Kagome's eyes just about felt like they popped out of her head from the astonishing news.

"You have two mates! Wow, Ayame!" Kagome laughed, but sobered up before turning to Kouga. "You know, I'm still not your woman. I think its creepy that you still want me like that. I hope this public confession between you, Sesshoumaru, Ayame, and myself clears things up. I'm not quite ready for a relationship right now and although you are cute, I really never was attracted to you in that sort of way."

Kouga frowned, but nodded, "Ah, I can take a hint."

"I tried to hint it before when I told you in the past that I wasn't your woman. I told you that you should've kept your promise to Ayame," Kagome scolded.

Ayame grinned, "I knew I liked you. Hey, here 's my business card. Call me and we can go do girl stuff."

Ayame took a card out of her clutch and handed it to Kagome.

"Great! I'd like that," Kagome replied, accepting the card, before tucking it into her own handbag.

"Excuse us, but I must whisk Kagome away. I see some other guests that she must meet," Sesshoumaru broke into the conversation.

Sesshoumaru lead her to a petite woman with very pale blonde hair. She was facing away from them for a moment, before turning in their direction. The woman’s eyes widened, “It is the priestess Kagome!”

Kagome looked puzzled. She could not remember a person like the one before her. The woman’s eyes were a vibrant violet blue and her skin flawless and tan. Kagome noted that the woman was very beautiful and almost doll like in appearance.

“Oh, pardon me. I’m Shiori. Remember me? I’m the bat hanyou that you helped long ago,” she introduced herself to Kagome. “I forget that this glamour spell alters me, and the last time you saw me, I was barely ten years old.

Kagome’s eyes widened. She definitely remembered the girl when she was little. She remembered that the girl was the one that allowed InuYasha to harness the Red Tetsusaiga.

“You grew up to be beautiful, Shiori! I remember when you were little,” Kagome smiled.

“This is the colleague that we are meeting. Shiori has proved to be proficient at business, even at the young age she in the demon world. She is a web designer, and a highly sought after one since she is a freelancer. I wish to obtain her skills for my business as I would like to improve the website that currently represents the company. It currently does not have the standard I want,” he informed Kagome.

“Yes, well, I have no problem doing that for an old friend. Have Kagome call me personally and we can work out more details. However, right now is not the time for business. It is my five hundredth year birthday, but for those here that are human, they only know I am turning twenty-one,” she giggled.

“Are you here alone?” Kagome asked.

“No. My escort is around here somewhere. You know him very well,” Shiori replied.

Sesshoumaru had known Shiori for a long time as her own father had been a friend of his long before his own death. He had never known her to be in the company of males unless it was of her bat tribe. For her to have a male escort, it was surprising.

“And who might he be?” Sesshoumaru asked.

“Why, your little brother. Miss me, bastard?” a familiar voice taunted.

Sesshoumaru restrained himself from growling and Kagome froze, refusing to turn around. She knew who that voice belonged too. It brought up unwanted memories.

“Oh, InuYasha, you need to stop being so uncouth. They’re my guests,” Shiori replied.

“Who is the bitch? Human one too. Didn’t think ya go for one,” InuYasha continued.

Kagome slowly turned around, furious at his behavior. She had cried days and nights because of the jerk and she was tired of it. She always let him have his way and treat her so badly.

‘Not anymore,’ she growled out in her mind.

She took a few breaths, keeping her ki in check.

‘It would do no good to purify anyone here. Would definitely freak people out,’ she mused dryly.

“Hello, InuTrasha,” she said coldly, happy to have remembered one of Kouga’s derogatory nicknames for the inu hanyou.

“Ka- Kagome? You’re here with that bastard?” InuYasha said, shocked.

Kagome took a moment to look at how InuYasha looked. He was a bit taller than he had been, when she had traveled through the warring states era, but not as tall as Sesshoumaru’s commanding height. He looked like himself, except his ears were on the side of his head. Kagome thought it was strange that his glamour did not make him into his dark haired human self.

“Yeah, I don’t have to wear a confining baseball cap with the spell,” he commented, “So, you couldn’t make it with me, so you had to go with this loser?”

Kagome frowned and then spat, “I don’t think I will answer you. It’s pathetic you’d be so rude to hide who you truly are, which is far worse than you are now. I hope you’re good to Shiori. She doesn’t deserve a jerk like you.”

Kagome then said to Shiori, “If you will excuse me, I can’t bear to be in InuYasha’s presence. I understand if you are fond of him. He can have pleasant qualities, but he has burned all civil bridges between himself and I. I can’t explain it to you. It would be rude of me, especially since you are celebrating your birthday. I wish to remain in touch with you, and hope you don’t think any less of me.”

“It’s no problem. InuYasha is crude. I’m a bit too tolerant at times. I’m sorry your friendship with him didn’t last. Please enjoy the party. I’m sure Sesshoumaru has a lot to show you as there are quite a few prominent people in this banquet hall,” Shiori kindly replied.

Sesshoumaru had remained quiet, though he was fuming inside. He had not known that InuYasha was hanging around in his circles. It was almost an insult to him, but he could not do anything to prevent his half brother from his relationship with Shiori. He only hoped that he was treating the bat hanyou with respect. Shiori was heir to the northern lord as several clans had not survived the past few centuries. Despite being hanyou, she was quite popular in the demon courts. She was highly talented and well sought after by suitors. Although InuYasha had his own prestigious legacy, he was not as favoured. His tendencies to open his big mouth made a lot of shaky alliances. No one wanted to be friendly with a half demon who still acted like a wild child. Before seeing InuYasha today, the last time he heard of the hanyou’s whereabouts were his sexual escapades. He was known as a playboy and had several bastard children that he had left behind. Sesshoumaru was actually paying the price of the halfbreed’s negligence by providing financial support to the mothers of the children his brother had sired. Although he really did not have too, Sesshoumaru was still head of the Taisho Clan and had honor. He did not want InuYasha’s discrepancies to drag his reputation into the gutter.

Sesshoumaru shook himself of the thoughts, and returned to escorting Kagome through the party, occasionally introducing her to a few prominent business colleagues.

After some time, the guests were beckoned to sit and dine. Afterwards, Sesshoumaru noticed Kagome becoming tired and called Jaken to ready the vehicle.

When they finally left, Kagome fell asleep in the car so deeply that when they had arrived at his home, he had to carry her inside. Maya was out for the night, so he redressed her.

The task of dressing was easy for him at first, until he had her down to her bra and panties.

‘She is wearing a thong,’ he noted, one elegant silver brow raised.

His mind flashed back to when he had seen her completely naked in Aitoshii and found himself becoming aroused. He could not deny that she was perfect in his eyes. The glamour covering some of her scars were down, and he became fascinated with some. The one just in her side, right by her breast was star shaped, almost like an asterisk. He reached out to touch the scar, and she immediately shivered, shifting her body. When he had moved, he had stilled his hand, but the move had made his fingers touch her soft breasts. The touch elicited a low moan from the sleeping miko and he almost groaned.
He snatched his hand back and shook his head. He then reached out to her bedding that Maya had left open for Kagome, and pulled the cover over her. He needed to get out of the room. The memory of her dancing so erotically in Aitoshii, and the fact that she was almost nude under the covers was extremely tempting.

‘Tempting, indeed,’ he lightly laughed. ‘Father is definitely laughing it up.’